southwest march 2010

Consumer Union Calls for Auto SafetyReforms, Toyota Controversy Heats UpConsumers Union, the nonprofit publisherof Consumer Reports, has issued a callFeb. 23 for urgent changes to strengthenU.S. auto safety regulation in the wake ofthe massive recall by Toyota.

The influential consumer advocacygroup said that the U.S. safety regulatorysystem should be reformed to becomemore transparent and that the NationalHighway Traffic Safety Administrationshould have more funding and the abilityto impose tougher sanctions.

The group also urged a number ofsafety mandates it said should be imposedon all automakers to address the risk ofunintended acceleration of the kind nowunder investigation for Toyota.

U.S. safety regulators should requirethat all cars have brake override systems,simple controls that turn off the engine in

an emergency, clear and simple labels ontransmission shifters and a minimumclearance between floor panels and accel-erator pedals, Consumers Union said.

Toyota has faced criticism on all ofthose points in the run-up to a sweepingrecall for accelerator-related problems thattotals over 8 million vehicles globally.

NHTSA says five deaths have beenlinked to the risk of loose floormats trap-ping accelerator pedals in Toyota vehicles.Another 29 fatality reports are under in-vestigation.

“Much of the ongoing debate andpublic outcry has centered on why theseissues weren't caught or acted upon ear-lier,” Consumers Union said in its reporton the Toyota recalls and proposed re-forms.

State Farm Says NHTSA Warned on ToyotaState Farm said on Feb. 8 that it informedthe National Highway Traffic SafetyAd-ministration of a worrying trend of vehi-cle-caused accidents involving Toyotavehicles as far back as late 2007, basedon claims data.

State Farm said that it routinelytracks claim trend information and sharesits data with NHTSA. “We voluntarilyand routinely communicate with the ap-propriate government agencies when wesee a product-related claim trend,” saidState Farm spokesman, Jeff McCollum.

“When you start to see significantclaims activity that indicates that theremay be widespread problems with a prod-uct, that’s when you go to the NHTSA,”said State Farm spokesman Kip Diggs.“There had to have been significant activ-ity, a noticeable trend, for that to happen.”

NHTSA spokeswoman Karen Al-dana said State Farm sent the agency a

claim letter, dated Sept. 7, 2007, whichwas sent to Toyota concerning a crash in-volving a 2005 Camry. She said the re-port was reviewed and added to theircomplaint database. NHTSA officialshave since responded that the State Farmreport was reviewed and the agency is-sued a recall later that month.

NHTSA said it received complaintsabout acceleration problems in Toyotavehicles as early as 2003, and congress isnow investigating whether or not thegovernment missed warning signs of theproblems. The House Oversight andGovernment Reform Committee willhold the first of three congressional hear-ings on Feb. 24 which are expected to re-view the recall of about 8.5 millionvehicles globally, first over floor matssuspected of trapping gas pedals, thenover sticking gas pedals and brake prob-

See STATE FARM TO NHTSA, Page 4

SouthwestEdition

TexasOklahomaLouisiana

New Mexico YEARS www.autobodynews.com

282828PresortedStandard

USPostagePAID

Ontario,Ca.PermitNo.1

381CASALINDAPLAZA,#239,DALLAS,TX75218

ChangeServiceRequested

VOL. 28 ISSUE 3MARCH 2010

SCRS and Others Alert Industry to ConcernsOver Aftermarket Structural Parts, Insurers Act

www.autobodynews.comwww.autobodynews.com

NEWSNEWSNEWSNEWSService, Diagnostic

and MechanicalService, Diagnostic

and Mechanicalcc, g cg cggService, DiagnosticDi iService, DiagnosticService, DiagnosticS i o iService, DiagnosticService, DiagnosticDService, DiagnosticService, DiagnosticS i i o iggg, DService, DiagnosticDService, DiagnosticService, DiagnosticD cccccceeeeee ssService, DiagnosticService, Diagnosticsaaa tttggg iiinnnnnnaaService, DiagnosticaiiiiiirrrvService, DiagnosticvService, Diagnosticv ga tSS DService, Diagnostic

nda dda dddddaaa ddanddnnnnnnaaanda daandddandd hanicalech n cMd Mec a calllh nical Mechanicali Mechanical Mechanical Mechanicalicnhecg

Mechg

MMd Md cccccceee aaaaaa lllaa Mechanical Mechanicalaiiinnnnnnaa MechanicalahhhhhhMM Mechanical MechanicalM aaMMechanicalgService, Diagnostic

MechanicalddandService, Diagnostic

and MechanicalService, DiagnosticService, DiagnosticService, DiagnosticService, DiagnosticService, DiagnosticService, Diagnostic

In November of last year and January ofthis year, SCRS National Director andAutobody News columnist, Toby Chess,performed several demonstrations out-lining comparative studies he had con-ducted between randomly selected OEMand Aftermarket Structural Replacementparts. See Hey Toby column last month.

The parts reviewed included itemssuch as Front and Rear Bumper Rein-forcement Beams, Radiator Core Sup-ports, Bumper Brackets and BumperEnergy Absorbers. In every exampletested, there were significant differencesin both the construction of, and materialsused, in the aftermarket replacement part

which can significantly impact the rolesthat these parts serve in the transfer of en-ergy resulting from a collision. Each ofthese parts also directly relates to thefunctionality and response of the vehicleSafety Restraint System (SRS), andcould have a resulting affect on how theairbag functions in the event of a loss.

The presentation also detailed that inother instances where the manufacturerhad paid particular attention to utilizing thesamematerials as the OEM, and employedcredible third-party testing, the parts ap-peared to perform much better in subse-quent crash test video demonstrations.

