october 2012 great lakes edition

State Farm Insurance is planning toexpand its Web-based parts procure-ment pilot through PartsTrader inChicago, Dick Luedke, media rela-tions specialist for State Farm, saidSept. 14.

Luedke said State Farm’s SelectService shops in Chicago will beginusing the program in December. Aspecific date has not yet been set.

That means the program will berequired in five U.S. markets, includ-ing Chicago; Tucson, AZ; GrandRapids, MI; Charlotte, NC; and Birm-ingham, AL. About 600 State FarmSelect Service shops exist throughoutthose five markets.

State Farm selected Chicago asthe next location for its pilot due to thecity’s size, which will allow the com-pany to test the program on a largerscale, Luedke said. Roughly 450 Se-lect Service shops exist in Chicago,

while the other four markets wherethe pilot is currently active have about150 participating shops combined,less those who dropped the program.

“The reason we’re doing this isbecause that market is such a big met-ropolitan area. We want to test the scaleand technology of the program in alarger metropolitan area,” Luedke said.“That allows us to scale the programand the technology in that unique en-vironment. Obviously, Tucson andBirmingham are good size metropoli-tan areas, but Chicago is much largerso we want to do it there.”

Luedke said State Farm does notcurrently have plans to launch thePartsTrader pilot in any other markets.

State Farm has said its Part-sTrader process should improve partavailability, process efficiency, orderaccuracy and create a better experi-ence for customers.

by David M. Brown

In Ohio collision-repair facilities andvendors are represented by two asso-ciations: the Choice Autobody RepairAssociation and ASA-Ohio.

In 2005, CARA, a nonprofit col-lision repair association, was formedin Cadiz in eastern Ohio. CARA rep-resents approximately 50 body shopsin various cities throughout the state.Members include former membersfrom the disbanded Ohio CollisionRepair Association and the OhioBodyshop Owners Association.

“There were five shop ownerswho felt it was necessary to help edu-cate consumers on their rights con-

cerning collision repairs, which led tothe formation of CARA,” says RickFinney, president of the associationand owner of Finney Automotive Inc.and Finney Tire LLC, both in Cadiz.

Finney felt that “too many com-panies in the insurance industry weresteering consumers to specified repairfacilities. Consumers needed to bemade aware that they have the right tohave their vehicle repaired at the shopof their choice.”

“CARA does a great deal of con-sumer awareness but has no interest inpromoting its own members shopsthrough the association,” he says,adding: “We believe a well-educated

ASA Michigan hosted on Sept. 5 anexclusive collision member webinartitled Where’s the Work?—IdentifyingMarket Changes from 2007–2011.

“A couple of months ago wehosted a very informative meetingabout the State Farm PartsTrader pilotprogram and realized that an impor-tant piece of information was missingfor our members—market share andcomplaint ratios of the various insur-ance companies here in Michigan,”stated Ray Fisher, President of ASAMichigan.

“As this new business model isbeing piloted, we knew that StateFarm was the largest insurer in Michi-

gan for auto insurance, but we couldnot inform ourmembership ex-actly by what vol-ume nor did weknow where theother carriers haveplaced, so we im-mediately workedwith reports from

the State of Michigan, Office of Fi-nance and Insurance Regulations(OFIR) and created this very inform-ative and well received webinar ad-dressing those questions,” Fisher said.

The agenda for the webinar was

ASA MI Hosts Webinar: Where’s the Work?Identifying Market Changes from 2007–2011

The Collision Associations Serving Ohio Shops

See ASA MI Webinar, Page 20

PartsTrader will Come to Chicago Market’s 450State Farm Select Service Shops in December

See Ohio Associations, Page 38

Ray Fisher

According to the Oak Ridge NationalLaboratory, a 10% reduction in vehi-cle mass increases fuel efficiency by7% on average, so it’s clear what ad-vantages lighter weight and strongermaterials can bring to future vehicles.

As the automotive industry ab-sorbs CAFE regulations and consumerdesire for fuel efficient cars, the goalof mass reduction has enabled somestartling improvements in productiontime and costs for carbon fiber.

Carbon fiber is emerging as apractical and cost-competitive alterna-tive for mid-volume production cars,previously used only in exclusive low-volume vehicles like the Corvette ZR1pictured . Plasan Carbon Compositesbased in VT and owned by PlasanSasa, an Israeli defense contractor, willbe producing carbon panels for a mid-volume production vehicle as early asJanuary 2013 from its locations inWestern Michigan. This means that by

early 2013, body shops could betasked with carbon fiber repairs.

“It will be the first time that car-bon fiber has been used this extensively

on a base production car anywhere inthe world,” said Gary Lownsdale,Chief Technology Officer of PlasanCarbon Composites. The key enablerfor this up to 50,000-units-per-year ve-hicle application is Plasan’s patentedPressure Press processing technology.

A secrecy agreement preventsPlasan officials from naming the ve-

See Carbon Fiber, 8

Carbon Fiber Advances Enable Mid-VolumeProduction Vehicles from MI Factory by 2013

Great LakesEdition

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Auto Data Labels. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7BASF . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5BMW Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . 49Brunswick Auto Mart . . . . . . . . . 14-15BSFco . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41Chief Automotive. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9Classifieds. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55Dent Tools Direct USA . . . . . . . . . . 22Eidos Ergonomics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4Equalizer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24Erhard BMW of Bloomfield Hills . . . 20Erhard BMW of Farmington Hills . . 20Extractor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31Firl Industries, Inc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40Ford Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . 53Garmat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10GM Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . . 54H & S Autoshot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38Haydell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42Honda-Acura Wholesale PartsDealers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28-29

Hyundai Wholesale Parts Dealers . 43Infiniti of Lisle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32Intertape Polymer Group . . . . . . . . 27Jack Phelan Dodge of Countryside. 39K & M Suzuki. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6Laurel Auto Group of Westmont . . . 23Lexus Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . 51

Malco. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13Mattei. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18Mazda Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . 50Milosch’s Palace Chrysler-Jeep-Dodge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Mitchell International. . . . . . . . . . . . . 8Mitsubishi Wholesale Parts Dealers. 48MOPAR Wholesale Parts Dealers . . 37Nissan/Infiniti Wholesale PartsDealers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

PPG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2Preval . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34Rare Parts, Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16Reliable Automotive Equipment . . . 35Rick Case Wholesale Parts Division. 25SATA Spray Equipment . . . . . . . . . 33Scion Wholesale Parts Dealers. . . . 45Solution Finish . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52Star-A-Liner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56Subaru Wholesale Parts Dealers . . 44Summit Software Solutions, Inc . . . 19Toyota of Grand Rapids . . . . . . . . . 36Toyota Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . 47Valspar Automotive . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11Van Horn Hyundai-Mazda. . . . . . . . 12Volkswagen Wholesale Parts Dealers. 46Wanda Refinish . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Inde

xofAdvertisers

REGIONALASA MI Hosts Webinar: Where’s the Work? Identifying Market Changes from2007–2011 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

ASA-Michigan to Host ‘theEvent’ onOctober 6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

BASF Hires New Distribution ServicesManager in MI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

CARA Partners with Collision BillingServices to Help Repairers Get FullPayment from Insurers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Church Brothers Collision Donate toConcord Center . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Connected Vehicle Project in MI Involves3000 Vehicles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Cupola Classic Car Show Held inJohnstown, Ohio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Fire Destroys Firefighter’s AutoMechanic Shop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Grand Rapids Body Shop Burns; 15 FireTrucks Respond, but it’s a Total Loss . . 51

IA Freeway Deaths Increase . . . . . . . . . . . . 4Illinois Body Shop Has Own VehicleCharging Station . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Illinois Law Extends Tax Breaks forEnterprise Zones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Illinois Shop Breaks Ground on New$1 Million Facility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Ken’s Auto Body’s Rainbarrels . . . . . . . . . . 4Michigan Dealership Owner Retires,Thanks his Employees with Cash Gifts . 10

Nagy’s Collision Specialists Adds7th Ohio Body Shop. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

OH Industrial Site Cleanup . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4Ohio Collision Repair Program Seeking $50,000 Ultimate Collision Education Makeover Grant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Ohio is Middle Ranked in Competivenessvs. Country . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

PartsTrader Meetings in OH . . . . . . . . . . . . 4PartsTrader will Come to Chicago Market’s450 State Farm Select Service Shopsin December . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Sherwin-Williams Offers EstimatingSolutions Class . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

The Collision Associations ServingOhio Shops . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

WI Shop Owner Gets 7 Years for ShootingCustomer’s Leg . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Widowed Mom Gets Car from Dieterich, IL Body Shop. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Wisconsin KIA Gets Body Shop Upgrade,Plans Hiring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

COLUMNISTSAttanasio: What You Don’t Know aboutSEO Can Cost You . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Evans: Building Body Molds from Plugsis No Easy Task . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

Franklin: Information Mining for Profit . . . . 36Sisk: DuPont Performance Coatings, A Big Change but Much Stays in Place . . . . . 54

Sisk: Micro Group Covers Greater DetroitTo Toledo. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Sisk: What Other Associations Are Doingand Have Done Recently . . . . . . . . . . . 50

Williams: Honda Superstore of Lisle, IL—Professional and Friendly . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Yoswick: Shops Can Put News, TrendsRelated to Insurers to Good Use. . . . . . 40

NATIONAL2012 SEMA Show Provides ExpansiveActivities for Collision RepairProfessionals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

A Little Piece of ‘57 Chevy Blue Heavento Debut at SEMA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

AAIA Releases 2012 Digital RepairTrends Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

AASP-MA and CCRE to Host EducationalSeminars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

AASP-MA Talked Parts Procurement atState Meeting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

ASA Issues Timeline for State Farm toProve PartsTrader Benefit. . . . . . . . . . . 48

ASA Speaks with NWLCRA RegardingPartsTrader Pilot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

ASRW Adds Auto Body RepairersAssembly Oct. 10 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

ASRW Announces Content, Speakers forIndustry Forum, Oct. 12 . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

ASRW Hosts 2nd Annual MSOSymposium Oct. 12. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

Automaker, OEM and Recall News . . . . . . 30Body Shop Move Enforced by Judge forPA Route 29 Expansion . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

CAA Sends Legislative Alert and Callto Action . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Carbon Fiber Advances Enable Mid-Volume Production Vehicles from MI Factoryby 2013. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Carlyle to Buy DuPont’s Auto Paint Business for Nearly $5 Billion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

Connecticut Association Voices AlarmAbout PartsTrader . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

CREF Offers Free Industry Classes forStudents at NACE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

CREF Reception at SEMA Invites Allwith RSVP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Go Where Your Customers Are—You’llFind Them Online. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Gunder’s Has 15 Insurers Paying NewLabor Rate. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Hertz Buys Dollar Thrifty . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20Is New Vehicle Technology EndangeringYour Business? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

Mississippi Collision Repair AssociationPlans to Expand to the North and South. 34

Mitchell’s Industry Trends Report: AutoPhysical Damage Edition . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

NABA Announces Survey Results . . . . . . 36New IIHS Test Aims to Improve FrontalCollision . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

NJ Shop Owner Goes Round and Roundwith State Farm on MaterialReimbursements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Rich Evans’ SEMA Appearance Schedule . 53SCRS Presents International Perspectiveon Parts Procurement . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Service King Gives $10,000 for StudentScholarships . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

Shop Owner Nets $3.4 Million in PaintContract Lawsuit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

Shop That Helped Bullied Teen Inspired toStart a New ‘Pay it Forward’ Program. . 55

Van Tuyl Group Joins NABC as NewDiamond Member . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

WMABA Hosted PartsTrader Meetingsin Two Locations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

Contents

www.autobodynews.com | OCTOBER 2012 AUTOBODY NEWS 3

PartsTrader Updates in this IssuePages 1, 4, 31, 42, 43, 45, 47, 48

Autobody News wants to know what readers inMichigan, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and Wisconsinhave to say about the industry in your region.

Stop by our booth (#N924) at ASRW(NACE-CARS) during the Expo and tell us!

We’ll pass the information along in future issues.


The Ohio Department of Develophasawarded funds to an Oakley indus-trial site that needs an environmentalcleanup. The Cincinnati BusinessCourier reported that the site will geta $404,000 loan for environmentalcleanup. The former CNW Plating3.4-acre site is less than a mile fromInterstate 71. Cleanup is expected tobe completed by January 2013. An-other project awarded funds is theformer Coe Manufacturing facility inPainesville. It will receive $325,000for an environmental assessment, ac-cording to the department.

OH Industrial Site Cleanup

Ken Zwolinski, owner of Ken’sAuto Body in Troy Township, OH,spray paints rain barrels with a clearcoat sealant at his shop in efforts tocontribute to water conservation.Ken began donating this service tothe Geauga Soil and Water Conser-vation District’s Rain Barrel YardArt Campaign four years ago whenhis daughter, Taryn Zwolinski,painted her first barrel for the proj-ect. The District has expressed ap-preciation for the Zwolinski family’sdedication to water conservation andcommunity education!

Ken’s Auto Body’s Rainbarrels

Iowa state records suggest higher in-terstate speeds have proved fatal formore motorists. The Des MoinesRegister reports that rural interstatefatalities are up about 10 percentsince the speed limit was raised to 70mph from 65 mph. Iowa recordsshow 250 people were fatally injuredon the rural interstate system betweenJuly 1, 2005, and Dec. 31, 2011. Thefigure was 227 fatalities for the 6-1/2years before the limit was raised.Traffic deaths on other Iowa high-ways and roads dropped last year tothe lowest level since World War II.

IA Freeway Deaths Increase

BASF announced that Karen Broc-cardo has joined the Automotive Re-finish Business group as DistributionServices Manager. She will be lo-cated in Southfield, MI.

According to Chuck Soeder, VicePresident, Auto-motive Refinishand IndustrialCoatings Solu-tions, Broccardowill be responsi-ble for salesforecasting, salescompensat ionadministration,C o l o r S o u r c e

Distribution administration, Cus-tomer Relationship ManagementTools, and sales history and data ad-ministration.

Prior to joining BASF, she wasthe Sales Operations Specialist forRicardo in Van Buren Township, MI,where she was responsible for allsales forecasting in the U.S. and waspart of the global SAP implementa-tion team.

Broccardo has a bachelor’s de-gree in Business Administration fromWestern Michigan University inKalamazoo, MI.

BASF Hires New DistributionServices Manager in MI

Nagy’s Collision Specialists has ex-panded to seven locations in Ohiowith the addition of collision repairfacility at Doug Chevrolet in Akron.

“We're very excited for thispartnership with Doug Chevrolet andmoving into the Summit Countyarea,” said Ron Nagy, president ofNagy’s.

Vice President Dan Nagy said,“Customers have been asking for usto expand into this market for a longtime now, so when we were ap-proached by Doug Chevrolet, it wasa win-win for both of us.”

Nagy’s employs 34 I-CAR-trained and ASE-certified techniciansand is a member of the AutomotiveService Association (ASA).

Ron and Dan Nagy are bothASE Master Collision repairers andhold the I-CAR Platinum qualifica-tion as well as the AAM (AccreditedAutomotive Manager) designationfrom the Automotive ManagementInstitute (AMI) in Bedford, Texas.

Nagy’s offers services such asAutoWatch, where customers canview their cars being repaired online,and e-Estimates that allow customersto get estimates at their homes or of-fices.

Nagy’s Collision SpecialistsAdds 7th Ohio Body Shop

A longtime Bloomington, IL, bodyrepair shop has broken ground on anew $1 million facility. Bob ZookAuto Body expects to move into itsnew facility in Bloomington by April,said company President Bryan Cald-well. Business will continue at its cur-rent location until the new building iscomplete.

“We are excited by the growthand opportunities the new facilitywill bring,” said Caldwell, who hasworked for the company for nearlythree decades.

The new 12,750-square-footbuilding will allow the shop to ex-pand its services. A new mechanicaldepartment will handle suspensionand wheel repairs and alignments re-lated to collisions, said Caldwell.Zook Auto Body now offers collisionrepair, auto detailing and rental carassistance. The new building will in-corporate green technology.

The expansion also will allow theshop to expand its labor force, goingfrom nine employees to at least 14 inthe new facility. Caldwell said the busi-ness has built its reputation over morethan 40 years. The new location willmake it easy for longtime customers toreach the shop for repairs, he said.

Illinois Shop Breaks Groundon New $1 Million Facility

Gov. Pat Quinn extended Illinois’longstanding tax incentive programfor businesses in enterprise zones,saying it plays a key role in creatingjobs in the state. The law, which tookeffect immediately, extended the pro-gram that began in 1982 for 25 years.It essentially gives businesses withinthe designated areas tax breaks, in-cluding an exemption on the retailers’occupation tax paid on building mate-rials and a tax credit for jobs created.

“We have to have an economicclimate in our state that’s predictableand certain and allows for major in-vestment by big employers and not-so-big employers… they need certainty ifthey are going to make investments,”Quinn said at the Ford Motor Co. plantin Chicago.

The move comes as Illinoisfaces continual economic imageproblems: billions in unpaid bills, agrossly underfunded pension systemand public campaigns to attract busi-ness to the state.

Illinois has 97 enterprise zones,which had been set to expire next year.

Illinois Law Extends TaxBreaks for Enterprise Zones

Karen Broccardo PartsTrader Meetings in OHThe Automotive Service Associationof Ohio (ASA-Ohio) hosted twomeetings to discuss State Farm’sparts procurement pilot through Part-sTrader. The meetings were led byDenise Caspersen, collision divisionmanager for ASA National. Joe San-fillipo, president of ASA-Ohio, andRon Nagy, chairman of ASA Na-tional, were also present. The firstmeeting, sponsored by LKQ/Key-stone, was held Sept. 18 in Cleve-land. The second meeting, sponsoredby Lindale Auto Parts, was held Sept.19 in Cincinnati.

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A fire destroyed an auto mechanic shopon Aug. 25 in Maple, WI. The shop isowned by one of the city’s fire fighters.

Maple Fire Chief Michael Lun-deen says the fire fighters respondedaround 10:30 p.m. When they arrivedon scene, they found half of thebuilding engulfed in flames.

The chief says it took about 20minutes to get the fire under control.

Lundeen says the Maple firefighter who owns the building re-sponded to the call and helped put thefire out. Lundeen says he used thebuilding mostly for personal use, anda little bit of business.

“I’m pretty heart broken forhim, especially when his father justpassed away, and we were at his fu-neral this morning, and then this hap-pened. It’s kind of a double whammyfor him,” said Lundeen.

Lundeen estimates the buildingto have $80,000 of damage. Therewere also several tools inside.

The cause of the fire is stillunder investigation.

Fire Destroys Firefighter’sAuto Mechanic Shop

A Galesburg, IL, body shop ownerrecently installed an electric vehiclecharging station that he says cus-tomers and local residents can use.The station is one way to go green,and also get more people into hisshop.

Dave’s Auto Body owner DaveDunn is offering service to anyonewho needs to charge their vehicle,but especially to those who mightneed work done there, too.

“Primarily, I see it as a market-ing tool for Galesburg and also forour company, Dave’s Auto Body,”Dunn said.

Another need for the chargingstation is due to the Nissan Leaf intheir rental fleet.

“It’s stunning,” Dunn said. “Ihad a lot of people who were prettyhesitant or skeptical here at Dave’s.Now, people are kind of fighting forit. ‘Hey, can I drive the electric car togo do this errand?’ It’s really fun todrive, and it’s quite luxurious, sur-prisingly.”

There are no other electric vehi-cle charging stations in the immedi-ate area, which had local tourismofficials expressing interest in DaveDunn’s efforts, too.

Illinois Body Shop Has OwnVehicle Charging Station

Ohio sits squarely in the middlewhen it comes to the best states inwhich to do business. The BuckeyeState ranks No. 25 in a new reportfrom CNBC.

The report scores all 50 statesamid 51 areas of competitiveness,which includes advice from groupssuch as the National Association ofManufacturers and the Council onCompetitiveness.

The 51 areas are sorted into 10categories: cost of doing business, qual-ity of the work force, quality of life,overall economy, transportation and in-frastructure, technology and innovation,education, business friendliness, accessto capital and cost of living.

Ohio received high marks incost of living (No. six in the U.S.)and ranked No. 10 in infrastructureand transportation.

However, the state received poormarks when it came to workforce(No. 49) and quality of life (No. 44).

Texas was named the top statefor business on CNBC’s list, whileRhode Island was last at No. 50.

Ohio is Middle Ranked inCompetiveness vs Country

Russ Darrow KIA of Appleton, WI,announced that it has moved to a newlocation and renovated its facility,which includes an in-house, state-of-the-art collision repair shop.

The body shop will feature aheated downdraft paint booth, prepstations and use DuPont waterbornepaint. It will be capable of repairingup to 10 vehicles at once, and “Sig-nature Service” will feature freeloaner cars, insurance claims serviceand a lifetime workmanship war-ranty.

The renovation and relocationtook place to meet demand for moreinventory and more service capacityin the Fox Valley, according to MikeDarrow, president of Russ DarrowGroup. The new facility covers morethan 23,000-square-feet situated onnearly four acres and will feature 16service and two quick-lube bays, anexpansive showroom and double theparking space of the previous loca-tion.

“We believe in the economy ofthe State of Wisconsin and the econ-omy of the Fox Valley,” said Darrow.“We expect to hire 10 new peopleright away and an additional 20 to 25employees by the end of this year.”

Wisconsin KIA Gets BodyShop Upgrade, Plans Hiring

A widowed, single mother fromWheeler, IL, won a red 1999Chrysler Town and Country fromProbst Auto Body of Dieterich, IL,as part of a national program calledWheels to Prosper.

“Getting that car lifted a hugefinancial burden,” Debra White-hurst said. “It truly was the answerto my prayers.”

The Wheels to Prosper initia-tive, sponsored by local dealershipsor repair shops, gives cars to ‘wor-thy and deserving’ individuals fromtheir communities. The cars are fullyserviced before they are given away.

“I felt really blessed to do this,”said Mark Probst of Probst AutoBody, who was taking part in theprogram for the first time. “It was soamazing to see the joy on her faceand to know that we were really giv-ing back to the community.”

Probst Auto Body had pur-chased the vehicle wrecked and hadrepaired it to use as a temporaryloaner car for customers. Probst saidthat giving the car away was moremeaningful than what they had orig-inally been using it for.

Whitehurst said getting the carchanged her life.

Widowed Mom Gets Carfrom Dieterich, IL Body Shop

University of Michigan Transporta-tion Research Institute (UMTRI) re-searchers and the U.S. Department ofTransportation launched a year-longtest being conducted in Ann Arbor ofa wireless communications systemdesigned to improve vehicle safety.UMTRI researchers now are recruit-ing and outfitting up to 3,000 privatecars, trucks and buses with wirelessdevices that communicate with eachother and similar devices located atintersections, curves and freewaysites in northeast Ann Arbor.

By communicating such data asposition and speed, the “connectedvehicle” system can alert drivers topotential crash situations, such as asudden lane change, merging trafficor sudden braking in the lane ahead.

The research requires installa-tion of wireless devices to: test con-nected vehicle operations inreal-world conditions; understandhow regular drivers use connectedvehicle technologies; and determinethe safety benefits of a connected ve-hicle.

The data generated and archivedas part of the $22 million project willbe used to inform future policy deci-sions by the USDOT.