See AFTERMARKET PARTS, Page 37

See AUTO SAFETY REFORMS, Page 9

We continueour SpecialPaint Technol-ogy issue thismonth witharticles on:

BASF on NewerRefinishProcesses

Federal Government Pays For Shops To GoGreen

Compressors Affect your Spray Gun and yourPaint

Technological Advancements In OversprayCollector

Dan Am-SATA & Jobbers Provide EPA PainterSpray Gun Training

We conclude our special coverage in nextmonths Autobody News

Part 2

2 MARCH 2010 AUTOBODY NEWS | www.autobodynews.com

DAVID McDAVIDT H I S B R A N D S TA N D S F O R S AV I N G ST H I S B R A N D S TA N D S F O R S AV I N G ST H I S B R A N D S TA N D S F O R S AV I N G S

HONDA OF FRISCOACURA OF AUSTIN

Parts Manager: Dan ZieberPhone 972-731-3175Toll Free 1-866-442-2711Fax [email protected]

HONDA OF IRVINGACURA OF PLANO

NISSAN OF HOUSTON

HONDA OF HOUSTONLINCOLN MERCURY OF PLANO

• Over $600,000 Parts Inventory• 11,000 Parts in Stock• Trained Wholesale Crew:

Mario, Phillip

• In State Next Day Shippingw/Quick Local Delivery

• Great Discounts

Hour: Monday - Friday 7 AM - 7 PM • Saturday 7:30 AM - 5:30 PM • Sunday 11 AM - 4 PMWholesale Parts Specialist: John Raygo512-401-5976Watts 800-575-3553Parts 512-401-5976Fax [email protected]

• Over $400,000 Parts Inventory• 15,000 Parts in Stock• Trained Experienced Crew


• Great DiscountsHour: Monday - Friday 7 AM - 7 PM • Saturday 8 AM - 5 PM • Sunday Closed

Wholesale Parts Specialist: Danny WaidePhone 972-964-6000972-964-6044Fax [email protected]




Parts Manager: Dick GrahamPhone 800-231-9657Fax [email protected]

• Over 1.3 Million Parts Inventory• 28,000 Parts• Trained Experienced Crew

• Texas & Louisiana Next DayShipping


Parts Manager: John KeithPhone 972-964-5000Fax [email protected]



• Great Discounts

Hour: Monday - Friday 7 AM - 6 PM • Saturday 7:30 AM - 4 PM • Sunday Closed

Parts Manager: Dan ZieberPhone 972-790-6008Toll Free 1-800-492-4464Fax [email protected]

• Over $900,000 Parts Inventory• 17,000 Parts in Stock• Trained Wholesale Crew:

Gary, Marie, Jim


• Great Discounts

Hour: Monday - Friday 7 AM - 9 PM • Saturday 8 AM - 5 PM • Sunday 11 AM - 6 PM

Parts Manager: Scott BentleyPhone 800-444-1263Fax [email protected]

• Over $1,000,000 Parts Inventory• 100,000 Parts in Stock• Trained Experienced Crew



WELCOME TO THEWELCOME TO THEDAVID MDAVID MccDAVID AUTO GROUPDAVID AUTO GROUP

WELCOME TO THEDAVID McDAVID AUTO GROUP

www.davidmcdavid.comwww.davidmcdavid.comwww.davidmcdavid.com

www.autobodynews.com | MARCH 2010 AUTOBODY NEWS 3

SouthwestPublisher & Editor: Jeremy Hayhurst

General Manager: Barbara DaviesContributing Writers: Tom Franklin, Dick Strom, John Yoswick, Lee Amaradio,Janet Chaney, Toby Chess, Mike Causey, Tom McGeeAdvertising Sales: Joe Momber, Christina Shubert (800) 699-8251Advertising Sales Assistant: Stephanie BowlingArt Director: Rodolfo Garcia

Serving Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, New Mexico and adjacent metro areas, Autobody Newsis a monthly publication for the autobody industry. Permission to reproduce in any form thematerial published in Autobody News must be obtained in writing from the publisher.©2009 Adamantine Media LLC.

Autobody News381 Casa Linda Plaza, #239, Dallas, TX 75218(800) 699-8251 (214) 371-6626 Faxwww.autobodynews.com Email: [email protected]

Aegis Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Allen Samuels Dodge Fort Worth . . . . . . 6

Autoland Scientech. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Banner GM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

BMW Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . . . . 32

Chacon Suzuki . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Chemco. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Chevyland . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Classifieds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

David McDavid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Finnegan Chrysler-Jeep-Dodge . . . . . . 10

Ford Wholesale Parts Dealers

TX, OK, LA, NM. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Gladwin Paint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Global Finishing Solutions . . . . . . . . . . 16

Goodson Honda West . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Honda/Acura Wholesale Parts Dealers 38

Huffines Hyundai McKinney . . . . . . . . . . 9

Huffines Hyundai Plano . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Hyundai Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . 30

Kia Motors Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . 40

LKQ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Mattei Compressors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Mazda Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . . . 36

Mercedes-Benz of Oklahoma . . . . . . . . . 8

Mike Calvert Toyota. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Mitsubishi Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . 35

MOPAR Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . . 12

Nissan/Infiniti Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . 36

Park Place Lexus. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Performance Ratiator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Ray Huffines Chevrolet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Replica Plastics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

SATA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

SCA Appraisal Company . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Sherwin-Williams. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Shoot Suits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Suzuki Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . . . 38

Soft-Sanders from Style-Line, Corp . . . 13

Toyota Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . . . 37

Verifacts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Volkswagen Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . 37

Volvo Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . . . . 35

Young Chevrolet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Inde

xofAdvertisers

AEGIS Tools Innovates Windshield Repair Systems. . . . 17Alcohol-Related Teen Fatalities Drop in Oklahoma . . . . 6ALLDATA® White Paper: Spells out Need for OE

Collision Repair Information. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7Amaradio - “Every Man For Himself” . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33ASA Requests NHTSA to Use its Authority to Regulate

Aftermarket Crash Parts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29ASA Urges Repairers to Contact Committee Members

to Oppose Model Parts Act . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12Ask Dale - Parts and Car Sales, City Vehicles,