Connected Vehicle Project inMI Involves 3000 Vehicles




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

by Greg Horn, Vice President ofIndustry Relations, Mitchell International

Special to Autobody NewsIn this issue’s feature article, I up-dated the Mitchell Collision Parts

Price Index and touched on how itis affecting severity. In the chartsof the Industry Trends Report, youwill see that when the develop-ment factor is applied to the mostrecent average repairable collisionseverity, it is once again above$3,000.

I wanted to give additional in-sight and data to my most engagedreaders to help you better under-

stand what is changing theenvironment. As you willnote in the chart (left), theaverage parts dollar spentis the highest inflationaryfactor in the increase, withonly a mild labor dollarsincrease. Therefore, we canconclude that the root ofthe overall severity in-crease is parts price infla-tion.

Additionally, we areseeing an interesting de-velopment in the averageage of vehicles being ap-praised. While the whole-

sale auction houses show a softeningof prices (and we associate a lower-ing of used car value with an in-crease in total loss percentages), weare seeing a slightly newer car with aslightly higher value being appraisedacross all coverage types. This phe-nomenon seems to indicate that wewon’t be seeing rapid decline in val-ues and therefore should not see anincrease in the percentage of vehi-cles being appraised marked as to-tals.

For more information about Mitchelland their Industry Trends Reports, goto: www.mitchell.com.


Mitchell’s Industry Trends Report: Auto Physical Damage Edition

Average Appraisal Values, ACVs and Age | Collision Coverage*

Avg. Veh Age

$3,038/$3,001 $2,851 $3,031 $2,866 $3,087 $2,910

$12,698 $13,205

$13,560 $13,788 $14,380 $14,598

$0

$2,000

$4,000

$6,000

$8,000

$10,000

$12,000

$14,000

$16,000

Q4 20096.34

Q2 20106.22

Q4 20106.62

Q2 20116.50

Q4 20116.92

Q2 20126.81

Appraisals ACV’s* Values provided from Guidebook benchmark averages, furnished through UltraMate.

$0

$200

$400

$600

$800

$1,000

$1,200

$1,400

$1,600

2011Q1 2011Q2 2011Q3 2011Q4 2012Q1

Avg Parts Dollars Avg Labor Dollars Avg Paint and Materials


Ray Speck couldn’t wait to show offhis Volkswagen Karmann Ghia and1977 Thunderbird in downtownJohnstown, OH, in the Cupola Clas-sic Car Show held Sept. 9.

“All cars are my favorite,” hesaid. “I’ve been in the car businessessince I was a teenager.”

Speck owns Johnstown’s K-Cepts auto body and service center,which was a sponsor for DowntownJohnstown Inc.’s fourth annualCupola Classic Cruise-In car show.Speck, a Downtown Johnstown Inc.board member, said the 800-1,000visitors had more than 250 classiccars to drool over.

“Our goal as an organization is topreserve and enhance our town whileimproving the quality of life throughour events and projects,” Speck said.

Speck said the event raisedroughly $10,000 for various commu-nity improvement projects.

Speck said local merchants pro-vided door prizes, and 40 trophieswere presented for the vehicles thatjudges believe are the finest at theshow. Speck said three additional tro-phies were given for the most uniquecars, for which the public voted forthe winners.

Cupola Classic Car ShowHeld in Johnstown, Ohio

Sherwin-Williams Automotive Fin-ishes has announced its Warrensville(Cleveland), OH headquarters willhost its next A-Plus™ Network Uni-versity EcoLean™ Suite of TrainingCourse Offerings, featuring its ‘Esti-mating Solutions for Profit’ on Sept.27.

Designed to meet the challengescollision repair facilities face intoday’s economic climate, partici-pants in the innovative ‘EstimatingSolutions for Profit’ workshop willlearn how to close more sales and in-crease business at the front end of thebody shop. The program is targetedat collision repair facility owners,managers, estimators and customerservice representatives who are in-terested in improving their closingratio and creating loyal customers.

‘Estimating Solutions for Profit’focuses on three critical profit areasof importance to a successful colli-sion facility: Improving customerservice; Increasing selling skills; De-veloping advanced estimating accu-racy.

To register online, go to www.sher-win-automotive.com/en/Events.aspx.For more information on the A-Plus Net-work, call (800) 386-3881.

Sherwin-Williams OffersEstimating Solutions Class

CARA Partners with Collision Billing Services toHelp Repairers Get Full Payment from InsurersThe Ohio-based Choice AutobodyRepair Association (CARA) has part-nered with Collision Billing Services,a company designed to assist collisionrepairers in getting full payment frominsurers on behalf of their customers.

“This seemed like the perfect fitfor CARA,” said CARA PresidentRick Finney. “Given the restraintsthat are put on us as an association byanti-trust legislation, our partnershipwith CBS will allow us to accomplishour long-term goals in a short amountof time. The key is that CBS is notbound by the same restraints shopowners are.”

He added, “We’ve had somemembers successfully pursue thesame issues that CBS addresses withtheir program, but when it’s all saidand done, they almost always end upspending more money in legal feesthan what the case is worth. Whileit’s good to make a point and setprecedence, individual shops justcan’t afford financially to keep doingthis.”

A CARA member recently won ajury verdict against Nationwide for re-fusing to pay a sufficient amount toproperly and safely repair two con-sumers’ vehicles. Taking an assign-

ment of proceeds on both third-partyclaims, they were able to demonstratefor a jury that the amounts Nation-wide wanted to pay were less than thetrue cost of the repairs. In the end,they ended up spending eight timesmore in legal fees than what they wereawarded.

“This is one of the key reasonswe’ve partnered with CBS, becausenow our members won’t have tospend their hard-earned money toprove a point on two claims but havetheir claims bundled with all theclaims from our members and otherCBS subscribers. And with EricaEversman leading their legal team, Iknow they’ll be effective,” saidFinney.

“With the partnership and highparticipation by our members, we canquickly change the practices and poli-cies in our local market using CBS’snational data, putting to bed state-ments like, ‘You’re the only one ask-ing for that’ and ‘We don’t pay forthat,’” Finney said. “CBS is giving usthe opportunity to change our focus.Instead of discussing how we canchange the industry at our meetings,we will now discuss how we arechanging the industry.”


Church Brothers CollisionDonate to Concord CenterA Michigan car dealership owner will

turn over his business to new ownerslater this month, but there was some-thing he had to do first.

As he transitions into retirement,Howard Cooper wanted to thank hisemployees, so he surprised them with‘thank you’ checks. He gave all 89employees $1,000 for every year theyworked at the Howard Cooper ImportCenter in Ann Arbor, located on SouthState Street north of Eisenhower Park-way.

Cooper said he hopes “it makes adifference in their lives like they havemade in mine.”

Cooper, 83, sold his dealership inApril to Ohio-based Germain MotorCompany. Details on the transactionhaven’t been available.

He declined to say how muchthe workers received, but mechanicBob Jenkins’ check was $26,000.He has worked at the dealership 26years.

“I was shocked,” Jenkins said.“You just don’t expect something likethat.”

Sandy Reagan, who was hired atthe dealership in 1966 as a bookkeeper,printed all of the employees’ surprisechecks in advance, after Cooper cluedher in to his plan. Both Reagan and

Cooper wouldn’t reveal the total sumof the send-off gifts.

Reagan said Cooper received astanding ovation— through peo-ple’s shock andtears — when hesurprised the em-ployees with theirchecks. She saidit’s “touching”that Cooper gaveevery employeethe same amount

per year, even people that were justhired in July. “If you were here for 6months, you got $500. If you werehere since July, you got $83,” Reagansaid.

“The lady behind me had tearsrunning down her face,” Reagan said.“I sat next to a person who drives theparts van and he’s been here almost 28years. He doesn’t make a ton ofmoney, but he got almost $28,000. Iwatched his face and he just said, ‘Ohmy God.’”

Jenkins added, “The whole placewas just in shock. People are still talk-ing about it.” And as for his plans forthe unexpected $26,000?

“Well, I’m going to put it in thebank, and my wife and I will discuss

that,” he said. “I have two little kids— a 5-year-old and a 9-year-old — sothe money will go to good use.”

Howard Cooper opened on SouthState Street in 1965 as a Volkswagendealership. In 1972, it expanded withthe addition of Porsche and Audi fran-chises, and then added the Hondabrand in 1979.

When Cooper announced heplanned to sell the dealership to thefamily-owned Germain Motor Co. —which now has 19 dealerships in fivestates — he made employee retentiona condition of the deal.

“My employees are very impor-tant to me and the reason for my suc-cess,” Cooper told AnnArbor.com inApril. “I know of a couple of buyerswho would have paid more, but takingcare of my employees was importantto me.”

Cooper said he plans to maintainan office at the dealership until he’sready to move on. He joked about pur-chasing an ice cream shop to keep himbusy.

“The business has been mywhole life for 47 years,” he said. “Ilove what I’ve done and I enjoyedgoing to work in the morning. I’m stillan entrepreneur at heart and I intend tocontinue that way.”

Michigan Dealership Owner Retires, Thanks his Employees with Cash Gifts

A $50,000 grant would go a long wayfor the Collision Repair program atthe Warren County Career Center inLebanon, OH.

The Collision Repair EducationFoundation offers a $50,000 UltimateCollision Education Makeover Grantto “honor a school that has been doingan outstanding job in educating stu-dents in collision repair, but needssome financial assistance to improvetheir program’s teaching materials andequipment,” according to the founda-tion.

Items covered by the grant couldinclude a resistance welder, air com-pressor as well as wrenches, screw-drivers and other tools.

“The I-Car Collision Repair Ed-ucation Grant would be used for pur-chasing equipment for the CollisionProgram at WCCC,” collision repairteacher Robert Smith said. “Theequipment would give students theopportunity for hands-on use, and togain the skills necessary for job place-ment. We must continuously updateand improve the equipment and train-ing to meet the demands of the auto-motive industry.”

“This is a highly competitiveaward given to one recipient each

year,” said Matt Jones, WCSD coor-dinator of grant and foundation devel-opment.

“The 2012-2013 budget for Col-lision Repair at the Career Center is$7,500,” Jones said. “That is for ma-terials only — no new replacementequipment. That is down from$10,000 in the previous school year.The $50,000 budget (of the grant) isfor a variety of material and equip-ment needs that the instructor feels isnecessary to the Collision Repair pro-gram.”

Smith, in his first year teachingin the school district, is passionateabout pursuing the funding.

“Mr. Smith received his very firstpaycheck and I received this grant re-quest well before that,” Director ofSecondary Education Amanda Het-rick said to the Curriculum, Instruc-tion and Technology committee inAugust. “He is very serious about thisprogram and getting off to a goodstart. I'm impressed with that.”

The winner is selected by a se-lection committee comprised of mem-bers of the Education Foundationboard of trustees. The winner will beannounced in late October or earlyNovember.

Ohio Collision Repair Program Seeking $50,000Ultimate Collision Education Makeover Grant

For the second year in a row, ChurchBrothers Collision Repair, with sixlocations in the Indianapolis metroarea, sponsored the Indianapolis In-dians’ “Home Hits” with a donationto the Concord Neighborhood Cen-ter. The Indians had a great season,so their total donation was $5,000!

Church Brothers Collision Re-pair is extremely proud of the con-tinuing partnership with the ConcordNeighborhood Center and of thegreat work they do to break the cycleof poverty in the community.

Concord is the oldest andlongest-running neighborhood centerassociation in Indianapolis, IN, dedi-cated to breaking the cycle of poverty.Concord Neighborhood Center offerssouth side Indianapolis families andindividuals of all ages a one-stopsource for social services, children’sprograms, educational opportunities,health & fitness information andrecreational activities, and coopera-tive programs with other agencies.

www.autobodynews.com


Howard Cooper


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The owner of a mechanical repairshop in Milwaukee, WI will serve amaximum seven years in prison forshooting a customer in the leg.

Anthony Wayne Smith is theowner of four companies, includingPrecision Custom Car Care andUnique Custom Car Care.

Surveillance video confirmsSmith fired a single shot into a cus-tomer’s leg following a verbal alter-cation.

“I was aiming at the floor toscare the guy. I didn’t know he wasshot until the next day when mylawyer called me because I lockedthe door. He was walking away, soI figured he was okay. He was leav-ing the building and the customerswere safe. I didn’t know I shot him,”Smith said.

While Smith serves time, hiswife, Allison, will run their fourbusinesses.

WI Shop Owner Gets 7 Yearsfor Shooting Customer’s Leg

CAA Sends Legislative Alert and Call to ActionThe California Autobody Associationissued this Legislative Alert-Call toAction:

The CAA has been opposing in-surer-sponsored legislation that wouldweaken long-standing law that pro-vides for fair and reasonable autobody repair practices. CAA has alsoopposed legislation that would pro-vide legal presumptions that after-market crash parts are equal to OEMcrash parts in all instances.

Insurer sponsored bills this yearinclude SB 1460 (Yee) and AB 1098(Hagman). Both failed.

However, CAA has learned thatinsurers are now trying to usurp thedemocratic process by “gutting andamending” a bill during the final daysof the legislative session. “Gut andamend” is a last-minute move whichstrips a bills original contents and in-serts new unrelated language to theoriginal bill, thus by-passing open hear-ings, negotiations and amendments.

We are asking all our CAA mem-bers to call their Assembly membersand Senators today and tell them tosay ‘No’ to last minute “gut andamend” bills which significantlyweakens consumer law pertaining toaftermarket crash parts and fair autobody repair practices.

Any such legislation should beproperly vetted through the normalprocess, fairly negotiated with allstakeholders and not rushed in the‘middle of the night’ with no public orindustry input. These types of prac-tices undermine public trust.

We suspect this ‘gut and amend’will drastically change current law re-garding aftermarket crash parts. Leg-islators may be led to believe byinsurers that aftermarket crash partsare equivalent to OEM parts in all in-stances, and that they should belegally considered as such. CAAneeds our members to educate theirlegislators.

When you call your legislator,please offer them information to sup-port the facts, as you know them. Hereare some ideas for discussion:

Although quality of aftermarketcrash parts has improved over the last10 years, they are still inconsistent.Sometimes they fit and perform andsometimes they don’t.

Protect your business and stopthese types of underhanded legislativepractices. Please call your senator andassembly member today. Call both dis-trict offices and Sacramento offices. Tolocate your legislator please goto:http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/yourleg.html.

AAIA has released the 2012 DigitalCollision Repair Trends: IndustryStatistics & Analysis report, whichcombines the latest available indus-try data from original AAIA research,government and independent re-search sources. The work was de-signed to capture the size and scopeof the collision repair sector of theautomotive aftermarket industry.This online publication is the seventhedition of this report series.

“Collision repair shop sales in2011 totaled an estimated $38.7 bil-lion, up 3.3 percent from $37.5 bil-lion in 2010,” said KathleenSchmatz, AAIA president and CEO.

“Independent paint and body re-pair shops made up $25.7 billion or66 percent of the total market. Statslike these, and so much more, arefeatured in this new study... to helpour members run successful busi-nesses.”

The report covers such topics asfatalities from vehicle crashes, 2011retail distribution, collision repairshop sales and direct repair programs.To order, visit www.aftermarket.organd click “Market Intelligence,” orcall AAIA market research at 301-654-6664.

AAIA Releases 2012 DigitalRepair Trends Report

NJ Shop Owner Goes Round and Round withState Farm on Material ReimbursementsIn an exchange of several letters be-tween body shop owner Don Harveyof International Collision Service inEnglewood, NJ, and State Farm, theproblem of material reimbursementis yet to be answered.

Harvey initiated the request ina letter to State Farm CEO Ed Rustin February 2012 to address what hefelt was an inadequate paint andmaterials reimbursement rate. De-spite State Farm responding to hisqueries, Harvey says he still hasn’treceived a satisfactory answer tohow the reimbursement rate was de-termined from a “yes or no” ques-tion on the insurer’s survey. The yesor no question on the survey he re-ferred to is, “Do you use an auto-mated paint and materials ratecalculator?”

In response to another letterHarvey wrote dated July 10, StateFarm stated that it believed the bestopportunity to provide him with amore complete understanding oftheir survey was to facilitate a one-on-one discussion between him andtheir estimatics leadership in NewJersey.

Harvey first replied by stating,

“It seems State Farm is ‘dancing’around these issues as this now is thefourth letter and yet no answers to ei-ther the material reimbursement orthe explanation on how the rate gotdetermined from a yes or no questionon State Farm’s survey.”

In a letter dated August 21, Har-vey thanked them for the invite butturned it down.

“My concerns as a member ofthe New Jersey auto body commu-nity is an answer to how a paint ma-terial rate has been determined fromState Farm’s ‘survey’ when a yes orno is the only option,” said Harvey.“This clearly is a question that can beanswered in writing and doesn’t re-quire a one-on-one meeting to ad-dress.”

For details on the back and forthsearch “Don Harvey” at www.auto-bodynews.com.

Follow us on Twitter:@autobodynews

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• ••••••••• Fast FFFFrrrrrrreeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDeeeeeeeeeeeeeelllllllllllllllliiiiiiiiiiiivvvvvvvvvvvvvvvveeeeeeeery Fast Free Delivery Fast Frrrreeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDeeeeeeeeeeeeelllllllllllllllliiiiiiiiivvvvvvvvvveeeeeeeryeeee iiiiiiiiDDDDeeeeeeeeee Fast Free DeliveryeeeeeeeeeeFFs Fast Free DeliverysF Fast Free DeliveryF t Fast Free DeliverytF Fast Free DeliveryFa Fast Free DeliveryaF Fast Free DeliveryF••• LLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrgggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIInnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnvvvvvvvvvvvvvvveeeeeeeeeeeeennnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnntttttttttttttttooooooory• Large Inventory• LLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIInnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnvvvvvvvvvveeeeeeennnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnttttttttttoooooryry• Large Inventoryyttttooooeee• Large InventoryeeevIII• Large InventoryIIIL eeeeeeaaaaaa• Large InventoryaaaaaarrrrrLLLLLLLLLL• Large InventoryLLLLLLLLLL ggggggggggggLLLLLLLLLLaaaaaaaaaaaaaa• Large InventoryLLLLLLLLLLaaaaaaaaaa•••••• Large Inventory•••• ••••••••••••••••••••••••••• OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiooooooooooo’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’ssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss LLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrgggggggggggggggggggggggggggeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeessssssttt Volume Dealer• Ohio’s Largest Volume Dealer••••••••••••••••••••• OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOhhhhhhhhhhhhhhiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiooooooo’’’’’’’’’’’’ssssssssssssssssssssssss LLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrggggggggggggggggggggggggeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeessssssttt Volume Dealerl• Ohio’s Largest Volume DealerlV• Ohio’s Largest Volume DealerVo• Ohio’s Largest Volume Dealerorrr• Ohio’s Largest Volume DealerrrrLLLLLLaa• Ohio’s Largest Volume Dealeraa’’’’’’’’’’sssss• Ohio’s Largest Volume DealersssssiiiiOOOOOOOOOOOO• Ohio’s Largest Volume DealerOOOOOOO oooOOOO• Ohio’s Largest Volume DealerOOOO•••••••••••• Ohio’s Largest Volume Dealer••••••••• hh• Ohio’s Largest Volume DealerhhOOOOOO• Ohio’s Largest Volume DealerOOOOOO•••••• Ohio’s Largest Volume Dealer•••••••••••••••• EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEExxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxppppppppppppppeeeeeeeeeeeeeerrrrrrrrrriiiiiiiiieeeeeeeeeeeennnnnnnnnnnnccccccccccccccccceeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddd CCCCCCCCCeertified Parts ProfessionalsteeeddddciiieeennnrrrEEEEx

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“A professional, yet friendly place todo business.”

This is the feeling that Paul Chrtwants to convey to his customers abouthis parts operation and dealership. Paulis the parts manager at Honda Super-store, in Lisle, IL. This dealer is a long-time fixture in the Chicago area –opening in 1977. Paul joined themshortly after, in 1979. Paul became the

parts manager in 2000, and began toexpand the wholesale business. Hondaof America helped out with plans andtraining, but the greatest effort andamount of work, came from Paul andhis team at Honda of Lisle. This dealer

is now the number three wholesaler inthe nation, for Honda, and it is stillgrowing. More and more auto bodyshops in the Chicago area are usingHonda of Lisle, and there is a verygood reason why: They know they aregetting the best service available; froma dealer who cares.

We talked about the changes inthe parts industry, and the need/oppor-

tunity to adapt to new andinnovative ideas. Pauluses both OPSTRAX andCollisionLink by OECon-nection to receive ordersdirectly from his cus-tomers. There has been asteady increase of theseorders, which are placed

directly by his customers using elec-tronic ordering programs. This methodseems to work very well – it is accu-rate and quick. The fax system is stillused by some, and of course the tele-phone will always be used by those

who prefer a more personal touch.However you place your order, it willbe filled by a crew of 17, and deliveredvia a fleet of 14 parts trucks! The de-livery system Paul uses is shared withVolvo and Infiniti; their trucks servic-ing Chicago and the surrounding sub-urbs at least twice each day.

Again and again, I find that a suc-cessful wholesale parts operation isbuilt on a solid foundation of service.Paul’s foundation is the idea of serviceto the “real” customer; the car owner.He wants his wholesale customers toknow that every individual order isimportant, because that order repre-sents the customer; and that everyorder needs to be filled in its entirety,in order to complete the repair ontime. Paul has over a million dollarsworth of inventory, and Honda ofAmerica helps with that, providingparts daily, and shipping overnight,when necessary. This kind of serviceassures that the repairs are completed

on time – creating the “completelysatisfied” customer that we all desire.

A successful body shop operationdepends on repeat and referral busi-ness. That means a happy customerwho is impressed with the speed andquality of their repair. A timely deliv-ery of all of the parts which are neededis a key factor in that goal. The bodyshop needs to know that their partssupplier is reliable, capable, and pro-fessional. These are the characteristicsof an Autobody News DistinctiveDealership, and Honda of Lisle is ob-viously a member of this group. PaulChrt says he has an excellent group ofpeople, working together, in order toget the job done. I agree, he has a greatteam – all dedicated to providing thefinest service possible – they are theessence of the word “professionals.”

Honda Superstore of Lisle, 4475Lincoln Avenue, Lisle, Illinois 60532.Paul Chrt, Parts Manager. Phone: 630-852-7200.


Honda Superstore of Lisle, IL—Professional and Friendly

Distinctive Dealershipswith Larry Williams

Larry Williams is an innovative parts manager with nationalawards and over 30 years of experience in creating andmanaging profitable departments. He can be reached forconsultation at [email protected].

ASA-Michigan to Host ‘theEvent’ on October 6The Automotive Service Associationof Michigan invites its members to“the EVENT” — an automotive colli-sion and mechanical industry event.

The day of networking and learn-ing includes technical training, man-agement training, networking, handson, vendors, displays, and muchmore — all in one day at one locationwithin 90 minutes of over a dozenmajor cities. Sessions are for manage-ment, owners, technicians, advisorsand vendors.

The event will be held at LansingCommunity College West Campus,5708 Cornerstone Dr. in Lansing, MI.

For more information and toregister, see www.theevent-asamichi-gan.com. Seating is limited and ses-sions are on a first-come, first-servedbasis. Early bird pricing goes untilSept. 21.