Standards for Associations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25BASF Expands Lean Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26BASF Responds to Questions on Newer Processes . . . 26New Chair of TX Automobile Insurance Plan Association . 8CARSTAR Collision Centers Top Celebrity Crashes of ‘09 . 38Collision Industry Foundation to Auction for Charity . . 24Collision Repair Students Well-Prepared for Real World . 36CollisionBuilder.com - Free Websites to Associations . 36Congress Asks Insurers for Toyota Accident Data . . . 10Consumer Union Calls for Auto Safety Reforms,

Toyota Controversy Heats Up. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1Dan Am-SATA & Jobbers Provide EPA Spray Gun Training15Data Recorders Now in Cars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5EPA Sets New NO2 Standard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38Espersen - Proper Strategies and the Sectioning Mystery 20Evans - Ultimate Vodka’s Shelby Series 1, Part 2 . . . . 13Federal Government Pays For Shops To Go Green,

Says GRC-Pirk Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30Ford & Hyundai Excel in Brand Loyalty, Toyota Still No. 1 . 25Franklin - Help Customers Avoid ‘Jackass Bends’. . . . 28Gesterkamp - Compressors Affect your Spray Gun

and your Paint Appearance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22Gonzo's Toolbox - Early Morning De-Light . . . . . . . . . 19

Hand-held Phone Bans Are Not Reducing Crashes,Distraction is an Attention Problem . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Honda Adds 437,000 Cars to Worldwide Air Bag Recall . 5I-CAR Announces 2010 International Board of Directors . 3I-CAR Tech - Insulated Gloves And High Voltage Batteries 31Insurance Council of Texas Says Auto Injuries Down . . 6Iowa Collision Repair Association Sponsors SSB 3180 . 5Kaizen Launches LEAN Auto Body Webinar Series . . . . 8Louisiana Says ‘No 19% Hike’ to State Farm . . . . . . . . 4Louisiana Workman’s Comp Costs About 35% More . . 8NADA Chair Says Dealers See Industry Rebound . . . . 10New I-CAR Director for Curriculum Work . . . . . . . . . . 22Okla. Insurance Dept Wants to be Stand Alone. . . . . . . 9Oregon Posts Ratemaking Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6Performance Radiator Stresses Consistency . . . . . . . 27Record Snowstorm Hands N. Texas $25M Bill . . . . . . . 7Replacement Safety Cert. Labels Gaining Wider Usage . 18Bill, SB 209, Withdrawn by Maryland State Senator . . . 5SCRS and Others Alert Industry to Concerns Over

Aftermarket Structural Parts, Insurers Act . . . . . . . . 1SCRS Expands Repairer Education Presence at SEMA—

ASRW will be Mid-week in October . . . . . . . . . . . . 24Sears offering defunct dealerships auto center franchises 24Soaring Foreign Car Sales Shape Future. . . . . . . . . . . 18State Farm Says NHTSA Warned on Toyota . . . . . . . . . 1Tech. Advancements In Overspray Collectors, part one 23Tennessee House’s Anti-Steering Legislation . . . . . . . . 9Toyota Facing Diminished Value Lawsuits . . . . . . . . . . 5Toyota, Documents Show Savings by Limiting Recall. 21Toyota Vulnerable to Conquests . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5Winter is Kind to Collision King, Lubbock, TX . . . . . . . . 72010 ASRW Partnering Program Kicks-Off . . . . . . . . 1260% of Tax Rebates, Ins. Assessments not Claimed in LA . 8

Contents

I-CAR announced its 2010 Interna-tional Board of Directors and ExecutiveCommittee following the I-CARAnnualMembership Meeting in Torrance, CA.

The 2010 Executive Committeeconsists of: Chair Tom Moreland, Ak-zoNobel; Vice Chair Elise Quadrozzi,Crawford & Company; SecretaryDustin Womble, Roger Beasley Colli-sion Center for SCRS; Treasurer BobKeith, CARSTAR; Past Chair RobbyRobbs, NuCon Services Inc.; Member-At-Large Bruce Bares, Hi-Tech Colli-sion & Glass Centers; andMember-At-Large William Brower,Liberty Mutual Insurance Company.

“Over 30 years ago, I-CAR wascreated to educate the industry on theproper repair of unibody vehicles. Astoday’s vehicles are complex and rolesin the industry are diverse, it only makessense for I-CAR to pursue a role-basedcurriculum model to better serve thecollision inter-industry,” said Moreland.“The I-CAR International Board of Di-rectors appreciates the work staff, in-structors, and volunteers are doing todevelop, implement, and deliver contin-uous improvement of the curriculumthat is truly relevant and beneficial to in-dustry professionals.”

The remaining directors include:FarzamAfshar, Verifacts Automotive;Terry W. Angell, Warren Tech; RollieBenjamin, ABRAAuto Body & Glass;Bruce Cooley, DuPont PerformanceCoatings; William DeGrocco, GEICOInsurance;Ronald Doerr, General Mo-tors Corp.;Chris Evans, State Farm In-surance Education Foundation Rep;David Henderson, See Progress, Inc.;Joseph Laurentino, Esurance; JohnNorton, Ford Motor Company; SamPezzullo, State Farm Canadian Repre-sentative; Greg Potter, DearbornGroup Technology for Equipment &Tool Institute;Monica Rivers, BMWofNorth America, LLC; MikeSchoonover, Schoonover Bodyworksfor Automotive Service Association;and James Spears, USAA.

The board of directors sets theoverall strategic direction for the organ-ization and assists in obtaining re-sources in support of the I-CARMission. The board of directors is com-prised of representatives from each ofthe following six industry segments:collision repair; insurance; equipment,tools, and supplies; education, training,and research; vehicle manufacturers;and related industry services.

I-CAR Announces 2010 International Board of Directors

Louisiana Insurance Commissioner JimDonelon has denied a request by thestate’s largest home insurer, State Farm,for an average 19.1% rate hike. TheBloomington, Ill.-based company filed arate revision for their homeowners pro-gram in December of 2009, which wasunder review until Mr. Donelon made hisannouncement Feb 11. The filed rate revi-sion would have generated an estimated$67,625,043 in additional premiums to thecompany and the increase would equal anaverage statewide rate hike of 19.1%. Itwould have varied from a low of minus5% to a high of plus 44.4% in some areas.