Classes include:•GM — Hybrid Technology (Spon-sored by GM Wholesale Parts)•First Impression/Last Impression:Would you ask your shop to theprom?(Sponsored by AutomotiveManagement Network, Tom Ham, In-structor)•The Truth about Automotive Pro-gramming (Sponsored by OEMToolsa Division of C.A.S. New England)•Car-Part Pro: On-Line Parts Search

for Recycled Parts helping with reten-tion (Sponsored by Car-Part.com)•Jump Start Your Business – BetterMarketing that will drive up sales(Sponsored by MSPro Marketing Sys-tems)•DemandForce – Growth. On De-mand. (Sponsored by N.A.P.A. AutoParts)•Communicating with “Your Cus-tomers” What Works? What are theresults? (Sponsored by Audatex / Au-toWatch)•AlldataCollision – The importance ofOEM Information (Sponsored byALLDATA Collision)•Communication for Service Sales(Sponsored by N.A.P.A. Auto Parts)•Credit Card Processing – Rates, Pur-chase Limits, Fees; What can you do?(Sponsored by CoCard)•Protecting your Assets and your Em-ployees too – Garage Liability in sim-ple terms (Sponsored by Zurich NorthAmerica)•DuPont – Management training forCollision Repair Facilities (Sponsoredby DuPont)•Chief – Advanced steels and tomor-row’s structures; Do’s & Don’ts(Sponsored by Chief Automotive)•CCC: Using Mobile Apps & UpdatePlus (Sponsored by CCC InformationSystems)

hicle or the automaker, but detailsabout the vehicle will emerge soon.January 2013 marks the start of bodypanel production at Plasan’s new200,000-sq-ft facility in Walker, MI.

The new press technology devel-oped by Plasan has lower investmentcosts and reduce the lead time on tool-ing. The global increase in raw carbonfiber further enables Plasan CarbonComposites to provide lightweight,economical solutions on low- to mid-volume vehicles.

Plasan Carbon Composites is theleading Tier 1 supplier of carbon fiberparts and assemblies in the UnitedStates. We specialize in the productionof Class A and structural parts formid-volume production cars.

As a Tier 1 supplier, Plasan canwork with all OEM clients to analyze,design and implement mass reductionchallenges and take advantage of carbonfiber’s range of superior material prop-erties beyond just weight reduction.

Carbon fiber allows for signifi-cant mass reduction while containingcosts through part consolidation, lowercapital investment, simplified assem-

bly process and other life cycle savingssuch as reduced warranty costs andleaner supply chain.

Carbon fiber’s production appli-cations have included roofs, hoods, andother Class A surfaces on low-volumesports cars. But the upcoming globalproduction vehicle will have 75% of itsbody (including the hood, fenders, androof) comprised of carbon fiber.

Plasan has developed what it callsa ‘Total Systems Approach’ to maxi-mize the cost-competitive potential ofcarbon fiber. More than just dollars-per-pound, carbon fiber means:● Part consolidation● Reduced capital investment● Shorter lead times● Reduction in assembly process time● Life-cycle cost reduction such as re-duced warranty costs

● Increased fuel efficiency● Elimination of secondary pyrotech-nic devices for pedestrian protection

By using this Total Systems CostApproach in the design process, Plasanis bringing carbon fiber to mid-volumeproduction vehicles including hybrids,crossovers, and sedans.

What began in aerospace andmoved to the racetrack, is now beingused at Plasan and introduced to vol-ume production. Through automotive-specific materials, increased efficiencyin carbon fiber processing methods andreduction in direct labor requirements,Plasan is rethinking carbon fiber.

“We’ve been molding parts at ourWixom, MI, R&D center, which hastwo of the new pressure presses. We’removing one of those presses to theWalker facility and adding five morepressure presses by 2013,” Lownsdalesaid, adding the new facility has thecapacity to house 12 pressure presses.

The novel pressure press technol-ogy shatters the 90 minutes needed byPlasan to mold a body panel with au-toclave processing. Materials process-ing time with the pressure press is a17-min machine cycle.

“It took us about a year and a halfto synthesize fully the process of what

happens inside the autoclave. Butonce we were able to find out exactlywhat happens physically and chemi-cally inside the autoclave at discreettime increments, that enabled us toplot a whole new thermal dynamiccurve and a whole new pressure curvewith our patented pressure press tech-nology,” said Lownsdale.

A provisional patent addresses theentire process while eight separate pend-ing patents involve Plasan as well as theequipment provider Globe MachineManufacturing Co. of Tacoma, WA.

The new process applies up to150 psi (10.3 bar) of surface pressureat up to 450°F (232°C).

Plasan’s cure cycle can be as lowas 7 min, depending on the resin for-mulation. (Technical specialists atPlasan have achieved a 2-min cure timein the lab by producing an 18-in (457-mm) long, 6-in (152-mm) diametercylinder made of thermoplastic resin.)

Like Plasan’s other carbon-fiberbody panel production applications,the same thermoset epoxy-based resinwill be used for several of the newbase vehicle’s exterior panels, includ-ing the hood, fenders, and roof.

“The density of the carbon fiber


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Carbon Fiber

See Carbon Fiber, Page 48

by Melanie Anderson

In late August, the California AutobodyAssociation’s Inland Empire Chapterhosted special guest speaker, FrankTerlep, CEO and Lead Sherpa of Sum-mit Software and Marketing Solutions.

Terlep, with 25 years experiencein the industry, addressed the InlandEmpire CAA group Aug. 29 at DonMarcos Restaurant in Rancho Cuca-monga, CA, on the topic of “DigitalMarketing = More Customers, Rev-enue and Profit.”

Back in 2000, 132 million Amer-icans had access tothe Internet.Today, that num-ber has increasedto 274 million. Ad-ditionally, recentstatistics show thatcustomers wouldrather be contacted

by email or text than by phone. About98% of people read their text mes-sages within three minutes.

The bottom line, according to Ter-lep, is that body shop owners need to bewhere their customers are, and they’re

online, engaging in Facebook, Twitter,YouTube, LinkedIn and Google+.

“Shops have no choice. They haveto market their businesses to youngercustomers digitally,” Terlep said. And

it’s not just the younger generationswho are online. Terlep reports that inaddition to 112 million Generation X(those born during the 1960s to early1980s) and Generation Y (those bornin the early 1980s to early 2000s) con-sumers who grew up in a digital world,there are 60 million Baby Boomerswho are actively using Internet, email,text and social media.

Although many customers preferto receive status notifications by text,email is still the most powerful digital

marketing tool, says Terlep. Use youremail marketing for education, brand-ing, special promotions and coupons.“But, don’t spam your customers—give them value,” he says, such as tipsto car care. Build your customer data-base by collecting your customer emailaddresses. Of the group in Rancho Cu-camonga that evening, only three shopscollected email addresses from theircustomers. But all three reported theyhad no problem asking for or receivingemail addresses. One shop uses a formthat asks for a customer’s email addressright beneath the name—it’s the secondquestion on the form. Terlep cites a sta-tistic that more than 80% of consumersprefer to be marketed to via email. Ac-cording to Stan Rapp, the father of di-rect email marketing, an email addressis worth $118 to business.

Got a website? Great. It’s youronline lobby. It’s how potential cus-tomers find you. But it’s no longergood enough to have just a website.Terlep says small businesses that aresuccessful digital marketers need toutilize all the marketing tools, tech-niques and technologies available tocapture and retain more customers,

revenue and profit. He suggests a wel-coming video featuring the shopowner be placed on the home page.It’s like greeting a customer at yourfront door. But the video doesn’t haveto be fancy or expensive. Have one ofyour technicians man the camera. Peo-ple like ‘real’ so don’t worry about itbeing professional.

Do you know if your website isdoing its job? Utilize Google Analytics

to find out. It’s free and tells you howyour website is performing. Anotherimportant aspect is to ensure your web-site has optimal search engine results.When a potential customer Googles‘auto body repair’ in your area, will


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Ron Guilliams, formerly of Fix Auto & MichaelRamirez with Gyant Compliance

Frank Terlep

Steve Leyland, Collision Center Riverside &Jim Coff, Highland Auto Body

See You’ll Find Them, Page 22

broken into six segments: statisticsand brief summary; challenges thatface local and national carriers; howthese changes affect the collision re-pairer in Michigan; consumer behav-ior (yesterday, today and tomorrow);national trends; and a brief update ofthe State Farm/Parts Trader pilot.

“As we began this task, it was in-teresting to see how the players havechanged, the growth cycles of some,the complaint ratios of others, etc. Forexample, some of the calls that our of-fice has had over these past few yearsabout insurance carrier practices was-n’t really reflected within the com-plaint ratios of these companies asmuch as one would think, in additionsome were worse than you thoughtand others were better than you wouldthink—it was interesting research!”Fisher said.

The webinar also provided somethought-provoking questions basedon the data provided and an overviewof nine more “popular” insurance car-riers within Michigan. Follow upcalls from a couple of members had

the “wow effect”—they were sur-prised to see the presence of somecarriers diminish to the extent thatthey had.

“Wow, here I thought I was los-ing some of the work from that carrier,but I see they have really lost marketshare here in Michigan. It time to sitdown with that agency and put effortselsewhere,” Fisher recalled from onemember commenting.

“Our consumer behavior piecewas more of a ‘coming attraction’ toour webinar being held later thismonth for both our collision and me-chanical members. This webinar is ti-tled Loyalty vs. Reality: The Post‘Boomer’ Era,” Fisher said.

“As we see the boomers retire,we are seeing different habits evolvethat many need to be aware of or theirrepair facility will have a shelf life of5 – 10 years at most, the only excep-tion being ‘niche markets,’ I hate tosay. It is our responsibility to addressthat big elephant in the room and pro-vide this information for better busi-ness decision making and it comeswith risk – we could go the path of de-nial and rally everyone that what theydid yesterday still is effective, or wecan go the path we have chosen which

is prepare them for the new wave ofsociety and help them adapt their busi-nesses now to meet those needs of to-morrow,” Fisher said.

The webinar also reviewed mar-ket trends from Mitchell Trend Re-ports over the past seven years inMichigan, which included averagelabor rates along with paint and mate-rial rates during that time frame.

“I think the audience realized thatthe industry has done a bad job ofpassing on their increased costs whenit comes to paint and materials espe-cially," Fisher said. "I never knew ashop that waited a year or two to passon their parts price increases and ab-sorbed the difference in between. Wehave already seen some pretty savvybusiness models that have used man-agement systems to monitor these in-creases and have worked diligently toget the nickels and dimes that havebeen left on the table out of previousbad habits. The ‘cushion’ to absorb isno longer there and we are seeing thebusiness model adjust accordingly –the industry needs to in order to sur-vive.”

The webinar closed with a 50-minute briefing on the State Farm/PartsTrader pilot program.


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ASA MI Webinar Hertz will acquire Dollar Thriftyafter years of back and forth negoti-ations.

Hertz Global Holdings andDollar Thrifty Automotive Groupannounced Aug. 26 that the twocompanies have entered a definitivemerger agreement. Hertz will pur-chase Dollar Thrifty for $87.50 pershare in cash, translating into a pur-chase worth a corporate enterprisevalue of approximately $2.3 billion.

Each of the two companies’boards has unanimously approvedthe transaction.

The company stressed that the“closing of that divestiture is condi-tioned upon, among other things,Hertz completing an acquisition ofDollar Thrifty.”

Hertz chairman and chief exec-utive officer Mark Frissora said,“We are pleased to have finallyreached an agreement with DollarThrifty after a lengthy—but worth-while—pursuit. We have always be-lieved that a combination withDollar Thrifty is the best strategicoption for both companies. Thetransaction provides Hertz instantscale with two new, well-establishedbrands with airport concession in-frastructure in the mid-tier valuesegment.”

Hertz Buys Dollar Thrifty

your shop show up on the first page?Rarely, will someone go to page 2 ofthe search. For this reasons, shopsshould be frequently updating andchanging their website. Another rea-son: “You have between 5–15 secondsto capture their attention,” Terlep says.Terlep suggests shops hire an SEO(search engine optimizations) consult-ant to make sure their site is found.

Another good use of your websiteis to incorporate positive reviews andtestimonials because 82% of con-sumers select a repair facility basedon customer reviews and ratings.

Getting good online ratings andreviews is imperative to the success ofa body shop in today’s world, Terlepsays. Shops could be get getting dam-aging reviews and not even knowabout it. There are dozens of plat-

forms out in cyberspace besides Yelpthat you may have never heard of,such as Squidoo, Reddit, HubPages,StumbleUpon, FeedBurner, Weebly,and Zimbio. According to Terlep,phone-based CSI surveys will some-day soon be a thing of the past.

Most people have accidents every7–10 years. Do your customers re-member you? Your customer is yourcustomer because they had a negativeevent occur in their life. It was a hugedisruption to their daily routine. Mostpeople just want to forget and moveon. And they are probably forgettingwhere they had their car repaired. Be-cause of a customer’s tendency to for-get, Terlep says this is why body shopsneed to be continually marketing totheir existing and future customers.Terlep strongly advises shops to offerservices other than collision repair sotheir customers won’t forget them be-tween accidents. Offer these servicesas coupons in your email campaigns.


Why is digital marketingcritical to your success?• 80% of the population are Internet users• 77% of the adult population uses email• 90% of consumers do an Internet search prior to pur-chasing a product or service• Over 50% of population use Facebook• More than 50% of population have a smart phone withthe forecast of 75% by 2016• More than 300 MILLION consumers can send and receivea text message• There are more than 20,000,000 “Seniors” that are activeInternet users• 64% of mobile phone time is spent on apps• 42% of tablet users use them daily while watching TV• 82% of consumers will purchase a product/service froma company when marketed consistently for 24 months.• 81 billion minutes spent on social networking/blogs dur-ing 2011

12 Digital marketing tools yourshop should use to capture morecustomers, revenue and profit:

1. Your website

2. Online advertising—Pay Per Click

3. A powerful digital marketing database

4. An email marketing and retention platform

5. A text based marketing and retention system

6. An automated unsold estimate follow up and sales

system

7. 24/7 connectivity to consumers smart phones

8. Social media tools and techniques

9. Validated customer reviews and ratings

10. Digital ads, promotions and e-coupons

11. A customer loyalty and retention system

12. Reputation management system

at www.autobodynews.com

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Continued from Page 19

You’ll Find Them


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Audi Westmont276 E. Ogden Ave., Westmont, IL 60559Parts Direct: (630) 230.2222 / Fax: (630) 655.5750Hours: M-F 7-6 / Sat 8-4www.audiwestmont.com

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(888) 545.6900 Fax: (630) 655.5999(888) 545.6900 Fax: (630) 655.5999Phone:Phone:

Hours: M-F 7-6; Sat 8-3Hours: M-F 7-6; Sat 8-3

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So you spent a considerable amount ofmoney on your website. But now noone can find you online and it’s start-ing to look like a waste of time andmoney. Then one day a slick salesper-son calls you and catches you on thephone.

“We’re Search Engine Optimiza-tion (SEO) experts and we can get you#1 on Google or Yahoo in your areaby using our secret (hush hush) strat-egy.” They drop words like “metatags” or “embedded codes” and “hy-perlinks” and “secret keywords,” butthe only thing they’re optimizing istheir ability to fleece you for whateverthey can get.

Bryan Fikes, the managing part-ner and chief strategist at ZenergyWorks in Santa Rosa, CA, works withan assortment of mechanical and col-lision repairers to enhance their web-sites, social media and SEO and is anendorsed vendor of the AutomotiveService Councils of California(ASCCA).

“Be careful when someone prom-ises you top rankings and makes out-landish guarantees,” Fikes said.

“If someone tells you that theycan get you the #1 ranking in your cityon Google, for instance, that’s a defi-nite red flag. We never promise the topposition to any of our clients, becausethat’s an impossible claim. It all de-pends on the market you’re doingbusiness in and how long you work atit. In a narrow market with 5–10 play-ers, it’s obviously easier. But, if you’rein a larger market with 20–50 shopscompeting against you, guaranteeinga top position is ludicrous.”

Ideally SEO efforts work in closeconjunction with a plethora of othermedia and have to be maintained care-fully to reap positive results, Fikes ex-plained.

“SEO is just a spoke in a bigwheel. We do a competitive analysisfor each client, to determine what theirneeds are and how to build a plan. It

might include pay-per-click market-ing, blogs, online reputation defenseand certain forms of social media, aswell as the search optimization strate-gies that are specific to each cus-tomer.”

Zenergy Works provides long-term solutions that take time toachieve top results, Fikes said. “Manyshops want it tomorrow, but I tell themthere’s never an overnight fix. There’sno easy button when it comes to SEO,because if your competitors are alsohiring people like us, everyone isvying for those top spots. The shopsthat have embraced this science andknow how to use it will have a defi-nite advantage now and a very distinctone in the next 5–10 years.”

Mark Claypool is the Chairmanand CEO of Optima Automotive, acompany that works with body shopsnationwide to enhance their presenceonline. He has more than 25 years ofexperience in collision and is consid-ered a cutting-edge expert in SEO andsocial media.

Claypool shared some useful tipsfor shops that are currently develop-ing or re-working their websitesand/or trying to improve their SEO.

“First off, you need to refresh andadd new content to your site periodi-cally, because otherwise you’re miss-ing a wide range of SEO advantagesover your competitors. We analyze ap-proximately 50 body shops’ websitesevery month, and one of the things wesee is that many of them have been sit-ting dormant for way too long. I findsites that haven’t been changed in8–12 years, in some cases. If youdon’t change with the times, you getleft behind and you can lose yourranking fairly quickly.”

Claypool offered three quick tipsabout how to improve your SEO.“First, you need to add new content allthe time, because the search enginesare attracted to original, fresh content.You also need to make sure that your

keywords are the best you can have.There are free tools from Googleavailable to help you in determiningthat. And lastly, you should constantlybe looking around to get involved innew things like Google Places forBusiness, mobile apps and emergingsocial media.”

Managing your SEO isn’t some-thing you should assign to one ofyour techs or front office people todo on a part-time basis, Claypoolsaid. Staying on top of the most re-cent changes with Google, Yahooand Bing, for instance, is a huge, un-ending job.

“Google and Yahoo are changingtheir algorithms all the time,” Clay-pool said. “They’ve changed them atleast 400 times over the years and theonly way we can find out is by ac-cessing blogs on the subject. Googlejust recently changed their algorithmtwice and set SEO on its ear in manyways. It’s very challenging, because

the only way to learn is to constantlyuse the search engines. We can’t pre-dict what’s happening next, becausecompanies like Google don’t tell us. Ifyou’re even just 60–80 days behindthe times, you’re lost—especially in abusy area where other body shops arealso vying for improved search rank-ings.”

When it comes to SEO, findingand implementing the best keywordsavailable is crucial, Claypool said.“Devising superior keywords is a sci-ence and based on hours and hours ofresearch. This industry wants to getaway from calling them ‘body shops’and moving toward phrases like ‘col-lision repairers’ or ‘collision centers.’But, the public still uses words suchas ‘body shop’ or ‘auto body’ and‘autobody shop’ much more thananything that contains the word ‘col-lision.’ Knowing the users’ habits is abig part of devising keywords thatwork.”


with Ed Attanasio

Social Media for Shops

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

What You Don’t Know about SEO Can Cost You

[email protected] us!write us!write us!

Give us your opinion on matters affecting the industry.

w


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The Micro Group was originallyformed to focus on chrome plating carbumpers when Howard Hicks Sr.founded the business in 1948. Sincethen, it has expanded into severalother areas of the collision distributionindustry.

Current CEO, Howard Hicks Jr.began working at his father’s com-pany in 1983. His brother, John, andsisters, Tammy and Kim, continue tobe involved with this family-ownedand operated business.

Since their beginning, the MicroGroup has expanded into rim molding(manufacturing fascias) and injectionmolding. They added their paint busi-ness in 1982. The Micro Group nowconsists of three manufacturing plantsand three paint stores which servicethe greater Detroit metropolitan area,as far south as Toledo, OH. As a resultof their expansion, the Micro Groupemploys around 105 individuals whoassist in the various facets of their or-ganization.

Micro maintains a high focus oncustomer service. In discussing whatdifferentiates Micro from their com-petitors, CEO Howard Hicks Jr. citestheir “higher level of service comparedto other local distributors,” in additionto the advantages of stream-lined pro-duction and being a single-line jobber.Micro’s dedication to their customersled them to joining the Refinish Dis-tributors Alliance in April 2011, al-lowing them to offer their customersthe unique benefits that come frombeing part of the elite association.

In recognition of their efforts,Micro earned certification from theNSF Automotive Collision Parts Dis-

tributor Programearlier this year.They were one ofthe first companiesto receive this cer-tification which re-quires distributorsto possess qualitymanagement sys-

tems that address parts traceability,service and quality. This includes hav-ing ISO 9001 certified quality man-agement systems, parts traceability andinventory tracking systems, the abilityto administer a manufacturer’s recall, adefective parts procedure including acustomers’ parts complaint process,formal correction action to complaintsand an immediate recall plan. The pro-gram was developed to help close thegap in the supply chain between man-ufacturers and body shops as a re-sponse to the needs of collision repairshops, insurers and consumers.

Because Micro has receivedNSF’s certification, they are able touse the NSF Certified Distributor markon their website and promotional ma-terials, and they also appear in NSF’sonline certification listings. As a con-dition of maintaining the certification,they will be subjected to ongoing qual-ity system inspections, ensuring thatthey maintain the level of quality thatallowed them to become certified inthe first place. In response to receivingthis certification, Howard Hicks Jr.stated “We are proud to be an NSF cer-tified distributor as it is a formal recog-nition of the quality systems we havein place and continue to promote everyday. NSF Automotive Collision PartsDistributor Certification provides anopportunity for Micro Platers andPaint to compete even more effectivelywith much larger distributors in themarket.”

Since their expansion into thecollision paint industry in 1982, MicroPaint has succeeded by having a sin-gle-line focus on BASF. They are oneof few distributors nationally to offerBASF’s ColorSource line of paints,including the full line of waterbornepaints. Membership in this program isby invitation only and was developedto assist BASF distributors whochoose to only distribute BASF prod-

ucts; additionally, this designationqualifies Micro to support programscreated specifically for the Color-Source program which are not offeredto other BASF distributors. Micro alsooffers BASF’s Glasurit and R-M prod-ucts which are all covered under aworldwide lifetime warranty.

Howard Hicks Jr. has developed aclose rapport with BASF which led tohim serving on the BASF Jobber Coun-cil where he was instrumental in aidingwith the development of the Color-Source program for single-line jobbers.In regards to BASF’s Sales Manage-ment team, Hicks notes “they’re superguys who’ve taught me a lot about thebusiness. They’re sharp, insightful busi-nessmen who know the ins and outs ofthe business and were happy to sharetheir knowledge. They’ve contributed alot to our success.”

In addition to BASF paint prod-ucts, Micro Paint also offers a completeline of body shop paint supplies to sup-port their customers’ needs. They offera complete line of supplies from 3M,Norton, Devilbiss, SATA, IWATA,Fusor, Maguiars, Upol, Evercoat, Ger-son, SEM, Wurth, USC, Hercules,Mack (brushes), and Klean-Strip.Micro Auto Paint has three locations inWayne, Highland Park and Flint,Michigan. Their Highland Park loca-tion can be reached at 313-865-4205.