Commissioner Donelon said “after anextensive review of the filing and consid-eration of multiple factors including dataprovided by State Farm, the rate revisionwas determined to be unreasonable.”

Determining factors, he explained, in-cluded use of an excessive loss trend byState Farm, as well as an unreasonable hur-ricane risk provision, and “the significantweight given to the latest version of theEQECAT hurricane model used by StateFarm in justifying their revision. The EQE-CAT model’s projected hurricane loss pro-visions are 150% higher than projectedhurricane loss provisions produced by thetwo other industry hurricane models utilizedby State Farm in this filing, without ade-

quate supporting evidence for the differ-ence,” the commissioner said, adding,“When a rate revision is filed, we use all ofthe evidence available to make the determi-nation as to whether the revision is reason-able and justified. In this case, State FarmFire and Casualty falls short of proving theneed for an increase of this magnitude.”

Molly Quirk-Kirby, a State Farmspokesperson said the insurer is “disap-pointed with the decision, but we will con-tinue to have conversations with theDepartment of Insurance because we feelthe rate increase is justified and needed.”

In having continuing discussions withthe department, she said the company will“Try to address some of their concerns.”

The department said in 2008, StateFarm Fire and Casualty Company had amarket share of 27% of all Louisianahomeowners policies and is the largesthomeowners policy provider in the state.The company said its share is 30%.

Donelon said discussions with thecompany would not change his action, “Ihave made my decision and we were too farapart to justify negotiating our concerns.”There were three actuarial objections, henoted. Donelon will formally provide thecompany with his written reasons for actionand, “They can appeal or adjust to accom-modate our concerns and refile.”


Louisiana Says ‘No 19% Hike’ to State Farm

lems, and now potentially, over drive bywire throttle systems.

State Farm is America’s largest autoinsurer, with 42.4 million auto insurancepolicies. That gives it a U.S. market shareof about 18%, according the Insurance In-formation Institute.

Diggs said the company contacted theNHTSA in late 2007 and had been intouch with the regulator an unspecifiednumber of times since then. Toyota hasbeen hit by a huge recall of more than 8million vehicles worldwide, (see story thisissue) which has raised questions about thequality standards and credibility of theJapanese automaker.

Diggs said that the models involvedin the incidents State Farm had brought tothe attention of the NHTSA were “consis-tent with the voluntary recall undertakenby Toyota.’’

Other insurers said they had not seensuch a trend.

“We have not seen such a pattern,’’said Steve Witmer, a spokesman for Wis-consin-based American Family Insur-ance Group, the No. 10 U.S. auto insurerwith a market share of 2.1 percent. How-ever, Insurance Information InstitutePresident Bob Hartwig said that few in-

surers beyond State Farm had a bigenough auto insurance business to deter-mine a trend like this. He added thatState Farm’s insurance data had alsobeen critical in tracking problems withtires made by Bridgestone Corp.’s Fire-stone unit to rollover incidents involvingFord Motor Co’s Explorer models adecade ago.

“State Farm helped crack the problemwith Firestone tires and few other (auto)insurers have the scale to do what theycan,” Hartwig said. But other insurers aregoing back over accidents involving Toy-ota models to determine whether they mayhave been caused by a vehicle fault insteadof the driver.

“We’re currently reviewing claimsthat may be affected by the Toyota re-calls,” said Leah Knapp, a spokeswomanfor No. 4 auto insurer Progressive. “Rightnow it’s too soon to say how many cus-tomers may be affected, but at this pointthere’s no indication that it will be a sig-nificant number.”

In a separate matter, federal safetyofficials said they will review complaintsfrom Toyota Corolla drivers about steer-ing difficulties on their vehicles. NHTSAsaid it has received about 80 complaintsfrom drivers of 2009 and 2010 Corollas.Many said their cars could wander whenthey drive on the highway, making it hardto stay in lanes.

Continued from Page 1

State Farm to NHTSA

PARK PLACE LEXUS PLANO • [email protected]

PARK PLACE LEXUS GRAPEVINE • [email protected]

YOUR ULTIMATE SOURCEfor LEXUS PARTS

At Park Place Lexus, our wholesale parts operation has an inventory exceeding $1.5 million and a helpful, knowledgeablesales team that includes a Spanish-speaking member.

For orders, we have four convenient options: phone, fax, email and OPS Trax. We even offer free shipping on OPS, and free shipping on Noble Logistics for prepaid orders over $500. In most cases, you can count on next-day delivery. For more information, contact either one of our Dallas-area locations:


Salvaged Airbag Bill, SB 209, Withdrawn by Maryland State SenatorAfter strong opposition by repairer organi-zations at the National Conference of Insur-ance Legislators (NCOIL), a model airbagbill, although amended, was still passed foruse in individual states. The model bill es-tablishes criminal penalties for fraudulentinstallation of an airbag; requires shops tomaintain detailed records of airbags theypurchase, sell or install; mandates that a re-pair facility submit an affidavit to a vehicleowner saying that an airbag was installedproperly; and sets forth guidelines regulat-ing the use of salvage airbags. The bill, in-tended to provide a documentation processfor the use of new and salvaged airbags toprotect consumers from airbag fraud, hadbeen proposed in Maryland.

On Feb. 5, the Washington Metropol-itan Auto Body Association (WMABA)sent out an urgent notice to repairers to op-pose this bill, citing many reasons that re-pairers and consumers could be harmed.Many repairers had taken the initiative tocontact their representative if they were onthe Senate Finance committee who washearing the bill first. Though these actionswere taken immediately, WMABA was un-sure of the response that would be seen inthe bill hearings.

Rep. Robert Damron of Kentucky,who is the NCOIL president, wrote, in anopen letter to WMABA: Although we donot wish to comment on specific Marylandactivity, we do wish to weigh in on somegeneral statements regarding the NCOILmodel law on which the Maryland bill wasbased.

The Model Act Regarding AutoAirbag Fraud, adopted overwhelmingly byNCOIL on November 22, 2009, neither en-courages nor discourages the use of sal-vaged airbags. Rather, in adopting themodel law, legislators set forth a compre-hensive approach to fighting airbag fraud—an approach that acknowledges today’sinstallation, however frequent or infre-quent, of both salvaged and new originalequipment manufacturer (OEM) parts. Thepurpose of our model is to ensure that anyairbag installed in a vehicle is safe.

On Feb. 15, Senate Bill 209, proposedby Senator Delores Kelley (D-BaltimoreCounty) was voted down unanimously bythe Senate Finance Committee to have thebill withdrawn without foreseeable reintro-duction.

“This outcome was no doubt the re-sult of WMABA, our lobbyist groupAlexander & Cleaver and our Marylandconstituents giving useful and pertinent in-formation to the Senators, so that theycould make an informed and consumer-conscientious decision,” saidBradWhite-ford, WMABA President and owner ofWhiteford’s Collision.

“All of the WMABA membershipshould be proud of the efforts of the asso-ciation to head-off such a possible disasterfor repairers throughout the country, be-cause we all know how bills like these in-crease the chances for other specialinterests to attempt this in other states.”

For more information contact theWMABA at: (804) 789-9649.

Iowa Collision Repair Association(ICRA) Sponsors SSB 3180In its 09/10 goals, the ICRA stated it isworking towards introducing legislationthat would allow reimbursement to end-users of sales tax on paint materials.This is a law that has been on the bookssince 1934 in Iowa. The ICRA says itneeds to be changed. In January, ScottWeiser met with Senate Ways andMeans Committee Chair Joe Bolkcom(D-Iowa City) to discuss the ICRA’s taxissue. After serious consideration, Sena-tor Bolkcom agreed to sponsor a SenateStudy Bill to begin the process of con-sideration of legislation. ICRA will as-sist in the preparation of the LegislativeFiscal Note that will detail the positiveor negative impact of the legislation tothe Iowa General Fund. SSB3180, ex-empting from state sales and use taxesthe sale of paint and other consumedmaterials at an auto body shop, is spon-sored by Senator Bolkcom. The pro-posed legislation is written to chargesales tax on the retail price of paint sup-plies so that body shops would no longerpay sales tax on that cost. This means animmediate increase in net profit of 7%because they are not paying sales tax onthe cost of the materials.

Honda is adding 437,000 vehicles to itsworldwide recall for faulty air bags an-nounced in Nov. 2008. Honda, Japan's No.2 automaker, has now recalled close to950,000 vehicles for airbag problemslinked to one fatality and a total of 11 in-juries in the United States.

While Honda’s is not the size of Toy-ota’s, it comes at a sensitive time for an in-dustry struggling to draw customers backto showrooms after a brutal downturn.

The company will replace the driver’sside air bag inflator in the cars because theycan deploy with too much pressure, causingthe inflator to rupture and potentially caus-ing injury or death. The total of number ve-hicles recalled since then is approaching 1million. The latest expansion of the air bagrecall includes 378,000 cars in the U.S.,some 41,000 cars in Canada and 17,000cars in Japan, Australia and elsewhere inAsia. The North American recall was an-nounced Feb. 9. The recall affects 952,118vehicles, including certain 2001 and 2002Accord sedans, Civic compacts, Odysseyminivans, CR-V small sport utility vehiclesand some 2002 Acura TL sedans.

Honda’s announcement comes at atime of increased attention on automotiverecalls. Though the problems are unrelated,rival Toyota is in the process of recallingmore than 8 million cars and trucks due tofaulty gas pedals. Toyota said it would recallnearly 440,000 of its flagship 2010 Priusand other hybrids due to a braking glitch.

“There is a heightened sensitivity rightnow to anything to do with recalls,’’ saidJohn Mendel, executive vice president ofsales for American Honda. Honda said it isaware of 12 incidents linked to the prob-lem—one death in May 2009 and 11 in-juries. The company said it is not aware ofany problems happening after July 2009.

Honda decided to expand the recallafter a company investigation found thatmore cars might contain defective air baginflators, made by supplier Takata Corp.,based in Tokyo.

The problem, the company found,could be traced to a stamping machine thatsometimes used insufficient pressure tomake the inflators. Honda company de-cided to recall all vehicles using the com-pressed inflator propellant produced bythat machine, it said in a news release.

“It took time to come to that conclu-sion because we had to do many tests,’’said Natsuno Asanuma, a manager of pub-lic relations at Honda in Tokyo. “We haveconcluded this is the cause.’’

Honda’s latest U.S. air bag recall af-fects certain 2001 and 2002 Accordsedans, Civic compacts, Odyssey mini-vans, CR-V small sport utility vehiclesand some 2002 Acura TL sedans.

Honda says owners should take theirvehicles to dealerships as soon as they arenotified by the company in writing. Noti-fication will begin during the month ofFebruary.

Honda Adds 437,000 Cars to Worldwide Faulty Air Bag Recall

Toyota Facing Diminished Value Lawsuits as well as Massive Injury ClaimsThe huge recalls for acceleration and brak-ing problems are creating an unprece-dented legal liability for Toyota and,potentially, the vehicle owners as well. Theworld’s biggest automaker faces dozens oflawsuits over injuries and deaths attributedto safety problems, with many more law-suits expected. Lawyers and legal expertssaid the lawsuits could be particularly ex-pensive for the automaker if plaintiffs canprove that Toyota was aware of problemsbut failed to correct them.

“This has the potential to be the biggestproduct liability case in the automotive in-dustry,” said Richard Cupp, a professor atPepperdine University School of Law.

Another professor is warning thatToyota owners might have to pay a por-tion of any damages from an accident re-sulting from a known safety defect thatthey didn’t get fixed as directed, and in atimely manner, said Marshall Shapo,who teaches torts and product liability atNorthwestern University School of Law.

In addition to Toyota’s massive recalland related personal injury clams, the au-tomaker is confronted by at least 40 con-sumer class-action cases over the reducedresale value of its cars. The drop in resalevalue of Toyota and Lexus autos could alsoprompt insurers to reduce what they paywhen any affected Toyota vehicle is totalled.