For customers who purchase re-placement parts from Micro PlatersSales, Micro Platers guarantees confi-dence that the parts will conform to thehighest industry standards for fit and fin-ish. They stock only quality replacementparts, including CAPA Certified Parts,and they are certified as an ISO9001:2008 company. Micro Platers’ manufac-turing plant is located in Highland Park,MI and can be reached at 313-865-4200or 800-896-4276.

Micro Chrome specializes in dualnickel plating for the automotive, mo-torcycle and marine industries using a“Show Chrome Finish”. They strive torespect and handle every part with thecare it deserves because they know thatthese parts hold significant value fortheir customers. As a result of the shiftto plastic bumpers, Micro Rim was de-veloped in 1991. Micro Rim manufac-tures bumpers daily and stock many

standard bumpers. They specialize inclass-A paintable plastic molding ofprototype and production parts, andthey are currently the only American-owned and made bumper manufacturer.

Micro Rim boasts the use ofCAD design to aid customers in mak-ing their ideas a reality. They can workfrom whatever technical detail isbrought to them to develop a working3D CAD model, and from there, theycan develop an exact CAD model forproduction. They also provide design,reverse engineering, tool design, and

tool manufacturing. In addition, theyoffer custom packing and labeling fortheir customers. Micro Rim offerscustomers the option of having theirmolded parts painted using BASFColorSource paints through MicroPaint; the paints meet auto quality ad-herence standards and satisfaction isguaranteed.

Micro Rim is also environmen-tally conscientious. They use recycledmaterials in the manufacturing processwith carefully considered productstrength requirements. Excess materi-als are recycled for use in future plas-tic injection molding activities. MicroRim’s manufacturing plant is locatedin Highland Park, MI and be reachedat 313-865-1090 or 800-896-4276.

Each of the Micro Group’s divi-sions offer their customers the assur-ance of a family-owned and operatedcompany. According to their website,when you work with Micro, “yourchallenge becomes our challenge. Welearn as you learn. We become better asyour product develops. Every projectwe take becomes part of who we are.Your project is our pride, our passion.”

Corporate Offices: 221 Victor Road,Highland Park, MI 48203 P. 313.865.4200 F. 313.865.1180

Micro Group Covers Greater Detroit To Toledo

with Chasidy Rae SiskCompany Connections

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

Howard Hicks, Jr.


®

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Victory HondaPlymouth

800-824-4646734-453-3600

Dept. Hours:M 7:30-8; Tue-F 7:30-6; Sat 8-4

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Bob Rohrman HondaLafayet te

800-488-3537765-448-1000

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

Bosak HondaHighland

800-542-6725219-922-3102

Dept. Hours:M 8-5; Tue 8-8 W, Thu, F 8-5; Sat [email protected]

Honda WestInd ianapol is

800-806-6404317-299-3723

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Russ Darrow HondaMilwaukee

888-318-1671414-586-5401

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Wilde HondaWaukesha

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Carr’s HondaChicago

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Honda Superstoreof Lisle

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Jay HondaBedford

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Continental Acuraof NapervilleChicago/Suburbs888-711-1506630-960-2175

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McGrath Acura ofMorton GroveMorton Grove

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Muller’s Woodfield AcuraHoffman Estates866-475-9280

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www.autobodynews.comwww.autobodynews.com

AUTOMAKER, OEM, AND RECALLAUTOMAKER, OEM, AND RECALL

, ,, , ,R OEMR OEMR, OEMAUTOMAKER, OEM, OAUTOMAKER, OEM,AUTOMAKER, OEM,AUTOMAKER, OEM, OAU OM R AU OM R AUTOMAKER AUTOMAKER, OEM,O AUTOMAKER, OEM,AUTOMAKER, OEM,AUTOMAKER, OEM,O , , M M M,U U U M M MR R R E E EE E E K K K M M M T T T K K K A A A A A A E E KE A A A AK AK AK MA MA MA U U U M M MM M M R K K K O O O AUTOMAKER, OEM, DDNNNNA DDDDANDANDDDNNNNAAAAANANDNNDDAND A C EC C R L A C EC R R R C C C RE RE R R R L L L L L L A A A E E E CA CA AL AL LL LL L L R RECALLAUTOMAKER, OEM, AND RECALL

Autobody News October 2012MICHIGAN • OHIO • INDIANA • ILLINOIS • WISCONSIN


Suzuki Recalls Forenza, RenoNearly 102,000 Suzuki Forenza andReno sedans are being recalled byAmerican Suzuki Motor Corp. Thesmall cars have wiring issues that maycause the headlamps to work only in-termittently, according to the NationalHighway Traffic Safety Administration(NHTSA). Sudden loss of illuminationreduces driver visibility and increasesthe risk of collision, warns the safetyagency. According to NHTSA, poorcontact between the terminals of certainwires can generate heat in the wires ofthe 2004-06 Suzuki Forenza and the2005-06 Suzuki Reno that lead to thecars’ headlights.

2013 Range Rover UnveiledAn all–new Range Rover has justbeen unveiled, and while it featuresevolutionary styling, there's been acomplete revolution beneath the skin.

Most significantly, the new carswaps the steel body of the currentRange Rover for an all-aluminiumstructure, which is around 39% lighter.

That weight saving—along withother smaller ones and improved aero-dynamics—helps make the new RangeRover both faster and more efficient thanan equivalent version of the current car.In addition, it has allowed Land Rover tooffer a new entry-level V6 diesel.

Ford Issues Third Recall of2013 Escape for Fire RiskFord Motor Co. issued a third re-call of its newly launched 2013 Es-cape on Sept. 5, saying animproperly installed part couldcause a fire in the engine compart-ment.

The recall affects about 7,600Escapes equipped with a 1.6-literengine and built between Oct. 5,2011, and Aug. 31, 2012. In someof these SUVs, a component calleda cup plug was not installed prop-erly, Ford spokeswoman MarceyZwiebel said.

A loose or dislodged plugwould cause an immediate loss ofengine coolant. If the glycol con-centration in the coolant comes incontact with the hot engine com-ponents, it may catch fire.

The new Escape was re-designed for the 2013 model year.The latest recall is the second dueto a fire risk.

Ford recalled the vehicle forthe first time in July to correct acarpeting flaw that could causebraking problems.

Days later, Ford recalled theEscape again, citing a fuel lineproblem that could cause an enginefire. The issue forced Ford to takethe rare step of telling owners tostop driving immediately.

Zwiebel said the cup plug de-fect is not related to the fuel lineissue. Ford has determined there isa low likelihood of a plug dislodg-ing and an “even lower likelihood”of a fire, she said. Replacementparts are available at dealershipsnow. About 6,150 of the vehi-cles affected by the plug issue arein the United States and 1,300 arein Canada. No customer vehicleshave caught fire, but in mid-Au-gust an Escape caught fire on adealer lot in Tennessee.

The plugs at issue were man-ually installed at a Ford engineplant in England, Zwiebel said.Manual installation at that timewas used as a back-up when theautomated systems were havingproblems, something that Zwiebelsaid is no longer the case.

General Motors has again stoppedChevrolet Volt production. Accordingto Automotive News, the Volt’s De-troit-Hamtramck plant will be shutdown for four weeks—from Septem-ber 17 until October 15. This will af-fect about 1,500 workers. Earlier thisyear, the plant was shut down becauseGM had a 150-day supply of Volts, butsales have been good this summer.Still, AN says, as of August 1, GM hadan 84-day supply. There may be moreinventory than demand justifies. Somedeals have surfaced recently that areconsidered underpriced.

GM Halts Chevy Volt Production

Fire Causes Karma RecallFisker has been in the hot seat due totroubles with its Karma extended-rangehybrid-electric luxury sedan that re-sulted in two recalls, ownership hic-cups, and more recently the secondKarma to catch fire. The first one tocombust was in Texas earlier this year,the second one in California. The mostrecent incident has been traced to afaulty cooling fan, and the companyvoluntarily issued its third recall overthe weekend.

Incident investigators, includingFisker engineers and an independentfire expert, isolated the combustioncause to a sealed fan component thathad an internal fault, leading to over-heating and eventually a slow-burningfire. Notably, this problem is not directlyconnected to the battery pack or power-train.

Fisker has contacted its dealers,who will reach out to the approximately1,000 owners to have the cooling fan re-placed. In addition, a protective fusewill be added.

Ram 1500 Pickups Will be Firstto Offer Hands Free TextingThe 2013 Ram 1500 pickup will be thefirst American–built vehicle to offerhands-free voice responses to text mes-sages.

“We would like people to put theirphones away and drive,” said JoniChristensen, Chrysler Group’s head ofmarketing for its UConnect mobiletelecommunication systems.

The new pickup uses a com-puter–generated voice to read receivedtext messages aloud. Connecting to aseparate ‘cloud-based’ server, the drivercan then vocally dictate a response.

The message is voiced back to thedriver and, upon vocal approval, it issent through a Bluetooth-connectedcellphone as text.

“We know that although it is dan-gerous and illegal in many states, peopleare still pulling out their cellphoneswhile driving to text message,” Chris-tensen said.

“Some, especially young peoplewe call ‘screen-agers,’ actually don’ttalk on their phones as much as theycommunicate through text,” he said.

“This is a generation that does notknow life without the Internet, but this istechnology that can make using cell-phones safer.”

The new texting capabilities wereannounced when the extensively re-designed pickup was introduced to themotoring press in Nashville, TN.

The Ram 1500 pickup will be indealerships by the end of September.

Nissan Recalls 2012 InfinitiNissan’s luxury-badged 2013 InfinitiJX35 sport-utility vehicles are beingrecalled for a defect in the fuel gaugesystem, said the National HighwayTraffic Safety Administration(NHTSA). The fuel gauges in morethan 7,800 Infiniti SUVs may displayhigher levels of fuel than what’s ac-tually in the tanks, which may causedrivers to unexpectedly run out ofgas.

The company has told theNHTSA that the fuel gauge problemwith the Infiniti JX35 SUV is due toa fuel transfer tube inside the vehi-cle’s fuel tank. During production ofthe SUV, the tube was incorrectlyrouted, which subsequently preventsthe internal fuel level float sensorfrom properly measuring the amountof gas in the tank.

Last month, the federal safetyagency also began a probe of the In-finiti JX35’s brakes. At issue is theDriver Assistance Package, which au-tomatically applies the SUV’s brakesbased on the vehicle’s on-board radarsensors.

GM Recalls 2012 SonicsGeneral Motors Co is recalling nearly45,000 2012 Chevrolet Sonic cars tofix faulty windshield wiper reservoirs.

The Detroit automaker said thewindshield wiper washer hose on44,668 Sonic vehicles may separatefrom the washer fluid reservoir. If thishappens, washer fluid will not be avail-able to the windshield. GM said a lackof washer fluid could impede the dri-ver’s view, increasing the risk of a crash.

GM dealers will ensure the washerhose is properly connected to the reser-voir. The automaker said it notifieddealers on Aug. 14 and notified ownerson Sept. 7. GM said it had an elevatednumber of warranty reports of separat-ing washer hoses and an investigationfound an inappropriate lubricant used inthe assembly process was to blame.


For collision repairers concernedabout the impact of insurance man-dated parts procurement models andlooking to gain more knowledge onthe impact they have had in otherglobal markets, the 2012 SEMAShow is a perfect venue to gather in-formation.

As part of the Society of Colli-sion Repair Specialists’ (SCRS) Re-pairer Driven Education (RDE)series, registrants will be able to par-ticipate in an interactive presenta-tion with Rex Crowther, Editor ofPanel Talk Magazine in NewZealand, and David Newton-Ross,Editor of The National Collision Re-pairer in Australia and The NZ Col-lision Repairer.

The two hour session, ‘BiddingWars: A Global View on the PossibleEconomic Impact of Insurer Involve-ment in Parts Procurement,’ is set forNov. 1 at 12:30. To register for thisRDE seminar or to find other semi-nars being offered, please visitwww.semashow.com/scrs.

While online bidding require-ments for parts procurement haveonly recently entered the U.S. market,

other countries such as New Zealandhave dealt with parts tendering man-

dates by carriersfor many years.This session willprovide attendeeswith a global per-spective on theeconomic impactof NZ based bid-ding programs,procedural im-

pacts the program has had on cycletimes and estimating practices, andchanges the program has had on re-pairer/supplier relationships. It willalso include a historical overview ofthe national rollout, changes made tothe program along the way, and mar-ket impact from inception to presentday; including an oration of marketresponse at various points throughoutthe past eight-plus years.

“Having seen firsthand the im-pact PartsTrader has had on the in-dustry here in NZ and hearing howdifferent both PartsTrader and StateFarm are saying it is going to be inthe U.S., I struggle to see any ad-vantage for repairers, or much real

advantage for State Farm,” sharedCrowther who has been involved inthe NZ collision repair industrysince 1967.

“This makes me suspicious of theend game, as all repairers’ margins arevulnerable through this program andsurely any insurer is out to maximizetheir profits for their stakeholders.”

Crowther is no stranger to re-pairer reaction to the launch of pro-grams such as these, as former ownerof two Auckland, NZ based repair fa-cilities for 28 years, and before hesold the business. Crowther served asthe Executive Chairman of the NewZealand Collision Repair Associationfrom 1999 to 2004, representing amembership base that performedmore that 80% of the insurance paidcollision repair work in the country.He has also served on the board of I-CAR NZ for the last ten years andwas chairman for two years prior tostepping down in April of this year;and since 2004 Rex has been on theboard of the Motor Industry TrainingOrganisation (MITO), which is re-sponsible for all motor industry ap-prentice and advanced training.

Rex is passionate about the colli-sion repair industry and keen to helppeople on their journey from collisionrepairer to successful business owner.

“The real winners of this programare the shoddy suppliers and the dis-organized repairers in NZ becausefrom our experience, PartsTraderdoes not discriminate between thegood and the average,” he concluded.

“While the pro-gram in itself canbe a good tool fordifficult-to-findparts, especiallyhere in NZ withour huge recycledparts market, itcertainly has ahuge detrimental

effect on relationships between sup-pliers and repairers when its use andparts margins are mandated. It is notunusual for a parts supply that previ-ously would have taken 24 hours toreceive, to now take three to fourdays; despite reports from the U.S.proponents that say it will improvethe parts supply process and effi-ciency.”

SCRS Presents International Perspective on Parts Procurement

David Newton RossAustralia

Rex CrowtherNew Zealand

by Ed Attanasio

When you call your rebuilt car “BlueHeaven,” AKA “Bad to the Blue,” youbetter have something special.

We all know how a restored car

can go from sitting in a backyard tobecoming a beautiful piece of auto-motive art, but it doesn’t happen bychance. In this case, it took a pair ofmaster painters/artistslike Tom and MitchKelly from Kelly &Sons Crazy Paintersin southern Californiato take this 1957Chevrolet and convertit into a highly-col-lectible one-of-a-kindshowroom gem.When the Kellys fi-nally complete thiscurrent project andunveil it at this year’sSEMA show, therewill be more than justa few “oohs!” and “aahs!” along theway. There may be some outstandingreviews and maybe even a magazinecover in this classic vehicle’s immedi-

ate future.The history behind this vehicle and

Tom and Mitch’s role in the story goesback several years, Mitch Kelly ex-plained. “This car was sitting right nextto my house for the longest time. It be-

longed to my neigh-bor’s father. I waslooking at it one dayand I thought, hey—let’s buy this car andfix it up for SEMA.That way, when mydad and I are standingthere at the PPG booth[Kelly’s main sponsor],it will give peoplesomething to look atand something we cantalk about. My neigh-bor agreed to the sale,so we started workingon it.”

With more than 200 hours ofwork into “Blue Heaven,” Tom andMitch are thrilled about how the carwill look when completed and ready

for the SEMA floor. “It’s going to getsome attention, that’s for sure,” Mitchsaid. “The plan is to keep it and showit for at least the next year. Unless

someone makes me acrazy offer on the car,I want to keep it, be-cause we’re so proudof it and the work thatwent into it.”

Some notable en-hancements to his ’57Chevy include CrazyPaint’s signature “sur-prise graphics,” whichappear underneath thecar’s hood on the en-gine firewall, Mitchexplained. “Whenpeople see this car,

they want to look at the engine,” Mitchsaid. “So, we’re giving them some-thing new and different to look atwhen the hood’s up. It just adds a dif-ferent look and is a conversationstarter. We’re always searching forways to make our cars stand out, anddoing things like unex-pected graphics is oneway to achieve that.”

Here are the de-tails of the build, ex-plained by Mitch in aReader’s Digest-style.“We used PPG Envi-robase and their 280primer, as well as theirECS-27 Black Envi-robase sealer. The En-virobase is easy toapply and we’re adeptat using it. The fin-ished product is superior and I lovethis PPG blue.”

When Mitch took possession ofthe car and started breaking it down,he and his crew discovered somethingunique about their Chevy. “When itcame back from sandblasting, itlooked like nothing I’d ever seen. We

quickly found out it has a very rarespecialty racing frame. Back then,Chevrolet had to manufacture a fewcars that could meet NASCAR’s re-quirements and make them availableto the general public in addition to theracing community. So, we had a gem

here and we didn’t even know it untilwe were into the build.”

Companies that Tom and MitchKelly want to thank for contributingtheir products and time to buildingtheir 1957 Chevy Blue Dream includeClassic Performance Products inAnaheim , CA, that provided the A-

A Little Piece of ‘57 Chevy Blue Heaven to Debut at SEMA


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Mitch Kelly of Kelly & Sons Crazy Painters in Bellflower, Californiareadies his SATA spray gun as he begins painting his classic 1957Chevrolet, to be displayed at this year’s SEMA show in Las Vegas

“Blue Heaven” will soon be a shining blue star for Kelly & SonsCrazy Painters and their sponsors at SEMA

After purchasing the car, Mitch Kelly discovered that it has aspecial racing frame that was made for use in NASCAR racesand available on a limited basis to the public

If you look closely, you can see the vehicle’s “surprise graphics”on its engine firewall

arms, power steering brakes, gas tankand front suspension; American Rac-ing for wheels, called the Burnout se-ries; Quick Cut sanders distributed byAll-American Tool Corp., in Orting,WA; SATA Spray Guns; Kaeser air

compressors; sandpaper from SurfPrep; and waxes, polishes, and clean-ers from Mothers Polish in Hunting-ton Beach, CA. By collaborating withtheir sponsoring companies and usingtheir best-of-the-best products, Tomand Mitch Kelly can build a vehiclelike this amazing 1957 Chevy.

“Without our sponsors, we’d beleft hanging. With their help and theirtop-tier products, we’re able to create

an amazing vehicle,” Mitch said. “Wescored with this build, because nowwe have a very unique finished prod-uct and something we’re anxious toshow at SEMA.”

On the morning of SEMA’s open-ing day, (Tuesday, Oc-tober 30) “BlueHeaven” will be sittingunder a Covers Directcar cover at SATA’sbooth (#10609), await-ing an unveiling thatwill take place be-tween 10–11 a.m. Atthat same time, SATAwill be displaying theirnew SATAjet 4000 BCamouflage sprayguns, Mitch said. “Noone is going to see this

vehicle until we pull that cover off of it,so if you’re there, stop by and get thefirst look at this car.”

Tom and Mitch Kelly will both beon hand to display their artwork andsign posters at SEMA’s PPG booth(#24501) every day during the entireshow, Kelly said. “Come see all of thePPG products we used on this beauti-ful classic car. It’s our SEMA surpriseand we’re obviously very proud of it!”


Tom Kelly holding the concept rendering of “Blue Heaven”

CREF Reception at SEMA Invites All with RSVPMembers of the collision industry areinvited to a reception highlighting theCollision Repair Education Founda-tion’s work.

The reception will be held duringthis year’s SEMA Show, on Oct. 30from 9:30 p.m. to 11 p.m. at The LasVegas Hotel (formerly a Hilton prop-

erty). At the event, attendees will learnabout the Education Foundation’swork in supporting collision repair stu-dents, and donors and supporters willbe acknowledged. The EducationFoundation will also announce twoschools who will be chosen for the2012 Ultimate Collision EducationMakeover grant, a $50,000 gift.

“We hope the industry will joinus during this reception, as we not

only will be highlighting our indus-try supporters and hear directly fromcollision instructors on what the mil-lions of dollars in donations hasmeant to them, but we will be an-nouncing both the secondary andpost-secondary makeover grant win-ners,” said Clark Plucinski, execu-

tive director of the EducationFoundation. “The collision indus-try should be celebrating the factthat, through their support, the Ed-ucation Foundation has gone fromproviding $300,000 in support in2008, to $4.1 million last year, andwe plan on providing over $10million annually to schools by theend of next year. This is only pos-sible through the industry’s directinvolvement with collision stu-dents and instructors nationwide.Please join us as we celebrate our

recent successes in providing sup-port and learn about our work to-wards enhancing the industry’sfuture.”

Anyone who wants to attend thereception will need to RSVP by e-mailing [email protected]. Forquestions, call Associate Director ofDevelopment Brandon Eckenrode at847-463-5244 or e-mail him at [email protected].

Clark Plucinski

The Mississippi Collision Repair As-sociation met Aug. 20 to discuss howshops can collect the balance on shortpaid claims. Attorney Melvin Paceexplained how by having vehicleowners sign Power of Attorneys togive shops the right to make repair de-cisions and collect all money owed forrepairs. The newly revived associationhas plans to expand in north and southMississippi. The next meeting will beheld in Gulfport, MS, on Sept. 20 andthe October meeting will be held innorth Mississippi.

“Our goal is to have three well-or-ganized districts addressing the localmembers’ needs on a regular basis,”said acting president John Mosley.

“We will have the membershipvote on having a statewide meeting/con-vention annually.” The MCRA recentlysubmitted a survey to their membership,addressing training, database providers,warranties, paint booths and other is-sues. The questions on the survey in-cluded:

“Do you use the procedure pagesto prepare estimates?” Every shop an-swered ‘yes.’

“Are there any procedures identi-fied by your database as not includedin the published repair labor alloca-tion which you do not intend to bepaid for? If so, please identify them.”

The conclusion was 100% in thatevery shop intends to be paid for all therequired performed procedures. Notone shop identified a procedure theydid not expect to be paid for.

“This association intends to seekfair treatment for its members fromthe insurance industry,” Mosley said.“We will no longer sit back and havean industry tell the member shops ‘Iwon’t pay this because you’re theonly one in this market area asking tobe paid.’ This is a deceptive tacticused to intimate or scare a small busi-ness and it will not be tolerated anylonger. Not in Mississippi, anyhow.

“The member shops are growingand are learning we can stand togetherunited in a cause while competing forbusiness in a fair manner. More shopowners are realizing we are not ene-mies because we seek the same cus-tomer. As allies, we have a powerfulvoice. Our voice is being heard.”

“15 and Counting,” answers RayGunder. “That’s how many insurers,since this past August, have seen fit topay our revised labor rates rather thanto try and legally defeat what wedeem to be ‘reasonable and neces-sary!’”