Consumer lawsuits seeking economicdamages for diminished value or lost use ofa recalled Toyota vehicle have been filed in

at least 30 states, mostly in federal court,and could end up costing the world’s num-ber one over $2 billion, said Another North-western law professor, Tim Howard, isleading a team of 22 law firms in 16 statesthat are pursuing a class-action lawsuitseeking compensation for lost car value. Hesaid the suit could rival tobacco litigationin its complexity, and all the federal suitswould be consolidated into a single classaction in the next few months, following ahearing before a panel of judges set forMarch 25 in U.S. District Court in SanDiego, Howard said. Toyota’s U.S. opera-tions are based in California.

Howard said that if a typical vehiclewas worth $10,000 before the recalls anddrops 3.5% in value ($350 per car), with 6million recalls in the U.S., the potentialdamages reach $2.1 billion. If a trial attor-ney can prove that Toyota hid its knowl-edge of the defects, punitive damagescould easily double that.

Litigation against Toyota has snow-balled since the biggest recall in its historyfor repairs to ill-fitting floor mats and stick-ing gas pedals it blames for instances of un-intended, sudden acceleration in its vehicles.

Toyota is not the only automaker to facesuch claims, but it is the largest. In 2008,Ford paid up to $500 in discount vouchersper claim to settle a diminished-value case onbehalf of 800,000 customers after a tire re-call prompted concerns about potentialrollover crashes in its Explorer SUV.

Data Recorders Now in CarsRe: “What Went Wrong With My Toy-ota?” (letters, Feb. 6):The letter recommending a data recorderin cars like those in airliners to help thediagnosis of problems like those beingexperienced by Toyota owners is right on.But little known to the driving public isthe fact that in many cars computers arealready constantly recording vehiclespeed, throttle position, braking applica-tion, air bag deployment and a host ofother vehicle operating characteristics.

This information is routinely down-loaded by law enforcement after seriousaccidents. If this information were madeavailable to an impartial investigator inaddition to Toyota, the mystery might betaken out of the current situation.

Toyota Vulnerable to ConquestsBuyers who would have looked at Toyotavehicles are now considering other brandsafter the automaker's series of safety re-calls. Analysts from Kelley Blue Book,Edmunds.com and J.D. Power say Ford,Honda, Hyundai and Chevrolet are grab-bing Toyota customers, based on salestracking data and surveys on their Websites. Mazda, Subaru and Volkswagen arealso getting upticks in buyer interest.

The Insurance Council of Texas has re-ported that the number of people injuredand killed in automobile accidents inTexas has continued to decline since 2003.Both fatalities and injuries are down morethan 20 percent since the Texas Depart-ment of Transportation took over recordkeeping of state traffic reports seven yearsago. Texas Department of Transportationstatistics show the number of injury acci-dents and fatal accidents in the state havedropped in five of the last six years.

A spokesman for the Insurance Insti-tute for Highway Safety (IIHS) said Texasis following a national trend. “Nationally,crash rates have fallen to historic lows,”said Russ Rader at the IIHS. Safer vehi-cles and roads, higher safety belt use and,currently, the economy are contributing tothe lower injury and fatality rates, accord-ing to the IIHS. Several new auto safetyfeatures not only minimize injuries in ac-cidents, but help drivers in avoiding somecollisions. More vehicles on the road todayare equipped with electronic stability con-trol systems that can help prevent loss ofcontrol and roll-overs. Other safety fea-tures on newer cars include side airbags,lane departure warnings, forward collisionwarnings and active head restraints.Whilecrashes and injuries have gone down, auto

insurance rates have remained stable inTexas due to increased medical costs andthe expense of repairing new vehicles, theICT says. The National Association of In-surance Commissioner’s (NAIC) most re-cent report lists Texas as 19th among statesin auto insurance premiums.

The Texas Department of Transporta-tion (TxDOT) defines a reportable motorvehicle traffic accident as any crash in-volving a motor vehicle on a road way, re-sulting in the injury or death of any person,or damage to the property of any one per-son to the extent of $1,000.


Since the passage of Oklahoma’s gradu-ated driver’s license law in 1999, the num-ber of fatality crashes involving 16- and17-year-old drivers has dropped from 75in 2000 to a low of 39 in 2008.

The numbers include wrecks thatkilled teens and others where a 16- or 17-year-old was behind the wheel of at leastone of the vehicles involved.

Although the 2009 totals are notavailable, officials say preliminary data in-dicates there were 38 fatal crashes lastyear involving drivers ages 16 and 17,which would be a new low.

“This is really good news,’’ said AliceCollinsworth, spokeswoman for the Okla-homa Highway Safety Office. “We’re veryhappy to see statistically that the GDL ishaving the effect of saving lives.’’

The total number of crashes involv-ing 16- and 17-year-old drivers droppedfrom 11,837 in 2000 to 7,597 in 2008,Collinsworth said.

The data released this month involveda study of drivers ages 16 to 17 who wereinvolved in crashes after the creation ofthe graduated driver’s license, which law-makers passed in 1999 and amended andstrengthened in 2005.

The law as of 2005 allows 16-year-olds who have had a learner’s permit for sixmonths to obtain an intermediate license, ifthey have passed a driver-education course,

have at least 40 hours behind the wheel,have no traffic convictions and have passedthe driving skills examination.

With the intermediate license, a 16-year-old can drive except during the hoursbetween 11 p.m. and 5 a.m., or any timewhen accompanied by a licensed driverwho is at least 21.

At the age of 161/2, after six monthswith an intermediate license, teenagers canobtain unrestricted licenses if they have noconvictions on their driving records.

Without driver’s education, teens gothrough the graduated driver’s licensephases but must wait a year longer beforetheir intermediate license becomes an un-restricted license.

Scott Watkins, Highway Safety Of-fice director, said the study shows the lawis having the intended effect.

“This is great news for Oklahomans,’’Watkins said. “Our goal is to make ourroadways as safe as possible for people ofall ages, and the statistics show that thegraduated driver’s license is saving lives.’’

The new highway safety report showsthat, from 2000 to 2008, 16- and 17-year-olds made up 3 percent of the licenseddrivers in the state, but drivers from thatage group accounted for 7.1 percent of thecrashes reported in Oklahoma and were in-volved in 4.7 percent of fatal crashes.Source: The Oklahoman, newsok.com

Insurance Council of Texas Says Auto Injuries Down Alcohol-Related Teen Fatalities Drop in Oklahoma

Oregon Posts Ratemaking DataThe Oregon Insurance Division will begiving consumers access to all of thedata that regulators receive when evalu-ating rate change requests. The divisionposts insurers’ rate filings on a websiteand gives the public a chance to postcomments. The Oregon division reviewsrates for individual policies, plans foremployers with 2–50 employees, andportability plans.

The rate filings give informationabout what insurers spend on salaries,broker commissions, marketing and ad-vertising, and other administrative ex-penses, officials say.

Winter car wrecks are keeping themoney rolling in for auto body shops.Collision King told local media thatthey’ve seen their business increase by20 percent. Owner Steven Tisdale said

the majority of wrecks have been totallosses, not just simple fender benders.The harsh winter has also caused adelay in parts deliveries from aroundthe country so local owners will have

to wait longer for their car to be re-paired.

“People just need to be patient andunderstand that sometimes we can’t getthe cars finished until we get all the parts.It’s kind of bitter sweet. We’re kind of likedoctors. We benefit from someone else’smisfortune,” said Tisdale, owner of Colli-sion King since 1998.

Tisdale said the average cost of a re-pair has been about $2,500. The averagewait time about four days.

Established in 1998 by Steven Tis-dale, a West Texas native, Collision KingRepair Center specializes in complete autobody repairs including hail damage andpaintless dent repairs. In just 10 shortyears, the business has grown from fiveemployees in one building to 30 plus em-ployees in four buildings.

Recent record snowfall in the Dallas/FortWorth area resulted in insured losses at $25million, the Insurance Council of Texas re-ported. The snow accumulations of up to afoot paralyzed the area’s transportation sys-tem and caused widespread damage from

falling trees and crashing roofs.An estimated4,200 claims came from auto, residential andcommercial property owners. The averageclaim was approximately $6,000.

The snow began falling early on Feb-ruary 11 and continued to fall for most ofthe day. Thousands of residents werewithout electricity for several days aspower outages were common across thearea.

Dennis Cavanaugh, a meteor-ologist for the National WeatherService office in Fort Worth, saidthe storm produced the largestsnowfall on record for a 24-hourperiod at the Dallas Fort Worthairport.

In Arlington, the severeweather caused a series of wreckson Feb. 8, in which at least five

vehicles collided in an initial accident,causing a series of other crashes that ulti-mately involved a total of 14 cars, closingwestbound lanes of I-20 for several hours.


Record Snowstorm Hands N. Texas $25M Bill

• 9 Salesmen• Over $2 Million Inventory• 7 Delivery Trucks• Extensive Collision Parts Inventory• Free Delivery within Texas (call for details)• Engines and Transmissions at truck load

pricing (call for details)

• We “Meet or Beat” aftermarketpricing. Ask your salesman about“Bump the Competition” and“GM Outlet Shop”.

• Cycle time costs you money. Letour huge collision inventory workto your advantage.

Collision Centers& Body Shops

WATS:800-955-6282Parts Direct:972-202-2300Hours: Monday - Friday 7 to 7

Saturday from 8 to 5

Ray Hu!nes Chevrolet • Plano, TX

• 9 Salesmen• Over

$2

Million

Inventory

Winter is Kind to Collision King, Lubbock, TX

ALLDATA® White Paper: Spellsout Need for OE CollisionRepair InformationALLDATA LLC has released a whitepaper discussing the need for collisionrepair facilities to have vehicle manu-facturers’ OE repair information.

“The people who build the carshave the final word on how to repairthem after a collision,” said ALLDATASenior Program Manager for Collision,Dan Espersen. [See Esperson’s AllOEM Information column this issue.]

“The manufacturers have very spe-cific requirements about sectioning,weld types, panel attachment, handlingnew materials, hybrid safety and a lotmore. And every manufacturer has itsown requirements.”Given how rapidlyvehicle technology is changing, moreand more collision shops are realizingthat they need up-to-date information forworking on alternative steels, magne-sium, aluminum, composites and plas-tics. In some cases, new adhesives arerequired to make repairs rather than tra-ditional welding techniques.

New and ever-evolving technolo-gies, economic pressures, and require-ments mandated by insurance companyagreements all put enormous pressureon collision shops.With slim profit mar-gins and labor rates held in place bymarket forces, increased productivity isbecoming essential to survival.

“This white paper resulted fromtalking to a lot of people who are livingwith today’s business and economicchallenges, and from a very informativeround table discussion held at the NACEconference in November,” says Es-persen. “It was chaired by Jason Stahl ofBodyShop Business magazine, and itconfirmed for me what I already knew,that OE information can help mitigate alot of the issues facing shops today.”

To download the white paper,please visit www.alldata.com.

The costs per all paid workers’ compensa-tion insurance claims in Louisiana aver-aged 35% higher than typical study states,according to a Massachusetts-based re-search group that studies workers’ comp.In its “Comp Scope Benchmarks forLouisiana, 10th Edition,” the WorkersCompensation Research Institute (WCRI)found that injured workers in Louisianawere off the job longer than in other stateswith similar workers’ compensation bene-fit systems, resulting in higher-than-typical indemnity benefits per claim thanin other study states, even though theworkers’ weekly benefits were capped atlower levels in Louisiana.

In addition, medical costs and ex-penses per claim were among the highestof the 15 states in the study.

The study found that indemnity ben-efits per claim with more than seven daysof lost time were 36 percent higher thanthe typical study state as a result of alonger duration of temporary disability.