Gunder goes onto state: “It’s beena busy few weeks,and while 14 ofthe 15 insurersconceded withoutso much as awhimper, InfinityInsurance needed

a bit of persuasion. With the help ofour legal counsel, Attorney BrentGeohagan’s representation of Gun-der’s Auto Center, Inc., they toocame to the right conclusion and arepaying our new labor rates for bodyand refinishing, as well as an ele-vated labor rate for frame/unibodyrepair. Of course they are also pay-ing applicable legal fees and costsfor the lawsuit as well.”

Gunder has 12 current lawsuitspending against State Farm, Allstate,USAA and GEICO for their failure to

pay “reasonable and necessary” al-lowances for labor and materials andfive lawsuits against the insurers forlabor rates alone.

“I can’t express what a feeling offreedom and an incredible sense of in-dependence it gives me to once againhave control over my business and itsdestiny,” said the founder of the Cen-tral Florida-based 44-yearold collisionrepair shop.

“For the first time in a long time,I able to offer my employees a payraise! They have stuck with methrough thick and thin and it’s timethey were rewarded for their loyaltyand support.”

Gunder went on to say, “Likemany, I suppose, I’d forgotten what itwas like to operate my business with-out other’s telling me what I could andcouldn’t do.”


Gunder’s Has 15 Insurers Paying New Labor Rate

Ray Gunder

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Mississippi Collision Repair AssociationPlans to Expand to the North and South

The Automotive Service and RepairWeek (ASRW) Industry Forum isscheduled for Friday, Oct. 12, from8:30–10:15 a.m. and will again featurecollision and mechanical specific ses-sions.

Tickets for the forum are includedin the purchase of a Super Pass or maybe purchased individually during on-line registration or on-site for $50. At-tendees may select the forum sessionsof their choice.

“More than ever, the ASRW In-dustry Forum sessions are addressingthe most current, controversial topicson both sides of the industry, and par-ticipants can expect not only livelydiscussion, but thought-provokingcomments from those at the center ofeach issue,” stated Ron Pyle, ASApresident.

The schedule for the forum is:8:30 AM–9:15 AM: What Else Is in theBox? More Than Just the Part! (me-chanical)

Top manufacturer members of theAutomotive Aftermarket SuppliersAssociation (AASA) will discuss theintangibles and value-added services

that go into quality parts in this paneldiscussion including:● What goes into a product from con-cept, design, testing, manufacturing,distribution and service after the sale.● Brief comments on specificprocesses followed by their respectivecompanies to ensure the highest qual-ity products.● Question-and-answer session withattendees.

Moderated by: Jack Cameron,AASA vice president. Panelists in-clude: Bobby Bassett, Gates Corp.;Scott Howat, Affinia; and Jack Voll-brecht, Remy International.

Insurance Panel Discussion (collision)The insurance panel discussion willfocus on where the insurance industryis headed, and provide the audiencewith an understanding of where thesemajor insurers see their industrygoing, including:● Consolidation of the market● Integration of cloud computing● Retaining their policy holders.Moderated by: Dan Stander, AAM,Fix Auto Highlands Ranch.Panelists include: George Avery, State

Farm Insurance; Randy Hanson, All-state Insurance; Robert Knott, Na-tionwide Insurance; and JamesSpears, USAA.

9:30 AM–10:15 AM: Paving the Roadto Success: The Next Generation (me-chanical)Moderated by: Dave Kusa, AutotrendDiagnostics. Panelists include: TaylorHill, Larson’s Service Inc.; Josh A.Ingram, AAM, Colchin Automotive& Diesel Inc.; and Charles “Chip”Wright, Pete’s Garage Inc.

A special thanks to these individ-uals who served as consultants to thissession: Pete Rudloff (coach), Pete’sGarage Inc.; and Amanda ClementsMooney (adviser), C&C AutomotiveInc.

Parts Supplier Panel Discussion (colli-sion)The parts supplier forum discussionwill focus on the pressures of the in-dustry from the suppliers’ perspective,including:● How suppliers distinguish them-selves through distributor certificationand customer service; and

● How suppliers interact with infor-mation providers in bringing theirparts to market.

Moderated by: Denise Caspersen,Automotive Service Association (ASA).Panelists include: Mike Dolabi, Na-tional Autobody Parts Warehouse;Terry Fortner, Keystone/LKQ; andDan Morrisey, PartsChannel Inc.

The ASRW Industry Forum wascreated in 2010 as a professional plat-form for interactive discussion of theindustry’s hottest, most current topics.

Sponsors for the event include theNational Auto Body Council (NABC),the Collision Repair Education Foun-dation (CREF), Women’s Industry Net-work (WIN), National Institute forAutomotive Service Excellence (ASE)and the Automotive Management In-stitute (AMI). All proceeds from theforum benefit the training and educa-tion of these organizations.


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ASRW Announces Content, Speakers for Industry Forum, Oct. 12

Read all our RegionalEditions Online at:


I've written about ways to use the cus-tomer information form to build busi-ness many times, but I still comeacross estimators who either expectfront desk people to handle it and thenignore it, or just capture the minimuminfo about the vehicle and insurancecompany. Somehow many estimatorssimply don't understand the value ofthis form as a sales and profit tool.Perhaps an estimator's boss, the shopowner or manager, foolishly pays es-timators a flat rate with no meaning-ful incentive to increase businessvolume and profits, but even estima-tors I know who are paid incentivesstill fail to use the form intelligently. Ihave to conclude they simply don'tgrasp the real meaning or value of thisform.

This form may be one of the mostvaluable of all forms in a shop! Usedproperly it can open the door to busi-ness and family referrals, providemany ways to make a customer a cus-tomer for life, and a wealth of ways toclose the sale. In addition to the obvi-ous questions like family and chil-dren's birthdays, anniversaries, andother key events, a good info sheetasks for business or employer info andany company vehicle info. A lazy esti-mator will expect front desk people tocapture as much info as they can, but asmart estimator seizes the opportunityto talk with the customer and fill in theform for him or her. A smart ownersends out birthday, anniversary andholiday greetings, but a smarter esti-

mator gets to ask about other familymembers and associates and their ve-hicles. This is a perfect time to offer afamily or company discount or free carwash or detail to bring in other familymembers or business associates.

While all of this should be stan-dard customer sales mining, there isan even more important sales use forthis form. With the sluggish economy,vehicles are being kept longer. One es-timate is now eleven years on average.This means that people keeping theirvehicles longer may not be addingcollision coverage to their auto insur-ance. This has increased the volumeof self-pay jobs to what may be 20percent or more for many shops. Un-fortunately if the estimator hasn't usedthe info form to see if it's an insurancepay or self-pay job, he or she mightwrite an estimate that assumes an in-surance level of payment to restore thevehicle to pre-accident condition. Ifthe estimator knows it will be a self-pay job, he or she will usually ask thecustomer just how much restoration isdesired and how much the person'sbudget will bear. Knowing there is alimited budget, an estimator may sug-gest used or aftermarket parts andother cost-saving measures.

I spoke to one estimator recentlywho told me most self-pay jobs werevery low-priced minor repairs thatprobably cost more to process thanthey were worth. I asked if this wasalways true, and he had to admit thatoccasionally they would get a self-pay

job worth many thousands of dollars.He had to admit that a couple of thesejobs would compensate for a greatmany low or no-profit jobs and that itwas probably still worth while to takethe time to do the self-pays when theycame along. Once again, the customerinformation form could be a key toprofitable self-pay. When faced with athousand-dollar deductible, evensome insurance-covered damagemight be profitably converted to self-pay. Most people know that if theyhave the insurance company pay forrepairs, there is a fair chance their pre-mium will rise. A repair job in the$2000 range with a $1000 deductiblecould easily be a wash if the probabil-ity of a premium rate increase is fac-tored in. And if the job becameself-pay, once again the estimatorcould show the customer ways theycould reduce the cost of the repair(without reducing the shop's profit).

The low-budget self-pay indica-

tion on the form is just one heads-upadvantage for the estimator. A moreprofitable opportunity might be sug-gested for more affluent types. Somecustomers might choose to replace anexternal part with a more cosmeticallyappealing part and be willing to payfor an upgrade. Pinstriping, graphics,clear-bra or other paint-related add-ons might be suggested. Motherstransporting children or pets might bein the market for additional safetyitems or restraints. Truck ownersmight be interested in any number ofadd-ons. Handicapped people couldbe looking for a specific upgrade likea power running board. A careful read-ing of the form can reveal many pos-sibilities before even looking at thevehicle. Handled properly, the cus-tomer information form can be a win-dow into the customer's mind. Thatlittle bit of information mining couldturn into some gold mining for theshop.


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On Creative Marketingwith Thomas Franklin

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

A recent study by the Nebraska AutoBody Association (NABA) showedthat the average repair bill for a col-lision-damaged vehicle was $2,593during the first quarter of 2012. In-surers used policyholders’ reservesto pay for 72% of repairs performedby Nebraska collision shops, while24% of payments were paid directlyby customers.

OEM parts accounted for 51%of parts used. Certified aftermarketparts accounted for 32%, while recy-cled parts were used 14%.

Regarding sales during the firstquarter of 2012 compared to the first

quarter of 2011, 50% of shops re-ported no change, 8% of shops re-ported an increase and 42% of shopsreported a decrease in sales.

A surprise was the number ofshops that did not have any DRP af-filiations. Approximately 58% ofsurvey respondents did not have anyDRPs, 8% participated in one DRPand another 8% belonged to twoDRPs. Finally, 17% of respondentsbelonged to two DRPs and 8% saidthey were on at least six DRPs.

The average number of years inbusiness was 24, and 76% of shopssaid they were family-owned.

NABA Announces Survey Results

consumer will chose the shop that isin their best interest.”

For CARA membership, a shopowner or manager must directly workin the collision repair industry. Mem-

bership dues are $300 annually forbasic shop ownership. CARA is affil-iated with the Automotive Educationand Policy Institute, U.S. Alliance ofCollision Professionals, The Societyof Collision Repair Specialists andThe Coalition for Collision Repair Ex-cellence.

CARA offers its members AMItraining through corporate sponsor,BASF, as well as legal documents andconsumer informational brochures, allat no charge. Finney notes that he alsonegotiates with vendors for purchas-ing discounts available to associationmembers; some include rebates tomembers for purchases madethrough associate, or vendor,members. CARA also spon-sors conventions, seminarsand phone consultation tothose needing information orproblem resolution.

Although CARA doesnot have a lobbyist, Finneyhas met on many occasionswith the Ohio Department ofInsurance, as well as the OhioAttorney General’s Office of Con-sumer Protection on behalf of con-sumers and CARA members.

He notes that the association is fo-cusing on a number of insurance-in-dustry issues: underpayment of claims,suppression of labor rates, unrealisticreimbursements on paint materials,OEM parts, steering and overall con-trol issues.

Assisting Finney are CARAboard members Dave Weber, DawnHilty, Dave Aman, Vickie Westfalland Rob Alexander.

Alexander is the manager atBrown Body & Paint Center, whichhas been a member for four years. TheToledo-based 86-year-old dealer’sbody shop has been in the current lo-cation since 1989.

“CARA empowers customers tochoose the repair facility and not letan insurer (the fox guarding the hen

house) decide,” he says.CARA also stresses that

“body shops are our busi-nesses—regardless how largeor how small—and we don’tbelong to an insurance com-pany,” Alexander says.

“As owners and managers,we are responsible for theirexistence and we are the oneswho set pricing because everyone of us has a unique set ofexpenses and or overhead thatis not always applicable to all

shops,” he adds. “We deserve to getpaid, so charge enough to make aprofit!”

One of his customers, who wasthe benefactor of quality repair andgood service at the shop, told him thatit’s clear to consumers that body shopsand insurance companies are fightingover what he called “surplus”—thatbody shop profit is an expense for in-surance companies and the discountsand or missed shop billing opportuni-ties are additional profit for insurers.

“Even an outsider can see the in-appropriate methods of business beingpracticed by insurance companies,”

Alexander says. “But, because of myassociation affiliations, I was able tohelp my customer make a choice thatwas best for him and his family.”

ASA-OhioThe larger ASA-Ohio is based inColumbus and is an affiliate memberof Colleyville, Texas-based Automo-tive Service Association (ASA),which serves the automotive serv-ice/repair industry internationallythrough education, representation andmember services. With 300-plus

members statewide, the Ohio grouphas been associated with the nationalorganization, and its predecessors,since 1955.

That year, the organization wasestablished as the Independent GarageOwners of Ohio, Inc. and was affili-ated with what was then known as theIndependent Garage Owners of Amer-ica, Inc. (IGOA). This became ASC(Automotive Service Counsel) whicheventually merged with other organi-zations to become the ASA.

One ASA-Ohio member, RonNagy, AAM, owner of Nagy’s Colli-sion Centers, Orrville, is the chairmanof ASA’s national board of directorsand is serving his second year aschairman of NACE, Oct. 10–13, inNew Orleans.

The ASA-Ohio Board of Direc-tors is elected annually from the des-ignated region by the regionalmembership to represent each disci-pline—collision and mechanical.These are Mark Boutwell, AAM,Boutwell Collision Center (Findlay);Joseph Brinkman, Brinkman ServiceCenter (Minster); Dennis Sterwerf,AAM, Fairfield Auto & Truck Serv-ice; Jeremiah Friesner, Jeremiah’sAutomotive Service (Heath); Jeff

Eggleston, Jeff’s Automotive Repair(New Carlisle); and Dane Patterson,Jasper Engines & Transmissions(Columbus).

Six members become officers onthe Executive Committee by votingmembers of the board from a ballotpresented by the Nominating Com-mittee. These are President/ChairmanJoe Sanfillipo, III, USA Collision

Centers (Harrisonand Cincinnati);Immediate PastPresident DanielTorbeck, Tor-beck’s Auto Re-pair (Cincinnati);President-ElectJamie Chilcoat,

AAM, C & C Tire of Harrison; Me-chanical Division Chairman MattOverbeck, Overbeck Auto ServicesInc. (Cincinnati); Treasurer FrankEich, Southside Automotive Inc.(Youngstown); and Assistant Treas-urer Joseph Brinkman, BrinkmanService Center (Minster).

While ASA-Ohio does not holdan annual conference, the board meetsquarterly. “Our quarterly board meet-ings generally contain training ses-


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

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

Loyalty doesn’t always pay. Havea customer with an insurer you’drather not work with? You might wantto tell them about a new study thatfound that a policyholder who stayswith the same auto insurance com-pany for more than eight years couldsave 19 percent on annual premiumsby switching.

“Consumers must shop their poli-cies to ensure they aren’t overpayingfor insurance,” Deeia Beck of theTexas-based Office of Public Insur-ance Counsel (OPIC), said.

Beck said her organization’s datashows “the longer a policyholder stayswith the same company, the morelikely it is that they are overcharged.”Even after just three years, Beck said,a consumer stands to save 5.2% byswitching.

Despite this, a 2010 study fromDeloitte found that four out of 10 autopolicyholders were with their insurerfor more than a decade, and that sixout of 10 of policyholders “rarely ornever shop their policy for a betterdeal.”

Read more about this study at:http://tinyurl.com/bq8s5cv.

Feds still considering regulationThe role of financial institutions in theeconomic meltdown from which theU.S. is still struggling to recover hashelped keep federal regulation of theinsurance industry on the table.

A recent report released by theTroubled Asset Relief Program (TARP)states that American InternationalGroup (AIG, now selling auto insur-ance as “21st Century”) is still in needof “effective, comprehensive and rigor-ous” regulation to ensure history doesnot repeat itself at the insurance giant.The report notes that four years after a

$161 federal billion bailout of AIG,there is currently no designated federalregulator of the company.

Meanwhile New Jersey’s Rep.Scott Garrett, a senior Republicanmember of the House Financial Serv-ices Committee, introduced legislationin August that would bar federal reg-ulators from designating insurancecompanies as ‘systemically signifi-cant,’ more commonly referred to as‘too big to fail.’

Garrett’s bill would prevent in-surers from having to comply withheightened regulation and capitalstandards placed on other types of fi-nancial institutions that are catego-rized as too big too fail.

Progressive stumbles on social mediaProgressive had taken a pummelingin the social media world recentlyafter a New York man posted a blogwith the provocative title, “My SisterPaid Progressive Insurance to DefendHer Killer in Court” (read it at:http://tinyurl.com/8jqtdwa).

Turns out Progressive believedthat its own insured (the sister of co-median and blogger Matt Fisher) wasat fault in the accident that took herlife, and assisted with the defense ofthe driver of the other car (who had asuspended license and little insur-ance).

Though Progressive may havebeen in the right, it didn’t help itscause in trying to explain the compli-cated situation by making public state-ments parsing words, and sending outtweets (some of which originally hadFlo’s smiling face accompanyingthem) saying such things as it had“properly handled the claim within itscontractual obligations.”

A New York Times article ex-plains the situation well, and could bea good reminder for all insureds tocheck the amount of uninsured mo-torist coverage they carry (read at:http://tinyurl.com/8vtzfd7).

Long-standing parts-related lawsuitcomes to an endA federal court in California hastossed out class action and individuallawsuits against Allstate, GEICO,State Farm and Liberty Mutual, say-

ing the plaintiffs in the case failed toprovide an admissible method for de-termining which replacement parts areinferior.

The suits, originally filed in 2006,alleged that the insurers created a‘sham organization’ (CAPA, the Cer-tified Automotive Parts Association,also a defendant in the case) and usedother means to conspire to unfairlycompete by specifying use of inferiorcrash parts.

The judge’s decision to dismissthe cases was not based on the qualityof the parts, but rather on the fact thathe found the testimony of the plain-tiffs’ expert for evaluating the partswas unreliable.

The expert witness for the plain-tiffs was Allen Wood, a retired Cali-fornia Bureau of Automotive Repair(BAR) investigator who subsequentlywas executive director of the Colli-sion Repair Association of California.Wood argued that six non-OEM part

categories and four salvage part cate-gories are ‘inferior’ and have at leasta 25% probability of ‘significantlylessening’ the quality of vehicle re-pairs (in terms of ‘safety, fit and struc-tural integrity’).

Insurers called Wood’s testimony“biased, junk-science research” be-cause Wood “is not a statistician orengineer, lacks a rudimentary under-standing of basic mathematical con-cepts and statistical principles, andtherefore lacks the relevant expertiseto identify and offer quantitative as-sessments of the alleged ‘inferiority’of imitation and salvage automotiverepair part categories.”

Allstate again ranks best and worstdriversAllstate’s annual ranking of the 200largest U.S. cities in terms of how fre-quently drivers are apt to file a claimranks Sioux Falls, SD, as having“America’s Best Drivers” (for the fifth


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Shops Can Put News, Trends Related to Insurers to Good Use

Industry Insightwith John Yoswick

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

time in eight years), and Washington,D.C. at the bottom of the list.

The report indicates that nation-ally drivers are in a collision onceevery 10 years; that average is 13.8years in Sioux Falls, but just 4.7 yearsin Washington, D.C.

Other cities where drivers aver-age 12 years or longer between acci-dents include Boise, ID; Fort Collins,CO; Madison, WI; Lincoln, NE; Hun-stville, AL; Chandler, AZ; Reno, NV,Knoxville, TN, and Springfield, MO.

Phoenix led the list among citiesof 1 million or more people, with driv-ers there averaging an accident every10.2 years.

In addition to Washington, citieswhere drivers average under six yearsbetween claims are Newark, NJ; Glen-dale, CA; and Baltimore, MD. To seethe full list, see: tinyurl.com/cx2dz75.

Insurers should sell more cover-age, not less. A recent claims satisfac-tion report by J.D. Power andAssociates found that insurers are bet-ter off selling policyholders broadercoverage with lower deductibles ratherthan lower-priced policies with morelimitations and higher deductibles.

“Settlement satisfaction falls sig-nificantly among claimants paying in

excess of $300 beyond their de-ductible, with satisfaction 89 indexpoints (on a 1,000-point scale) lowerthan among those who pay only theirdeductible,” J.D. Power reported.

The finding indicates insurersmay improve customer retention ifthey do a better job convincing con-sumers they’ll be better off in the longrun with a more all-encompassingpolicy.

Think quality, not just price. Con-sumerReports.org in September re-minded readers that its surveys findthat, depending on the insurer in-volved, between 10% and 26% ofthose filing an auto insurance claimencountered a problem.

The article encourages con-sumers to choose a “top-rated in-surer” rather than one that costs lessbut “may cost you more overall bylow-balling loss estimates, forcing therepair shop to cut corners and makingyou pay extra for OEM parts if youchoose them over cheaper knock-offs.” Go here to read the article:http://tinyurl.com/cjspd4k.

Growth of telematics spurs concernsAs Allstate, Progressive, State Farmand The Hartford continue to expand

availability of their policy discountsbased on use of data from in-car mon-itoring systems, many consumers con-tinue to voice privacy concerns.

California Department of Insur-ance spokeswoman Pat McConahaysaid some state regulators have lin-gering “concerns about the technol-ogy” used in the programs, which cantrack both how and when a vehicle isbeing driven.

“There are concerns that insurersmight penalize drivers for factors out-side of their control,” she said. “Oneexample might be charging more to acustomer for their occupation thatforces them to drive at night.”

An insurance industry blog this fallquoted a Deloitte Consulting analystwho believes even many good drivershave privacy concerns that make themunwilling to provide data to an auto in-surer through telematics just to save$100. The consultant argues that insur-ers may miss out if they just presumethese drivers “have something to hide.”


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The Insurance Institute for HighwaySafety (IIHS) has raised the bar withits new small overlap frontal crashtest. With a 50th percentile male Hy-brid III dummy in the driver seat,25% of the car’s front end on thedriver side strikes a 5-ft-tall rigidbarrier at 40 mph. These small over-lap crashes, which affect the outeredges not protected by crush-zonestructures, are responsible for a con-siderable percentage of the 10,000deaths in frontal crashes each year.The test utilizes three rating cate-gories: structure, restraints and kine-matics, and dummy injury measures.Of the vehicles tested, the Volvo S60performed the best, permitting onlya few inches of intrusion into the oc-cupant compartment due to rein-forcement of the upper rails and asteel cross member below the in-strument panel. Common problemswith other vehicles included highoccupant compartment intrusion andunsafe occupant motion, includingdummies that missed the airbag ormoved too far forward toward the A-pillar. After 2013, the IIHS intendsto add the small overlap frontalcrash test to its list of evaluations forthe Top Safety Pick award.

New IIHS Test Aims toImprove Frontal Collision


AASP-MA Talked Parts Procurement at State MeetingThe Alliance of Automotive Serv-ice Providers of Massachusetts(AASP/MA) tackled the parts pro-curement issue with a panel of in-dustry representatives from acrossthe country at its statewide meet-ing on September 12. The panelprovided an update on the partsprocurement issue, including thelatest developments with StateFarm’s PartsTrader program.

AASP/MA President Rick Star-bard was joined on the panel withToyota Wholesale Development Man-ager Jerry Raskind and Toyota Col-lision Consultant Rick Leos Raskind,as well as Society of Collision RepairSpecialists [SCRS] Executive Direc-tor Aaron Schulenburg, Coalitionfor Collision Repair Excellence(CCRE) President Tony Lombar-dozzi, and Gary Danko, Balise AutoGroup’s Connecticut wholesale partsrepresentative.

“The insurance industry has at-tempted to present parts bidding pro-grams, most notably, PartsTrader, asso-called ‘win-win’ situations for allparties involved,” said Starbard. “Inlooking at these programs in-depth, wefail to see any ‘win’ for anyone but theinsurance industry. In a state like Mas-sachusetts, where our only real profit

margin is derived from parts markup,programs like the one State Farm is at-tempting to introduce could have dev-astating effects. We’ve set up this panelto not only educate members on theparts bidding issue in general, but alsoto give a wake-up call to those whothink it can’t happen in Massachusetts.Parts procurement is not a DRP issue;it’s a profit issue. I encourage any re-pairer who is concerned with maintain-ing profits in his or her shop to attendthis meeting; it will be an eye-opener.”

Added Schulenburg, “I believethe association’s decision to host apanel that will offer perspectives fromall sides of the industry that will beimpacted by these types of insurer-mandated programs is a great one.”

“I believe the more communica-tion and information exchanged on thisissue, the better,” notes Lombardozzi.“Around here, I hear some people say-ing, ‘State Farm doesn’t have SelectService in Massachusetts, so Part-sTrader won’t affect me.’ Wrong. Assoon as State Farm and PartsTrader aresuccessful in one market, it’ll only be amatter of time before other insurerstake the lead with similar parts pro-curement systems. Programs like Part-sTrader could very easily make theirway into Massachusetts and beyond.”

CREF Offers Free Industry Classes for Students at NACEThe Collision Repair Education Foun-dation is offering several free indus-try sessions for secondary andpost-secondary collision students andtheir instructors attending the Interna-tional Autobody Congress & Exposi-tion (NACE), set for Oct. 11-13 at theMorial Convention Center in New Or-leans.

The sessions will be held Friday,Oct. 12 and will provide helpful in-dustry and career information to colli-sion students who wish to enter theindustry after graduation.

Session descriptions are as fol-lows:• 11 - 11:45 a.m. – LKQ Corpora-tion – “Repair and Recycling an Op-portunity” – Presentation will includediscussion on perception and realityof motor vehicle recycling; LKQ Cor-poration company overview; employ-ment need and segmentation; jobs andcareers in motor vehicle recycling.• 1 - 1:45 p.m. – Sherwin WilliamsAutomotive Finishes – “SherwinWilliams Automotive Finishes trainingprides itself on our class offerings,which brings to our customers theproducts and processes that provideour collision repair customers with theknowledge they need to be productiveand profitable into today’s business en-

vironment. Join us for a walk throughSherwin Williams Automotive Fin-ishes Standard Operating Practices andour products that will help any shopbecome lean and process-driven byusing the latest in technologies.”

In addition to the student ses-sions during ASRW, all attending sec-ondary and post-secondary collisionstudents and instructors will be pro-vided complimentary Cintas techni-cian uniforms to wear on the showfloor and back home within theirschool’s collision programs. Thesponsors of the 500 technician shirtsinclude CAPA, CCC InformationServices, FenderBender, LKQ Corpo-ration and LORD/Fusor.

“These attending collision stu-dents are the future of the industry,and the Collision Repair EducationFoundation is proud to work togetherwith NACE to help educate this groupon upcoming industry trends and ca-reer advice,” said Collision RepairEducation Foundation Executive Di-rector Clark Plucinski. “I would in-vite all industry members to join inour efforts to support this group asonly through assisting them in theirtechnical education will there be agreater promise of the industry’s fu-ture.”


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Very soon, the doors of the 2012SEMA Show opens to automotiveindustry professionals all over theglobe. Earlybird pricing for showadmission and registration for theSociety of Collision Repair Special-ists’ (SCRS) Repairer Driven Edu-cation (RDE) series is still availableuntil October 15th. Now is the per-fect opportunity to plan out your tripto Las Vegas! Experience the pre-mier automotive trade event in theworld while taking advantage of allthe networking opportunities andeducation classes offered by SCRSand other collision industry organi-zations at the SEMA Show.

SCRS is pleased to provide anoverview of some of the collision re-pair meetings and events made avail-able to the industry:

Tuesday, October 30th10:00 - 12:00PMLVCC, North Hall, UpstairsSCRS’ RDE Headline: Is New VehicleTechnology Endangering Your Busi-ness? (Free, registration required; reg-ister at www.semashow.com/scrs)12:30 - 2:30PMLVCC, North Hall, UpstairsSCRS’ RDE Sessions (Register atwww.semashow.com/scrs)

3:00 - 5:00PMLVCC, North Hall, UpstairsSCRS’ RDE Sessions5:30 - 7:00PMLVCC, North Hall, CRR StageSCRS Annual Report (open meeting)9:30 - 11:00PMLVH, Pavilion 9Collision Repair Education Founda-tion Industry Reception

Wednesday, October 31st8:00 - 12:00PMLVH, Pavilion 9-10Collision Industry Conference (CIC)12:00 - 2:00PMLVH, Ballroom BCollision Industry Awards Luncheon12:30 - 2:30PMLVCC, North Hall, UpstairsSCRS’ RDE Sessions3:00 - 5:00PMLVCC, North Hall, UpstairsSCRS’ RDE Sessions6:30 - 9:00PMLVH, Ballroom C-GCollision Industry Conference (CIC)Reception

Thursday, November 1st8:00 - 12:00PMLVH, Pavilion 9-10Collision Industry Conference (CIC)

12:30 - 2:30PMLVCC, North Hall, UpstairsSCRS’ RDE Sessions3:00 - 5:00PMLVCC, North Hall, UpstairsSCRS’ RDE Sessions5:30 - 7:30PMLVHCollision Repairer Reception8:00 - 12:00PMLVH, Verona Sky VillaSCRS RDE Sky Villa After Party(Register at www.semashow.com/scrs)

Friday, November 2nd10:00 - 12:00PMLVCC, North Hall, UpstairsSCRS’ RDE Headline: Game Chang-ers - Innovation Forum12:30 - 2:30PMLVCC, North Hall, UpstairsSCRS’ RDE Sessions

A complete listing of the SCRS RDEsessions can be found at www.se-mashow.com/scrs. The RDE series ismade possible thanks to contribu-tions and support from SEMA, PPG,GM Genuine Parts, BASF, FordMotor Company, DuPont Perform-ance Coatings, LKQ, SherwinWilliams, AASP, PBES and AkzoNobel.

2012 SEMA Show Provides Expansive Activities for Collision Repair Professionals

The Washington Metropolitan AutoBody Association (WMABA) hostedtwo meetings Sept. 19 in Virginia andMaryland to discuss issues related toState Farm Insurance’s parts procure-ment program through PartsTrader.

Aaron Schulenburg, executivedirector of the Society of CollisionRepair Specialists (SCRS), gave anin-depth presentation on State Farm’spilot program.

“Understanding that not everyrepair facility can participate and hearthe discussions taking place at na-tional meetings, we wanted to bringthe discussion to the local level andshare with regional areas of the coun-try,” Schulenburg said. “These insurermandated parts procurement pro-grams have the potential to drasticallyaffect every repairer if our industryisn’t cautious about understanding thepotential ramifications. This isn’tabout one carrier, one process or onebusiness model. It is about insurercontrol over repair facility processes,and insurer intrusion into your busi-ness. If these programs are launchednationally, and the repair industrywatches it happen, business for re-pairers and parts vendors will be af-fected.”

WMABA Hosted PartsTraderMeetings in Two Locations

In a legal battle that involved a bodyshop owner, his former attorney, thePennsylvania Department of Trans-portation and the expansion of Route28, a judge recently ruled thatWilliam Lieberth Sr., 56, owner ofan auto repair shop on Route 28, mustagree to a PennDOT settlement, payhis former attorney and vacate hisNorth Side business by Oct. 1.

Lieberth said he plans to appeal.In an interview with the PittsburghPost-Gazette, he said he is prepared todie for his building. After the orderwas issued, Leiberth said he plannedto continue to fight for his buildingand that he would consider it an honorto die for it. He did not elaborate onwhat that meant but said, “I’m pureGerman descent. We know how tofight. I am fully prepared, if I haveto.”

PennDOT, which acquired theland through eminent domain, hassaid the ongoing Route 28 work re-quires demolition of Lieberth’s build-ing and the adjacent parking lot.

Lieberth ignored a letter he re-ceived from PennDOT in July tellinghim he must vacate his building byAug. 6. Lieberth has owned and oper-ated Allegheny Auto Body since 1976.He said he ignored the vacate noticebecause he had nowhere to move hisbusiness.

The Allegheny County CommonPleas Court order, written by JudgeMichael E. McCarthy, enforces asettlement that representatives for thePennsylvania Department of Trans-portation and Harvey Robins, a for-mer attorney for Lieberth, said theyagreed to in early August.

“There can be little real contro-versy in this matter that an enforce-able agreement was reached andmust be honored,” Judge McCarthywrote.

Lieberth owns the last businesslocated along the north side of theRoute 28 expansion construction areaand refused to leave after receiving anorder to vacate the property on EastOhio Street.

He insisted that he never agreedto a $245,000 settlement with Pen-nDOT to give up his business forthe widening project. AlleghenyAuto Body sits just 10 feet from theroad.

Lieberth fired his attorney Aug.22, saying he did not agree to the$245,000 settlement with 30% due to

the attorney and a move-out date ofOct. 1. Lieberth also said he shouldnot have to pay his attorney.

“I didn’t authorize him to acceptthis offer,” Lieberth said. “I did notsign this agreement.”

According to Lieberth’s formerattorney, his client agreed to a$245,000 payment plus $3,500 in in-terest. In addition, he was able to ex-tend the date Lieberth must vacatethe property from the end of July toOct. 1.

“He said, ‘Well, that’s a goodnumber. Do the best you can,’”Robins told the court, prompting ashout from Lieberth in the gallery,saying, “That’s not true.”

Lieberth was admonished byJudge McCarthy who ordered him towait his turn.

“That’s why I fired him Aug. 22.They tried to get me to sign it. I saidI’m not going to sign it. I just told youin court; now it’s recorded. I didn’t au-thorize him to put the $245,000 on theprice,” Leiberth said.

Lieberth had previously statedthat given the percentage of attorney’sfees and no guarantee he can relocateclose by, he didn’t think $245,000 wasquite enough and doesn’t equal theshop’s value.

“The whole gross amount, in-cluding moving fees and possibly at-torney fees, I can gross here in twoyears,” Lieberth said. “They aren’tdoing me any favors.”

A company he hired to do an ap-praisal set the land value at $285,000.The Allegheny County Board ofViewers set it at $215,000.

The shop owner’s former attor-ney told the court the two sides metclose to the middle. “I don’t knowwhat else I could do for the client,”Robins said.

Lieberth’s main concern is that hehas no place to move his business. “Ihave nowhere to go,” he said. “They’retrying to force me to accept this settle-ment, and I said no.”

He asked PennDOT as part of thesettlement negotiations to provide himwith another property where he couldmove his business. But the agency didnot do that.

“I have nowhere to go, that’s themain thing,” Lieberth said, adding thathe wants to remain in the vicinity ofhis current address, visible to his cus-tomer base and separate from thecompetition of other auto repair shops.

“They think because they haveeminent domain, and the sheriffs cankick you out, they can do anything,”Lieberth said following a hearingprior to the ruling.

“I’m getting screwed over. I justtold the county police I’m not gonnafight with them when they come downto my building,” said the body shopowner before the ruling. “They’regoing to evict me. I know they are.That’s why I didn’t even dress up forthem.”

“They’re going around the churchand around my body shop. I looked atthe plans. I’m right beside thechurch,” Lieberth said.

PennDOT has said that the con-struction phase requiring the property

occupied by Lieberth’s auto bodyshop will begin in late 2013 and becompleted in 2014.

“I’ve been there 37 years. Myson’s been there 18 years. We’re theonly shop on the North Shore.We’re serving the whole commu-nity,” Leiberth said. He had plannedon leaving the shop to his son andgrandson.

“No more body shop and it’s thesame old thing,” Leiberth said. “Pen-nDOT doesn’t care. They don’t carethat I’m the last shop. Me and my sonare historic. We are the last humans on28. It’s very sad that we’re the last hu-mans for 40 miles. They took every-thing from this highway and they tookmy neighborhood.”

PennDOT first contacted Lieberthabout acquiring his property and relo-cating his business in March 2007 butfailed to reach agreement for years,even as 15 residents and 24 businesseswere relocated, most with amicablesettlements, the state agency has said.

PennDOT paid Mr. Lieberth$115,000 in estimated just compensa-tion for his property in November2011, including liens.


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Body Shop Move Enforced by Judge for PA Route 29 Expansion

William Lieberth will have to move his shopto make way for a road project

The Auto Body Association of Con-necticut (ABAC) released this follow-ing statement, taking a position onState Farm's PartsTrader program:

The ABAC stands with our brotherand sister organizations across the coun-try decrying State Farm’s PartsTraderprogram. The endeavor is a wolf insheep’s clothing. It is bad for repairers,part manufacturers, and most impor-tantly, consumers. The only two enter-prises in place to profit – and profithandsomely – are State Farm Insuranceand PartsTrader.

PartsTrader is a web-based, colli-sion part sourcing, quoting and orderingsystem. According to its website, “Part-sTrader is a tool to improve the collisionreplacement parts sourcing, quoting andordering process. We are not a parts re-tailer. We facilitate the matching of col-lision repairers with replacement partssuppliers.”

Currently, PartsTrader is open onlyto State Farm Select Service repairersand parts suppliers nominated by SelectService repairers. According to Part-sTrader, however, its long-term goal isto make PartsTrader available to the en-tire U.S. collision repair industry.

The idea, as we see it, is to hood-

wink the part suppliers and repairersinto negotiating away their respectiveprofit margins in the name of greaterprofits for State Farm. Despite the pro-gram being sold as a benefit to repair-ers and consumers, it quite clearlybenefits neither. There are already pro-grams in place to ensure competitivepricing. What PartsTrader does is infusea grossly inefficient process at the ex-pense of the repairers and OEM ven-dors. Thus, not only is the programredundant, it is also inefficient. What ismore, insurers simply cannot continueto draw profits from an already besiegedindustry without further affecting qual-ity and safety. It just can’t happen. Sim-ilar to what is happening in the healthcare market, the insurer model of per-petually taking in more premiums,while perpetually finding new ways topay less on claims, is fundamentallycorrupting both industries.

If State Farm and PartsTrader aresuccessful in penetrating the entire U.S.parts market, State Farm will find itselfflush with new profits hot off the backsof repairers, retailers and consumers. Itwill not take long for the likes of All-state, Progressive, GEICO and others tofollow suit. History and experience

have taught us that any time an insurerendeavors to “improve” the auto bodyindustry, bad things happen. Instead offocusing on the business of insurance,State Farm has, once again, taken itupon itself to meddle with the collisionrepair industry for its own selfish moti-vations. Insurers should not be involvedin collision repair decisions, collisionrepair standards, setting pricing on re-pairs or establishing a new system forthe sale and distribution of auto parts.None of this relates to the business ofinsurance.

Members of the ABAC and othersacross the country have unsuccessfullysought to secure the contractual docu-ments detailing the specifics of this planand respective rights and duties of StateFarm, PartsTrader and the participatingauto body shops. As with any programof this scope and degree, the devil is un-doubtedly in the details. Seeing as theauto body industry had no say in this en-deavor, the specifics are being keptfrom us, and because we know StateFarm’s history of selfishly interfering inour industry, we can only presume thatwhat we do not yet know is even worsethan what we already know. All of thefacts, not just those selected by State

Farm and PartsTrader, should be on thetable.

The ABAC surveyed all of its sup-porting OEM vendors to ask a simplequestion: Do you intend on participat-ing in PartsTrader? For many of the rea-sons articulated in this press release,every OEM vendor, all 76 of them, saidthey will not. Not one OEM vendor saidit would agree to participate in Part-sTrader. Indeed, we are unaware of anyOEM vendor in Connecticut who in-tends on participating.

Given the origin of the PartsTraderprogram, State Farm’s apparent objec-tives, the obvious inefficiencies andharms caused by the program, togetherwith the litany of problems already ex-perienced and highlighted by industryleaders across the country, the ABACfelt it imperative to interject its voiceinto the national debate. For all of theaforementioned reasons, we write tostrongly oppose the PartsTrader pro-gram. Further, in light of the long-termdamage this program will likely causeour industry, we are respectfully en-couraging those of you who have notyet weighed in on this debate to care-fully examine the pilot program andvoice your opinions.


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Connecticut Association Voices Alarm About PartsTrader

by Melanie Anderson

In a two-year battle about waterbornepaint and paint company contracts,Austin, TX, shop owner RichardWood, 48, recently won a $3.7 mil-lion jury verdict against paint compa-nies BASF and jobber FinishMaster,but the jury also found that he shouldpay damages for breach of contract.

Wood owns Richard’s Paint andBody Shop, which operates under thename Custom Car Crafters. Wood,who has been in business since 1984,has two shops, a 30,000 square-footbuilding on the north side of Austinand a 12,000 square-foot shop on thesouth side of town.

On Aug. 30, a federal jury unani-mously found BASF and FinishMas-ter guilty of fraud and breach ofwarranty to paint supplied to CustomCar Crafters, awarding the shop puni-tive damages of $1.5 million fromBASF and $750,000 from FinishMas-ter. Custom Car Crafter’s was alsoawarded $1.5 million in compensatorydamages.

The legal troubles began in 2010when the paint companies sued Cus-tom Car Crafters for breach of a paintcontract. Wood quickly countersued.The court also found that BASF suf-fered as a result of the shop’s breachof contract and they were awarded$176,000. Additionally, the jurorsfound that the body shop failed toprove that its failure to pay Finish-Master liquidated damages was ex-cused, awarding $100,000 in damagesto FinishMaster.

Custom Car Crafters will net $3.4million.

At the heart of the matter isWood’s claims that the BASF 90-linewaterborne paint they sold the shopwas “unfit and defective” in Austin’sheat and humidity and that instruc-tions for easy-to-use standardizedmixing ratio of 2:1 was inaccurate.

Custom Car Crafters was obligedto follow the paint instructions tomaintain the BASF and FinishMasterwarranty on cars they painted, butWood said in the Texas climate, thepaint would not dry in a timely fash-ion or sometimes not at all. In courtdocuments, the paint was described asresulting in “seediness, bubbling, fisheyes, side casting, dye back and de-lamination, among other problems.”Wood said he notified BASF and Fin-ishMaster in a timely fashion about

the defective paint and instructionsand of the severe impact these defectswere having on his business. In re-sponse, BASF and FinishMaster

blamed the problems on shop em-ployees and their application of thepaint. So Wood requested that theBASF send himself and another em-ployee, along with a FinishMaster rep,to a training course.

According to court documents,while at the training course in Califor-nia, a BASF instructor informedWood that BASF and FinishMaster’straining and instructions were inap-propriate for the Texas heat and hu-midity and that no proper manualexisted for that region. The BASF in-structor also told Wood that BASF andFinishMaster failed to sell him thecorrect supplies and additives. After ayear of struggling with the paint,Wood claims the companies admittedthere was not a set 2:1 formula for thepaint. After repeated failed efforts, theshop acted to mitigate its damages byterminating its contract, halting use ofthe BASF and FinishMaster Paint, andobtaining the paint that was necessaryfor the shop to conduct its business.Wood said he tried to return the paintand materials back to the paint com-panies but that they refused to collectthem.

Wood noted that as a result of thedefective paint and its instructions, hisshops had to repaint 565 vehicles andthat it incurred costs in excess of$100,000 for labor and materials andanother $100,00 for rental cars during

repainting. Wood expects these coststo increase as additional vehicles arereturned for repainting under theirlifetime warranties.

“I did not track most of the re-paints for the first three to four monthsdue to the fact that BASF blamed thepainters. I also was already spraying[another] water base for over fouryears and had the same painters withno problem,” Wood said.

He also said he spent $500,000 onpaint materials, but only collected$320,000 from insurance companiesfor reimbursement of paint materials.In addition, the shops had to turndown other work in order to repaintthe cars. To make matters worse, threeof his painters quit due to the paintcompanies ‘blame game’ and thenumber of re-dos required. Wood alsoclaims the defective paint and instruc-tions harmed his shops’ highly valu-able reputation and relationships withinsurance carriers.

Wood said the defective paintcaused his business to suffer from lossof earnings and profits, loss of earn-ing capacity, damage to reputation,loss of staff, out-of-pocket costs and

costs of storing the paint when thecompanies refused to take it back.

Wood also said BASF and Finish-Master told him if he switched to 90-line he could end his previous PPGpaint contract without penalty. Woodsaid he still had to pay $73,000 toPPG.

In its suit, BASF and FinishMas-ter said the shop failed to purchaseBASF products for five years as partof a contract in which the shop re-ceived $320,000 cash from BASF andFinishMaster.

According to co-counsel BroadusSpivey, the court has not yet entered ajudgment on the verdict, which meansthe judge orders the jury’s verdict intojudgment. “I am sure there will be anappeal. We are ready for that too,”Spivey said.

“It is a privilege to representRichard Wood, who worked so hard tobuild his business and his reputation,”said co-counsel Karen Burgess. “Thejury system worked for justice.”

“I feel justice was served,” Woodsaid. “We won because there was a le-gitimate problem. They knew they hada problem and they tried to cover it up.”


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When Richard Wood was sued by the paintcompanies, he filed a countersuit. After atwo-year battle, Wood won a $3.7 millionjury verdict


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Van Tuyl Group Joins NABC as New Diamond MemberThe Van Tuyl Group Inc. has becomethe newest diamond-level member ofthe National Auto Body Council(NABC), the highest level of NABCcorporate sponsorship.

The Van Tuyl Group providesmanagement consulting services to70 automotive dealerships nation-wide. The company also operatesmultiple dealership locations with 36collision repair facilities throughoutArizona, California, Florida, Georgia,Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, Nebraska,New Mexico and Texas.

The NABC said the Van TuylGroup brings a unique perspectiveand skillset to the organization as anational dealership MSO.

“The ownership model may bedifferent than those found in the in-dependent collision repair market, butour focus is common—facilitatingquality repairs that bring the damagedvehicle back to its pre-crash safetyand integrity,” said Chuck Sulkala,executive director of the NABC. “Weare pleased to have such a prestigiousgroup lend a hand to our efforts andwelcome the thoughts and opportuni-ties they will provide to support andpromote the good work our industryachieves both on the job and awayfrom it.”

The NABC said the Van TuylGroup will be highly involved withthe 2012 Recycled Rides program, aninitiative through which NABCmembers refurbish vehicles for dona-tion to families and organizations inneed. The Van Tuyl Group will do-nate 36 vehicles for this year’s ef-fort—one vehicle from each of itscollision center locations.

“Our goal is to help NABC reachits long-term goal of 500 simultaneousvehicle donations in 2012,” said RafaelHinojos, director of collision businessdevelopment for the Van Tuyl Group.

The Van Tuyl Group said its Re-cycled Rides donations will be a col-laborative effort with the company’scollision center managers and techni-cians, insurance partners, rental carpartners, PPG Automotive Coatingsand 3M.

“Van Tuyl Group Inc. and ourdealer partners are committed to theindustry and the communities inwhich we operate, so we want to part-ner with an organization like NABC,”said Darren Huggins, the Van TuylGroup’s national collision director.“We are honored and humbled for theopportunity to contribute RecycledRides to families who need a safe andreliable means of transportation.”

ASA Speaks with NWLCRA Regarding PartsTrader PilotDenise Caspersen, manager of theAutomotive Service Association's col-lision division, recently attended aNorthwest Louisiana Collision RepairAssociation (NWLCRA) meeting topresent to its members the ‘facts todate’ regarding the State Farm elec-tronic parts ordering application.

The State Farm pilot is currentlytaking place in Birmingham, AL; Tuc-son, AZ; Grand Rapids, MI; andCharlotte, NC.

Following the NWLCRA Augustbusiness meeting, Caspersen discussedthe verified facts about the pilot alongwith clear statements of concern fromrepairers, based on ASA member feed-back to the association. During thethree-hour meeting, repairers and sup-pliers in the Northwest Louisiana areaasked follow-up questions and ex-pressed their concerns with the pilotand its potential impact on their rela-tionships with suppliers and consumers.

“We are very thankful to Deniseand ASA for bringing to collision in-dustry professionals of NorthwestLouisiana, East Texas and SouthArkansas such a timely discussion ofthe facts concerning this pilot pro-gram. Everyone gained tremendousinsight from the up-to-date facts andASA’s continuing investigation of the

pilot program. We feel complete andopen disclosure of those facts by allparties involved is critical,” said BillBurnside, secretary-treasurer, NWL-CRA. “When all the facts are present,good decisions can be made.”

Caspersen, who will meet withASA members in Ohio in September,said, “ASA welcomes the opportunityto speak with repairers and supplierson this important industry issue. Todate, the majority of the industry has anegative view of this pilot. The facts,the pilot results, and most importantly,the concerns of repairers about howthis application will affect their busi-ness, are what remain vital to ASA.We will continue to work with asmany parties as possible to find theanswers our members require. ASA isnow focused on a timeline in whichresults of the pilot will be provided.”

ASA announcements regardingthe State Farm pilot are convenientlylocated at www.ASAshop.org. Clickon ‘Tools & Resources’ (in the bluemenu bar), then ‘State Farm Pilot Pro-gram.’ ASA reminds members to sharetheir concerns, comments and experi-ences regarding the pilot by contactingCaspersen at [email protected],or by phone at (800) ASA-SHOP, ext.106, or (817) 514-2906 (direct).

sions that are hosted by our associatemembers and are open to all membersto attend,” Sanfillipo says. “We try tomove the meetings to a different re-gion every quarter to allow all mem-bers a chance to attend a meetingclose to home.”

ASA-Ohio provides education/training, state representation andsmall-business solutions at a preferredrate. The organization retains a leg-islative and regulatory consulting firmto monitor and act on automotive-re-lated issues, he explains.

The group is closely monitoringthe State Farm parts procurement pro-gram with Parts Trader. “Our mem-bers have great concern on how thiscould adversely affect their busi-nesses,” he says.

EPA 6H ruleEPA 6H rule is another importantissue for the Ohioans. “Many shopowners don’t fully understand the ruleand how it intersects with the OhioEPA laws,” he says, noting that boardmember Sterwerf, a former boardmember of ASA’s national board ofdirectors, is working closely with theOhio EPA, the U.S. EPA and themembership.

Shop licensing is also of concern.“This hot-button issue affects both ourmechanical and collision members,”Sanfillipo says. “Our members notonly want to create a standard for ourtechnicians and shop owners; we wantto raise the standard in the industryand level the playing field for anyonewanting to do auto repair in Ohio.”

Repeated requests to the U.S. Al-liance of Collision Professionals,Cincinnati, for information were un-successful.


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In late August, the Automotive Serv-ice Association (ASA) issued a requestto State Farm to prove its PartsTraderbenefit to repairers within a timeline,which wasn't specified.

The ASA issued this statementon August 22:

Since early May 2012, the Au-tomotive Service Association (ASA)and its volunteer leaders have takena transparent and methodical ap-proach to State Farm’s electronicparts ordering application currentlybeing piloted. Seeking context re-garding the specifics of the pilot,ASA previously presented the indus-try with verified details of the StateFarm pilot and the application de-veloped by PartsTrader at StateFarm’s request.

For ASA to continue in goodfaith to provide accurate informationto its members – and act on their be-half as advocate and industry liaison –ASA has now entered into a phase inwhich data delivery will be associatedwith a timeline. If State Farm cannotprovide data showing how this appli-cation benefits collision repairers (op-erationally/financially) within afeasible, specified time frame, ASAwill respond appropriately. ASA ac-knowledges the pilot is still in process

and State Farm is currently reviewingdata.

This follows a public request byASA June 12 to State Farm on be-half of ASA’s collision repair mem-bers for factual evidence of how theelectronic parts ordering applicationwould benefit collision repair facili-ties. Within this request ASA clearlystated that if this application doesnot provide benefits to the collisionrepairer, then ASA would not sup-port the application moving forward.On July 17, ASA made another pub-lic request to State Farm for datademonstrating that the pilot applica-tion benefits repair facilities, receiptof which was confirmed by the in-surer.

George Avery, State Farm indus-try liaison and claims representative,said during a recent phone interviewwith ASA that State Farm is still sift-ing through the feedback receivedfrom the 158 shops using the systemin four U.S. markets, and is imple-menting changes in the pilot that, inturn, put them in a position of need-ing to go back to repairers to gatherfurther data. Avery stressed it is a fluidprocess. Although lacking currentdata to provide specific answers, heassured ASA that State Farm would

respond to the association when an-swers were available.

Previously published, ASA’sareas of concern regarding the pilot –as expressed by collision repairers –includes efficiency issues, additionaladministration costs, reductions inshop profits, potential compromises tolocal repairer-to-supplier relationshipsand increasing insurer involvement inthe repair process.

More than 100 formal and infor-mal interviews have been conductedby ASA, primarily with collision re-pair businesses and other industrygroups.

“For ASA members, the factualresults of the pilot are essential to thediscussion. ASA will continue to en-gage with all parties necessary, as weseek the supporting data that this ap-plication benefits the collision re-pairer. ASA stands by its statementthat if this application does not pro-vide benefits to the collision repairer,ASA would not support the applica-tion moving forward,” said DeniseCaspersen, manager of ASA’s Colli-sion Division. “ASA has a responsi-bility to our membership to be theunyielding, professional voice speak-ing clearly about their concerns andadvocating for favorable resolutions.”

ASA Issues Timeline for State Farm to Prove PartsTrader BenefitAutomotive Service and Repair Week(ASRW) introduces the “Auto BodyRepairers Assembly.” This new spe-cial event is limited strictly to quali-fied collision repairers and will takeplace Wednesday, Oct. 10, from 4:45p.m. to 6:45 p.m. at the Morial Con-vention Center in New Orleans. Ad-mission is complimentary for repairprofessionals, and registration isavailable online for the event.

The urgent need for collision re-pairers to have a forum to openly dis-cuss their issues amongst their peerswas brought to the attention of ASRWorganizers by repair community lead-ers across the industry. In response,the Auto Body Repairers Assemblywas created as an inaugural event andhosted as a natural extension of theactivities that take place duringASRW. Depending upon repairer re-sponse and interest, future events willbe scheduled and the assembly willbecome an ongoing venue for repair-ers to ensure their voice is heard.

“Like other organizations, re-pairers need their place to openly dis-cuss issues important to them withoutfilters and having to be politicallycorrect,” said Scott Biggs, AssuredPerformance Network CEO.

ASRW Adds Auto Body Repairers Assembly Oct. 10

components is the same as our currentautoclave production parts,” Lowns-dale said. “Weight savings for all ofthe components will be similar towhat was achieved on the currentChevrolet Corvette and SRT Viperproduction programs.”

Carbon-fiber body panels on thefuture vehicle will be a combinationof exposed weave and painted finish.

“There are some new componentswith unusual shapes that required inno-vative mold tooling. We developed re-movable sections of the mold tools toattain detailed design shapes for finecharacter line definition in order to meetthe stringent design studio require-ments,” explained Lownsdale, who can-not reveal the specific components.

Plasan’s new production centerand its equipment represents a $30 mil-lion investment. The company initiallywill employ 202 workers, including 20engineers, at the production facility.

Providing body panels for amedium-volume production vehicle isjust a first step for Plasan.

“We’re processing carbon fiberwith a breakthrough piece of technology.

It’s not RTM (resin transfer molding),and it’s not autoclave. It’s something en-tirely new. Our 10-year plan calls for thedevelopment of breakthrough technol-ogy every three years. This is just thefirst of what’s to come,” said Lownsdale.

The parts Plasan is producing andintends to produce include both BodyPanels and Structural components:

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Automotive Service & Repair Weekwill host the second annual MSO(Multi-Store Owner) Symposium onFriday, October 12, during ASRW atthe Morial Convention Center in NewOrleans, LA.

Designed for collision repairmulti-shop operators, the MSO Sym-posium will be held during ASRW,which is scheduled Oct. 10–13. TheMSO Symposium debuted at ASRWin 2011 specifically for multi-shopowners.

Registration for the MSO Sym-posium is $125 and is available on-line for qualified MSOs only. Thesymposium was created specificallyfor shop owners with two or more lo-cations.

“Our success with last year’s in-augural MSO Symposium generatedtremendous enthusiasm and interestamong MSOs in the U.S. and Canada.It has also proven to be a draw for ourspeakers who want to share theirthoughts with this growing segment ofthe collision repair industry,” saidsymposium facilitator and co-pro-ducer Matthew Ohrnstein, Sym-phony Advisors. “We are especially

pleased to be able to tailor this year’scontent to respond to specific feed-back from last year’s attendees.”

The 2012 Schedule-at-a-Glance isas follows:

8:30 a.m.–8:45 a.m. Welcome &Opening Comments

8:45 a.m.–9:45 a.m. Developing aSustainable Culture, facilitated byMarcy Tieger, Symphony AdvisorsGuest Panelists:● Andrew C. Taylor, Chairman andCEO, Enterprise Holdings● Pam Nicholson, President andCOO, Enterprise Holdings● Christine B. Taylor, Assistant Vice

President, Enterprise Holdings9:45 a.m.–10:45 a.m. Strategic

Brand Development: DifferentiateThrough Innovation Facilitated byDavid Lingham, IBIS Conference Di-rector. Guest Speaker: Sasha Strauss,Founder and CEO, Innovation Proto-col; Professor, University of SouthernCalifornia

10:45 a.m.–11:15 a.m. Network-ing Break

11:15 a.m.–12:30 p.m. BuildingLasting Business Relationships ThroughPerformance Facilitated by Matthew

Ohrnstein, Symphony AdvisorsGuest Panelists:● Bill Brower, Assistant Vice Presi-dent and Manager, APD, Personal Mar-ket Claims, Liberty Mutual Insurance● Patrick Burnett, Assistant Vice Pres-ident, Nationwide● Michelle Dereszynski, AssistantVice President, APD National Opera-tions and Strategy, Farmers Insurance● Susanna Gotsch, Director, IndustryAnalyst, CCC Information Services● James Spears, Assistant Vice Presi-dent, USAA

12:30 p.m.–1:30 p.m. Lunch1:30 p.m.–2:45 p.m. What a Dif-

ference a Year Makes, facilitated byMatthew Ohrnstein, Symphony Ad-visorsGuest Panelists:● Steve Grimshaw, Caliber CollisionCenters, CEO● Chris Abraham, Service King Col-lision Centers, CEO● Brock Bulbuck, The Boyd Group,President and CEO● Duane Rouse, ABRA Auto Body &Glass, CEO

2:45 p.m.–3:15 p.m. NetworkingBreak

3:15 p.m.–4:30 p.m. Show Me theMoney: Private Equity’s View of theCollision Repair Industry, facilitatedby Rex Green, BB&T Capital Mar-kets, Head of Consumer GroupGuest Panelists:● Warren Feldberg, Partner, Cham-plain Capital Partners, LP● Lorin Knell, Partner, KCB Man-agement● Luis Zaldivar, Managing Director,Palladium Equity Partners● TBA, The Carlyle Group● Other(s) to be announced

4:30 p.m.–4:45 p.m. ClosingComments

4:45 p.m.–7:00 p.m. NetworkingReception

“The MSO Symposium was oneof the most anticipated events of 2011,and this year’s event is on pace to ex-ceed our expectations once again,”said Ron Pyle, ASA president.

“The overwhelming responseand support by the sponsors of thisevent have truly shaped it, and we aregrateful to each of the sponsoringcompanies who have played a criticalrole in this year’s symposium,” headded.


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ASRW Hosts 2nd Annual MSO Symposium October 12

AASP-MA and CCRE to Host Educational SeminarsThe Alliance of Automotive ServiceProviders of Massachusetts (AASP-MA) will host a series of three semi-nars presented by the Coalition forCollision Repair Excellence (CCRE).

The ‘Three Days to TransformYour Body Shop’ series will cover re-pair authorization vs. repair contracts,job costing, ROI and interpretation oflegal documents. The three Saturdaysessions are spread over a 10-weekperiod and will take place at the BestWestern Royal Plaza Hotel of Marl-borough from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

“The CCRE has made a name foritself over the years as a group of con-sultants who work diligently to helpshops be the best they can be,” saidAASP-MA President Rick Starbard.“As with past CCRE educational of-ferings, this series of seminars has beenmet with rave reviews in locations suchas Cleveland, Philadelphia and Birm-ingham, AL. We knew there was an in-credible value in the information beingpresented in these seminars, but the re-ality is that many repairers can’t affordto spend extra time away from the shoptraveling. So we worked with CCRE todevelop a plan and bring these greatseminars right to AASP-MA members’own backyards.”

The series is offered for $495 to

a body shop's first registered repre-sentative, and additional attendeesfrom the same company will be ad-mitted for $295 per person. “Sincetransforming one’s business may takemore than one person, we encourageshop owners to bring managers orother influential shop members aswell,” Starbard said.

CCRE’s “Level One” presentationkicked off on Sept. 15. Level Two,scheduled for Oct. 20, will continue theinteractive discussion, focusing on help-ing participants run their shops withoutthird-party interference and taking backcontrol of their business. The third sem-inar, slated for Dec. 1, will be facilitatedby longtime automotive industry attor-ney James Castleman and will focuson helping shops better understand legalissues including Assignment of Pro-ceeds/Rights, as well as various docu-mentation and regulations surroundingthe auto repair industry.

By the end of the three sessions,attendees will gain a new perspectiveon running a successful, independentshop; a blueprint for putting appropri-ate administrative and operating pro-cedures in place; and the legaldocuments needed to comply specifi-cally with Massachusetts laws andregulations that can be used every day.

GCIA 16th Annual Invitational GolfTournamentThe Georgia Collision Industry Asso-ciation has sent out invitations fortheir 16th Annual Invitational GolfTournament which will be held at theTrophy Club of Atlanta in Alpharetta,GA on Wednesday, October 3, 2012.The event will be a four-man “bestball” tournament. The playing fee is$75 per person which includes lunch,dinner, unlimited snacks and drinks,trophies, a chance at over $1000worth of door prizes and a Hole-in-One car. Registration begins at 11a.m., but those who come early haveaccess to free range balls starting at10 a.m. unch will be held at 11:30with tee-off at 12:30 p.m. Dinner willbe served after the tournament. Thoseinterested can register by completingthe form and faxing it to TournamentCoordinator, Howard Batchelor, at770-590-3881. More information canbe obtained by contacting Howard at770-367-9816.

GCIA is also looking for sponsorsfor the golf outing. Interested sponsorscan acquire a hole sign for $200 or ahole sign and the opportunity to staff ahole for $500. The $1000 Bronze spon-sorship includes 1 playing spot, a ban-ner and a hole sign. The $1500 Silversponsorship consists of 2 playing spots,a banner, a hole sign and the opportu-nity to staff a hole. For $2000, GoldSponsors receive 4 playing spots, a ban-ner, a hole sign, the opportunity to staffa hole and the chance to stuff the goodiebags. For more information, contactHoward Batchelor at 770-367-9816 orfax sponsorship forms and golf sign-upsheets to 770-590-33881. Checksshould be mailed to GCIA at 595 Com-merce Park Dr., Marietta, GA 30060.

National Autobody Council UpcomingEventsThe National Autobody Council willhold an Open Board meeting atNACE on Tuesday, October 9th, 2012from 1 p.m. until 6 p.m. The next day,Wednesday, October 10th, they willhold their Annual Meeting and Elec-tion from 7:30 a.m. until 9:30 a.m.,and from 10 a.m. until 11 a.m., theywill hold a Closed Board of Directorsmeeting to elect officers for 2013. For

information on sponsorships or regis-tration, please contact Mike McManusat 414-908-4957 ext. 119 or at [email protected].

IABA Dubs First Annual Golf Outing ASuccessThe Indiana Autobody Associationheld their first annual golf outing onThursday, August 23, 2012 at Noble

Hawk Golf Course in Kendallville,IN. The event was a 9-hole scramble,and 13 teams participated in the eventwith around 30 vendors helping outwith hole sponsorships and doorprizes, allowing each player to leavewith several prizes. IABA was verypleased with the turnout for their firstgolf outing, and in fact, the event wassuch a success that IABA has alreadybooked the event again for next year.According to IABA President MikeHartman, “The money [raised] isbeing set aside in a special account.Our goal is to be able to give out ascholarship to a local student who willbe entering the auto body industry…we want to be able to give it to some-one who is really driven towards a ca-reer in the Auto Body business.” Formore information on IABA and addi-tional events, visit www.IABAmeet-ings.com.

ARA Hosting 69th Annual Conventionand ExpositionThe Automotive Recyclers Associa-tion (ARA) will host their 69th annualconvention and exposition from Octo-ber 24–27, 2012 at the Gaylord PalmsResort and Convention Center in Or-lando, FL. The event offers attendeesan opportunity to meet face-to-facewith key industry leaders, to see newproducts and services, and to remain a

step ahead of the competition.The convention and exposition

will be preceded by ARA’s AnnualGolf Tournament which will be heldon Tuesday, October 23 at CelebrationGolf Club. Registration begins atnoon, and the tournament is scheduledfor 1-6pm. ARA’s International Expofocuses on networking and learningabout new products and services. Itwill be open on Thursday, October 25from 5–9pm, on Friday, October 26from 1–5pm, and on Saturday, Octo-ber 27 from 8–11:30am. This eventoffers many educational seminars andlectures. The full schedule is availableon the convention brochure which canbe downloaded at ARA’s website. Payattention to the dress codes posted forcertain events to ensure you pack ap-propriately as some events requiremore formal dress.

Additionally, attendees can attendnon-related activities for an additionalfee, such as Emeril’s Cooking Class.

Discounted tickets for local attractionscan be purchased in advance throughARA’s website.

ARA offers various levels of reg-istration with varying prices, such asa price specifically targeted towardspouses. The event is family-friendly,and children under the age of 12 enterfor free, but children between theages of 12 and 18 will be charged areduced admission fee. Those inter-ested in attending can register onlineat www.araexpo.org or by faxing theregistration form to 571-208-0430.

For more information on any as-pect of this event, please visit www.ara-expo.org or contact Maria Miller at571-208-0428 or [email protected].

Proceeds from AASP MA’s Annual BBQBenefit Students’ Tool GrantsAASP-MA hosted their MidstateChapter’s Annual BBQ on Friday,September 7, 2012 at Hudson Elks.

What Other Associations Are Doing and Have Done Recently

See Association Activity, Page 54

with David BrownShop Showcase

with Attorney Martin ZuradaBody Shop Law

with Domenico Nigro

The Community-Focused Body Shop

with Janet CheneyShop Showcase

with Frank SheroskyIndustry Business Beat

with Chasidy Rae SiskAssociations Assembling Chasidy Rae Sisk is a freelance technical writer from Wilmington, Delaware,

who writes on a variety of fields and subjects, and grew up in a family ofNASCAR fans. She can be contacted at [email protected].


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Flames reached up to the sky from aburning body shop in Grand Rapids,MI. Smoke was spotted and smelledfor miles. To add to the dramaticscene, some responding fire truckswere reportedly held up by a passingtrain for a few seconds.

The building at Lee Auto Ex-port, 1515 College Ave. SE, is con-sidered a total loss.

Twelve fire trucks responded,along with several other emergencyvehicles. At the peak of the blaze,Grand Rapids firefighters had 15trucks on the scene.

The fire gutted a building that’spart of Lee Auto Exports, an autoscrap yard.

Later, employees tried to salvagewhat they could as cleanup continuedat Lee Auto Export’s body shop.

The damage wasn’t limited to in-side the building. A wall crushed a rowof vehicles waiting to be stripped forparts in the yard.

Grand Rapids Fire Prevention In-spector Ric Dokter says someonewaiting for the train that delayed firetrucks spotted and reported the fire.

Dokter says the chemicals insideused for body work made the fire evenmore challenging.

“With the kind of operation theyhad here and with the flammable liq-

uids, that was definitely a factor inmaking it difficult. Also the collapseburies a lot of the combustibles. So,when we pour water on it, we’re justpouring water on the outside, and notgetting it inside. That also made ouroperations longer than they might be,”says Dokter.

There is so much damage, siftingthrough the remains to find the causewill be difficult. So investigators willlook at security surveillance videotaken at the time of the fire for clues.

The video may not tell them ex-actly where or how the fire started,“but it can point us in the right direc-tion to look,” said Dokter. “It’s a bigbuilding. And if we have a place tostart, that makes our job that mucheasier.”

“I got a call from Lee at aroundeight something when I was cookingdinner and that’s when it happened,”says Mo Pham, Lee Auto ExportSales Manager. “I went down there, Iwas shocked.”

This wasn’t the first time a build-ing has burned at the address. Phamsays they’ve had another building de-stroyed like this by fire.

“There was a building here, twoto three years ago, but that was deter-mined to be accidental due to cutting,”says Dokter.

Pham says they learned from thatfire and had insurance on the buildingitself, but not what was inside. “Thisone, I don’t have no insurance for thecontent either, we had like 15 carsburned, so there was a lot of lossthere,” says Pham.

Some employees who came tosurvey the scene were emotional orconcerned about perhaps losing theirjobs.

“This mostly just all total shock,”says Carl Jorgensen, inventory spe-cialist for Lee Auto Export, “Reallyshocked that place went up in flames.”

Pham says they will rebuild atsome point or find another building towork out of, but she says some em-ployees may be out of a job for nowuntil they can figure out what to do.

Jorgensen is hopeful he will beable to work out of the other buildings.“It’s just ungodly what happens be-cause you know the people whoworked in there, they have their toolsin there, that’s their livelihood, lost allthat, it can be replaced, but thank Godthere was no life lost,” says Jorgensen.

Co-owner Angel Maldonado es-timates the damage will run around$200,000.

As the search for a cause contin-ues, authorities do not have reason tobelieve the fire is suspicious.

Grand Rapids Body Shop Burns; 15 Fire Trucks Respond, but it’s a Total Loss

Service King Collision Repair Cen-ters has joined the Collision RepairEducation Foundation’s IndustryLeadership Circle with a $10,000donation to the organization.

The Education Foundation saidthe donation will be used to providescholarships to post-secondary col-lision repair students near the mar-kets that Service King’s repairfacilities serve. The student scholar-ships will be included as part of theEducation Foundation’s scholarshipand tool grants that will be awardednext spring.

“We are honored to be able tocontribute to such an importantfoundation,” said Danny Wilkins,associate vice president of staffingand development for Service King.“Supporting collision repair educa-tion is key to growing the industryso that we continue employinghighly skilled technicians andpainters for years to come.”

Clark Plucinski, executive di-rector of the Education Foundation,said, “Through Service King’s dona-tion, collision students located neartheir repair facilities will have theopportunity to apply for financialsupport this upcoming spring.”

Service King Gives $10,000for Student Scholarships

Is New Vehicle Technology Endangering Your Business?Some say the age of autonomous ve-hicles is almost here and they prom-ise a crash-free future. The questionfor many in the industry is whether aroadway filled with self-driving carsis really that close, and what will thatmean for repair businesses that wouldbe impacted by a speculated declinein vehicle damage occurrences?

To help decipher what the emerg-ing trends in vehicle technology are,and how those vehicle design featureswill truly impact the industry, the So-ciety of Collision Repair Specialists(SCRS) has announced that it will behosting an additional Repairer DrivenEducation (RDE) session at the SEMAShow.

“Is New Vehicle Technology En-dangering Your Business?” will bepresented from 10:00 am to noon onTuesday, October 30, by Kim Hazel-baker, Senior Vice President of theHighway Loss Data Institute (HLDI).

This session, which will be freeto all pre-registered attendees willlook at the current state of vehicle ad-vancements, both crashworthinessand crash avoidance technologies.Through extensive use of crash testvideo and real world results, Hazel-baker will outline what is state of theart in safety today and how it is rap-idly changing. Using timelines for the

adoption of other automotive tech-nologies, he will suggest what thepace of change may be in the future. Ifyou are concerned about how existingand future technologies could poten-tially decrease the amount of repairwork entering into the market, youwon't want to miss this interesting andinformative update on vehicle tech-nology.

“SCRS understands that the in-dustry gathers at annual events likeSCRS’ RDE series and the SEMAshow to acquire information that canhelp them run their business and fore-cast how they need to adapt to remainrelevant,” stated SCRS Executive Di-rector Aaron Schulenburg. “The dra-matic pace at which we are seeingnew technology, and understandingthe impact that technology has on ourbusinesses, is perhaps one of the mostcritical pieces of information ourmembers need to ensure the successof their businesses. We are thrilledthat we could partner with Mr. Hazel-baker and his well-respected organi-zation to develop a customizedpresentation that spoke to such a crit-ical industry topic.”

HLDI is a private non-profit or-ganization that gathers, processes, andpublishes insurance data concernedwith human and economic losses.

This month’s column is Part 2 of myJune column about building a juniormotor sport body for a motor sport ve-hicle for an 11-year-old driver.

You can read or download it atwww.autobodynews.com in my columnssection if you missed it.

In the last column, I talked aboutbuilding the plug to make a mold. Aswe left it, I was creating the plug form.I was working to get the plug com-pleted so it was totally true to where Iwas satisfied enough to make a mold.Doing body work is one thing, butmaking a plug and going to a mold is

just repeating steps and you can’t evensee the light at the end of the tunnel. Iam totally exhausted from it. The hun-dreds, almost thousands, of hours I’veput into it just to get a part. After youget a mold made, it’s amazing how youcan put out a part every 30–35 hours,after the hundreds of hours I spentmaking the mold. So, there are re-wards at the end of it—to make thatpart in that short amount of time andget exactly all the details you wanted.

Getting back to the plug, I left it at400 grit. I did a wet sand after primer-ing: 80 grit, 150 grit, with 400 grit, thenI’m ready for sealer. Next, I wipe itdown with carbon wax twice, then comeback with a release agent that I spray on.Then, I mask all the areas off, to breakthis down into a form of how everythingcomes apart to get the body out. Wemark off a section of the car—the roof,

hood and trunk is one section. I make aflange using a fiberglass 1/8 inch sheet,two inches wide. This flange is wherewe are going to bolt this mold together.Then we’re going to use locating but-tons along the top to keep everything to-gether. We use clay, hot glue, and woodto give it structure. Then I come backwith FBS brown tape that allows me todraw out my lines, tape two inches, thencome back and glue blocks of wood allthe way down where I put the tape. ThenI cut and make a flange that goes all theway around that perimeter. After I dothat, then I wax everything once again,

use release agent, then put tooling gelcoat down. Any cracks or imperfectionsare filled with clay, like sculpturing.Then, we’re gonna lay mat down anduse cloth and a Squeegee to get all theair bubbles out, then pull off the clothand let that cure. We also use a paste,too, to get down in the corners where thecloth might not sink down and pull up.

We do that once, then we comeback the next day and grind every-thing, put another mat down, anothercloth, and do it again for a total of fivetimes. That way, you have a total of al-most a half inch of thickness.

After we finish that, we tear offthe flange, we go to the left and rightside of the car and make another partand do the same thing: the wax, thetooling gel coat, the mat, the cloth, thesame process.

Then we go to the rear of the car

and do the same thing, plus the wheelwells, the rocker, the rear part of thebumper. There are 14 pieces to the moldby the time I am done. That’s hundredsof hours just to make this one mold.

Then I have to build a frame be-cause the mold is so heavy. I have tobuild the frame while the mold is con-nected to the plug to make it even. Ibuild the frame out of thick gauge 2x4square tubing, then we mount casterson it, connect supporting bars, andthen take it off, finish welding it, andturn it upside down. Next we take themold off the plug, clean it up with

water, then bolt it together. After that,we repeat the process of cleaning themold, putting it all together, sandingdown the imperfections on the moldwith 400 grit to make sure its allsmooth, then we go back and waxeverything, put release agent, gel coat(not tooling gel coat), then repeat thesame process on all the pieces. I’musing mat and cloth to get air bubblesout and make it stronger. Then I comeback with some reinforcing 5mm Cor-mat which will fill up with resin toadd density to flat areas. The next day,I come back and put everything to-


Building Body Molds from Plugs is No Easy Task

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

Rich Evans is the owner of Huntington Beach Bodyworks and an award winning painter andfabricator. He offers workshops in repair and customization at his facility to share his uniquetalents. For contacts and design samples visit www.huntingtonbeachbodyworks.com

gether, using paste, cut out strips ofmat, connect everything together, boltthe mold together. Three or four hoursafter that, we’re ready to pull it apart.

Then I spend five hours cleaningeverything. Finally I’m done with thefirst Rich Evans-designed motorsports body. This doesn’t count all theaccessories … the wings, scoops, sidescoops, front bumper, etc.

Seems like now I am gettingaway from parts and add-ons. NowI’m making complete bodies. Whowould have figured?

I have major respect for guys whoare building molds out there. It’s awhole different task. Props to the guys

who are making molds day in and out,because as a car builder, you can seedaylight at the end of the tunnel. Butin this field, you don’t even know how

many sand strokes youneed to get to the end.

I’m excited about theproject and to see it on thetrack in full motion. Then Ican sit back and enjoy.

The body is ready tosand down, seal and paint,and it’s ready to go. I’vegot scribe marks to cut thedoors out, and scribe marksfor the hood and the decklid. The whole idea is forthis to look like a real carfeatured in the motor sport

world. Stay tuned to see where this carwill be seen and what it’s going to bedoing on the track.

Follow me on Rich Evans Designson Facebook, RichEvansDesigns.com,BuilditwithRichEvans.com, and Hunt-ingBeachBodyWorks.com.

Thanks to all my sponsors, with ashout-out to FBS, a title sponsor ofWorld Wide Car Building, and myother sponsors listed on my website.

See ya at SEMA. It’s a greatmonth to be around automobiles.


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Rich’s SEMA Appearance ScheduleSEMA 2012 is approaching faster thanwe could expect. As we all know, theSpecialty Equipment Market Associa-tion is the biggest automotive show ofthe year. I am totally looking forward toit and I wanted to give you the low-down on what Rich Evans Designs hasbeen doing and how we are gearing upfor SEMA.

On Tuesday, October 30 at 1 p.m.in the FBS Booth #11177, we will beunveiling the project we built in Canada,a 2004 H2 Hummer which was built in10 days on our new show “World WideCar Building.” We will have all ninebuilders from the U.S.there, as well as theteam from Curtis Cus-toms in Canada.

At 3 p.m. in theWyotech Booth#12073, we will beunveiling our secondproject from the recentbuild in Canada, whichwas also filmed for“World Wide Car Build-ing.” The second vehi-cle we built is a 1954panel truck.

We will have scis-sor reels playing inboth booths with high-lights from the filming.

Please stop by and say hello atany of the following scheduled celebrityappearances:

Tuesday, October 309:30-10 am: Solution Finish Booth#1304312:30-1: FBS Booth #11177 (beforethe unveiling of the H2 Hummer)2:15-2:45: Wyotech Booth #12073(before the unveiling of the 1954 paneltruck)3:30: MGP Booth #481074-4:30 pm.: Solution Finish Booth#13043

Wednesday, October 319:30-10 a.m.: Solution Finish Booth#1304312:30-1: FBS Booth #111772:15-2:45: Wyotech Booth #120733-3:30: MGP Booth #481074-4:30 Solution Finish Booth #130434:30-5 FBS Booth #11177

Thursday, November 19:30-10: Solution Finish Booth#1304312:30-1: FBS Booth #111772:15-2:45: Wyotech Booth #120733-3:30: MGP Booth #481074-4:30: Solution Finish Booth #130434:30-5: FBS Booth #11177

Friday, November 29:30-10: Solution Finish Booth#1304312:30-1: FBS Booth #111772:15 - 2:45: Wyotech Booth #120733-3:30: MGP Booth #48107

4-4:30: Solution FinishBooth #13043

I also will be par-ticipating in a celebritybuild, the 2012 HRIAPinewood Derby dis-play of the race cars,located in Hot RodAlley at HRIA Booth. I’llbe competing againstother celebrity carbuilders to build andrace a pinewood derbycar to benefit two char-ities, Child Help andVictory JunctionCamp. I’ve competedin this race the past

three years and have come in 2ndplace. Come by and see my rocket car!

I also wanted to mention two an-nouncements regarding Solution Fin-ish.

First is a new product line calledRich Evans DIY kit, a complete packagefor the do-it-yourselfer. It includeseverything needed to completely re-store plastic, vinyl, rubber on any vehi-cle without needing to scrounge aroundlooking for the professional items thatare essential for getting the same re-sults as master detailers.

Secondly, Solution Finish hasmade a major breakthrough in the for-mulization of its gray fusion, a restoringproduct that is the first of its kind. Thisproduct allows you to restore graybumpers and trim to a better than newcondition with one application, and itremoves tiger striping. Check it out inaction at Booth #13043.

See ya at SEMA!

A big news item in the auto body in-dustry has been DuPont’s decision tosell DuPont Performance Coatings(DPC) to the Carlyle Group for $4.9billion after around 90 years in thebusiness (see story adjacent). Such amajor transaction concerning one ofthe largest and most important suppli-ers of automotive paints has garneredmuch interest and concern. Because ofthis, I took the opportunity to sit downwith Mike Bennett, North AmericaMarketing Director at DPC to getmore details about the upcoming tran-sition, expected to close during thefirst quarter of 2013.

DuPont’s decision to sell DPCcame from their strategic decision tofocus on other aspects of their busi-ness, and since the automotive paintindustry is not aligned with these in-tentions, they decided to sell that por-tion of their business with the beliefthat “DuPont and DPC are best servedby focusing on these separate market

segments,” according to Bennett.Regarding how this sale will ben-

efit DPC, Bennettclaims “this willbetter allow us tofocus on our cus-tomers. Currently,DPC’s profits arefunneled back intothe DuPont corpo-ration, but this

transition will allow DPC to funnelprofits back into our own growth... pro-viding a great opportunity for us andour customers and allowing us to focuson what is most important to DPC.”

The transition will also allowDPC to increase their efficiencies andsynergies, but there are no plans tomake personnel changes or changes tothe products and services offered.DPC’s separation from DuPont willsimply allow them to focus on whatthey do best: manufacturing automo-tive paint.

Eventually, DPC’s name willchange as they end their affiliationwith DuPont; however, while therewill obviously be some rebranding,DPC promises that they will continueto maintain their efforts to providetheir auto body customers with thebest possible products.

“DPC is absolutely committed toour individual distribution network, andwe have no plans to change that. In fact,we expect that this transition will helpus grow our position in the market,”Bennett assures Autobody News readers.

DuPont and the Carlyle Groupare working together to ensure asmooth transition for customers, andthey insist that DPC’s eventual re-branding should not significantly im-pact end-users. Since DPC’s paintlines were a major contributing factorin the Carlyle Group’s decision to ac-quire the company, they plan to con-tinue producing and selling theirpopular brands which include Spies

Hecker, Standox and Imron, amongothers. Bennett stressed that DPC hasno intention of changing their com-mitment to their network of individualdistributors; he also adds that this tran-sition will allow DPC to focus on theirspecific market, and “through this re-newed focus, DPC hopes to fuel ourcustomers’ growth and market share.”

The intended transaction was an-nounced on August 30, 2012, ending ayear-long uncertainty concerningDPC’s future. Rumors of a possiblesale of DPC first began in November2011 when sources claimed thatDuPont was searching for potentialbuyers. After the sale is official in early2013, DPC will become an independ-ent company, but the company’s man-agement team fully recognizes theimportance of a smooth transition fortheir valued customers. DPC has statedthat they will indefinitely continue tooperate at the Coatings TechnologyCenter (CTC) established at the


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DuPont Performance Coatings, A Big Change but Much Stays in Place

with Rick WhiteShop Management

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Automakers’ Actions and Analysisby Autobody News Staff

Shop Showcaseby Autobody News Staff

with Ed AttanasioShop and Product Showcase

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

Mike Bennett

As a result of AASP MA’s recentpartnership with the Collision RepairEducation Foundation (CREF), theproceeds from the event will go to-wards providing tool grants to stu-dents. Midstate Chapter PresidentMolly Brodeur notes “AASP-MA isthe first association to create a ToolGrant, and our BBQ is the primaryfundraiser for the grant. I am very ex-cited as it looks like the proceeds willfund 10 $500 tool grants. Whatmakes the grant even better is that astudent applies and ultimately re-ceives (if chosen) the $500 tool grantbut is awarded with $1000 in toolscourtesy of Mac Tools.”

AASP-MA raised $5400, mak-ing the event the most successfulfundraiser they have had to date forthe Tool Grant. There were 165 at-tendees at the family-friendly event.AASP-MA’s event featured foodfrom Firefly’s Bodacious BBQ and anumber of raffle prizes. Norm Au-dette won the live auction, acquiringa Becca Gun Washer, valued at

$2300, which was contributed byManaged Air Systems. Other grandprizes include Carrie Underwoodtickets donated by Long AutomotiveGroup, a LCD TV donated by Impe-rial Parts, a Bose Wave Radio do-nated by Finishmaster, a BBQ grillcontributed by Bernardi Auto Group,and a Kids Go-Cart which was do-nated by Enterprise Rent-A-Car.

Donations were made to the ToolGrant fund by Imperial Parts, VenueSponsor, Dinner & Dessert Sponsor,and Bald Hill Dodge, Chrysler, Jeep &Kia. Direct Tool Grant donations werealso made by Lexus of Northboroughand Relco Products. General RaffleSponsors included the following: 1-800Radiator, 3M, BASF, Best Chevrolet,Boston Bumper Supply, Don KennettInc./Bob Levy, Enterprise Rent-A-Car,Herb Chambers/Bill Enross, HerbertBerg Florist, Hertz Local Edition, In-skip, Linders, Inc., LKQ/Keystone,Long Automotive Group, MarcotteFord, Marlborough Wellness Center,NAPA-Hudson, Ollie’s Used AutoParts, Rodman Ford, Arrow, WellesleyVolkswagen, Sherwin Williams, TownFair Tire-Shrewsbury, Tuck’s TruckSales, and Wellesley Toyota.


Association Activity

DuPont Experimental Station in Wilm-ington, Delaware in December 2010.DuPont Performance Coatings has ap-proximately 100,000 square feet ofspace at the CTC devoted to their lab-oratories, applications developmentand office space, and their primaryfocus is researching and developinghigh-performance, sustainable coatingproducts.

NASCAR Sponsorship IntactThough DPC is bound to experiencesome changes as they move awayfrom DuPont, one thing that will notchange is their sponsorship of JeffGordon’s #24 NASCAR team. DPCbegan their partnership with Jeff Gor-don and Hendrick Motor Sports in1992, and DuPont has decided that thesponsorship will continue with DPC.In fact, the appearance of the #24 carhas already changed to reduce theimage of DuPont’s name and logo,and to change its emphasis to the Per-formance Coatings aspect of the busi-ness. DPC’s current contract with JeffGordon and Hendrick Motor Sportslasts through the 2013 season, butBennett notes that DPC hopes to con-tinue this important relationship be-yond that.


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Carlyle Group LP, the world’s second-largest private equity firm, agreed toacquire DuPont Co.’s auto-paint unitfor $4.9 billion, giving it control of thesecond-biggest maker of coatings forcars and trucks.

DuPont is the biggest producer ofcoatings applied to used autos, typi-cally via body-repair shops, and thelargest supplier of new-car coatingsafter PPG, according Gregg Schmidt,a DuPont spokesman.

Carlyle will fund its investmentwith equity from Carlyle Partners Vand Carlyle Europe Partners III, thecompanies said in a joint statement.The transaction value is $5.15 billionincluding Carlyle’s assumption of$250 million in unfunded Europeanpension liabilities, DuPont Chief Fi-nancial Officer Nicholas Fanandakissaid.

The sale marks DuPont’s exitfrom the auto-paints market, which ithas served since the invention of themotor car. U.S. auto output is still lessthan its pre-recession peak while theprice of titanium dioxide, a raw mate-rial used in paint, has surged. DuPontChairman and Chief Executive Offi-cer Ellen Kullman is focusing onother industries such as food and bio-fuels. DuPont hired Credit Suisse

Group AG in October to seek buyersfor the unit.

Kullman told investors in De-cember that she would give the busi-ness, which has the company’snarrowest profit margin, a chance tomeet company targets. DuPont’s long-term goals for coatings included salesrising by 3% to 5% annually, thesmallest targeted rise among the com-pany’s eight divisions.

The DuPont deal will close in thefirst quarter of 2013, subject to regu-latory approvals, the companies said.It would be the largest in the coatingsindustry globally in at least a decade,according to data compiled byBloomberg. The next biggest was PPGIndustries Inc. (PPG)’s 2.2 billion-euro ($2.76 billion) acquisition of Sig-maKalon Group BV in 2008.

The DuPont auto-paint unit,which employs more than 11,000 peo-ple, saw second-quarter pretax operat-ing income climb 26% to $92 millionas revenue fell 1.4% to $1.09 billion.Sales will be more than $4 billion thisyear, Carlyle and DuPont said in theirstatement.

Coatings in the last 12 monthsgenerated “slightly less than” $500million in earnings before interest,taxes, depreciation and amortization.

From the third quarter, DuPontwill report the unit’s results as earn-ings from discontinued operations,which it expects will be 41 cents to 47cents a share for 2012.

DuPont became an auto-paintsindustry leader with its $1.9 billion ac-quisition of Herberts GmbH from Ger-many’s Hoechst GmbH in 1999.DuPont cut 1,500 coatings jobs andshut factories in Europe seven yearslater after the business failed toachieve financial targets.

Kullman is focusing DuPont’sgrowth on what she calls “mega-trends” arising from global populationgrowth: Improving food quality andagricultural productivity, cutting re-liance on fossil fuels, and protectingthe environment and people. She ex-panded last year in food ingredientsand biofuel enzymes with the pur-chase of Danisco.

DuPont, which also makes plas-tics for auto parts, supplied GeneralMotors Co. (GM) in the 1920s with aspray-on coating that cut the weeks-long process of painting a car to sixhours, according to DuPont’s website.

After the Carlyle deal is com-pleted, DuPont will still sell more than$3 billion of advanced materials to theauto industry, it said today.

Carlyle to Buy DuPont’s Auto Paint Business for Nearly $5 Billion

A shop that repaired and restored abullied student's car received so manyemails, cards and phone calls thankingthem for what they did, that the autobody shop is inspired to do it all overagain for another deserving individual.

“I wanna pay it forward everyyear so we’re calling it operation payit forward and once a year we’re goingto overhaul a deserving person’s car,”says Richard Henegar Jr, a managerat Quality Auto Paint and Body inRoanoke, VA.

In August, a bullied gay teenmade headline national news when theauto body shop repaired his Volkswa-gen for free and prompted a commu-nity to take action.

The Radford University student'scar was vandalized four times, once athome and three times on-campus, withanti-gay slurs and death threats.

For several months, college stu-dent Jordan Addison had to drive hiscar with its windows bashed in and thewords “die fag” keyed into his door.Addison said no matter how hard hetried, he couldn’t get rid of the slursentirely.

“The first time there were somehomophobic slurs keyed into the sideof it,” said Addison. “Then the secondtime I had ‘die’ keyed into it. The low-

est estimate I got just to fix the dam-age to the doors was like $2,500, andfor a college student that's a lot ofmoney.”

Henegar heard about Addison'scar and teamed up with 10 other busi-nesses to repair the car and added onseveral extras.

Henegar said he was shockedwhen he first saw Addison’s trashedcar. The student had tried unsuccess-fully to hide the slurs with spray paintand because he couldn’t afford newtires, had fitted several mismatchedpair to his axles.

“Once I saw the vandalism thatwas done to it, I said, ‘That’s uncalledfor. We’re gonna fix your car. That’sthe least we can do,’” said Henegar.

“We don't take kindly to discrim-ination of any sort here,” Henegarsaids. “I was bullied in high schooland a little bit in the service and I sawan opportunity to help somebody out.”

Henegar and fellow volunteersspent 100 hours and over $10,000adding a new scratch-resistant paintjob, new tires, tinted windows, a newstereo, and a new security system toAddison’s 1999 Volkswagen.

The $10,000 worth of extras wereprovided by ten local businesses: PartsUnlimited, Advance Auto Parts,

Moon's Auto Body, Rice Toyota, Val'sAutomotive, The Rod Shop, B&C Ex-terminating, Twists & Turns, AJ'sLandscaping and Sunnybrook AutoSpa.

The effort came together in be-ginning of August. Addison was givena small, red Fiat thanks in part to anEnterprise car rental agency for thetwo weeks of repairs. At that point,Henegar had only told Addison thathis door would be repaired. Workingat night after hours and on weekends,Henegar and his team repaired thedamaged car, inviting Addison back inAugust 20 for his big surprise.

“I was entirely speechless,” thestudent told the Daily News. “I justwalked around saying, ‘Oh, my God,this is not my car. It just restored myfaith, my good faith, in people.”

Henegar and Addison appearedon the 10th season premiere of theEllen show where Ellen DeGeneresrepeatedly plugged Quality Auto Paintand Body and had her star guests,Pink, Patrick Demsey and gymnasticOlympic gold medalists film an all-star commercial for the shop. As anadditional surprise, CoverGirl Cos-metics gave both men $25,000 each asa gift “for sharing their story and beinga good example to the rest of us.”

Shop That Helped Bullied Teen Inspired to Start a New ‘Pay it Forward’ Program

october 2012 great lakes edition

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