WCRI reported that injured workersin Louisiana were off work 34 weeks onaverage, which was nine to 10 weekslonger than Massachusetts and Pennsylva-nia and 15 weeks longer than Michigan.Medical costs per claim were 20 percenthigher than in the typical study state, theresult of higher utilization and higher non-

surgical prices paid. In addition, the dura-tion of medical treatment was 6.5 weeks(16 percent) longer than in the medianstudy state.Despite little change in the medical feeschedule rates since 1994, the 2006 med-ical fee schedule in Louisiana was higherthan the median of 42 states with feeschedules for all service groups exceptsurgery.

Payments per claim for hospital out-patient services also were higher than themedian study state, WCRI said. Hospitalinpatient payments per claim, however,were lower compared to other study states.

Expenses to manage claims wereamong the highest of the study states, in-cluding higher than average medical costcontainment expenses per claim, defenseattorney payments, and medical-legal ex-penses per claim.

WCRI reported defense attorney pay-ments per claim with more than sevendays of lost time were the highest amongthe 15 study states, at an average of nearly$6,500 per claim with defense attorneypayments greater than $500.

Source: WCRI, www.wcrinet.org.


Louisiana Workman’s Comp Costs About 35% More

Kaizen Assembly Launches LEANAuto Body Webinar SeriesKaizen Assembly has announced theLEAN Auto Body Webinar Series—a 4-course live online seminar training seriesspecific for the auto collision repair indus-try. Conducted by Chris Ortiz, this seriesprovides a hands on approach to lean autobody. “This webinar series will allow bodyshop owners and their staff to take advan-tage of our lean auto body seminars andeliminate the cost of travel,” says PresidentChris Ortiz. They can be scheduled for onespecific company. Contact [email protected] or 360-715-2129.

Your B W deservesthethe BBESTEST P PARTSARTS

at the !at theat the BBESTEST P PRICERICE!!

CHACONS U Z U K I

Dallas • New Braunfels

LOOK FOR UUUUSSSSSS IIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNN::::::::NNNNNN:::::NNNNNN:NNNNNN:N:::LLOOKOOK FORFOR USUS ININ::Dallas

39490 LBJ Freeway SouthDallas, TX 75232

[email protected]

972-572-7007972-572-7007

DDIRECTIRECT: 469-567-1220: 469-567-1220 FFAXAX: 210-587-2440: 210-587-2440FFAXAX: 972-346-6575: 972-346-6575

Main

New Braunfels3566 IH 35 South

New Braunfels, TX 78132

[email protected]

830-624-7000830-624-7000Main

Suzuki Kizashi 2010

O K L A H O M A

Mercedes-Benz of Oklahoma CityNationwide Toll Free

1-800-657-2582(405) 272-1737 FAX

Drop Ship Available

WHOLESALE COLLISION PARTSWHOLESALE COLLISION PARTS

Quali!edMercedes-Benz

Parts Prosare available now.

Pictured:2006

SL600Roadster

60% of Tax Rebates, Insurance Assess-ments not Claimed in LouisianaLouisiana Insurance Commissioner JimDonelon has announced that nearly $59million, or 60 percent of the available taxrebates available to property insurance con-sumers in his state went unclaimed last year.

Property owners are entitled to astate tax rebate, whether they file taxes ornot, for the Louisiana Citizens PropertyInsurance Corporation assessmentcharged on their insurance policy. The re-bate program has been operational since2005 and property owners can again takeadvantage of it for the tax year 2009.

Time is running out, however, forthose who have not filed a claim form.Property owners who have not filed withthe Department of Revenue to recoup theamount paid in insurance assessmentsafter Hurricane Katrina may claim the re-bate on their state tax return due May 17,2010, Donelon said. Assessments paidwith insurance premiums in previousyears may be claimed by filing anamended tax return for the year in whichthe assessment was paid.The Departmentof Revenue’s Louisiana Citizens Insur-ance Tax Credit forms may be accessedonline via the Department of Revenuehome page and at the Department of In-surance home page. There is a time limi-tation for claiming the assessment. Thedeadline for assessments paid in 2005 and2006 is the end of December 2010.

For the first time in Texas Automobile In-surance Plan Association (TAIPA) historya public member has been elected to leadthe organization's board. Bill Jeter, of Col-lege Station, Texas, was unanimouslyelected to head the association's governingcommittee for 2010–2011. Fred Strausswith Allstate Insurance, is vice chair. PeterKelly of Liberty Mutual Insurance, waselected second vice-chair. Mike Gerik, withTexas Farm Bureau Companies in Waco,Texas, was elected secretary. TAIPA wascreated by state statute to provide automo-bile bodily injury and property insurancerequired by the Texas Motor Vehicle re-sponsibility Act.

Bill Jeter, New Chair of Texas Auto-mobile Insurance Plan Association

www.autobodynews.comCHECK IT OUT!


A bill to make the Oklahoma InsuranceDepartment a non-appropriated agencyhas passed the state Senate AppropriationsCommittee. Sen. David Myers, author ofSenate Bill 1658, says his legislation,which was requested by the insurance de-partment, will save the state money.

“It’s important that we’re as efficientwith state dollars as possible especiallyduring hard economic times. Taking awayappropriations from certain agencies thatare self-sufficient, like the Insurance De-partment, makes good financial sense,”Myers, vice chair of the committee, said ina statement on the Senate Web site.

“The state stands to save over $2.5million in funding that could be used forother essential state services like trans-portation, education and public safety.”

Myers pointed out that both the StateBanking Department and the State Securi-

ties Commission were made into non-ap-propriated agencies several years ago, andhe’s filed legislation this year to do thesame with the Commission on ConsumerCredit.

“Since 2005, the Oklahoma InsuranceDepartment has been aggressive in im-proving our efficiency through the imple-mentation of new technology andoperational streamlining. Granting the De-partment non-appropriation status is thenext logical step in our process of becom-ing self-sufficient,” said Insurance Com-missioner Kim Holland.

“Oklahoma, like the rest of the coun-try, is facing serious economic challenges.We’re determined to do our part to reducethe cost of government while serving thepublic well.”

The bill will next be considered bythe full Senate.

Okla. Insurance Dept Wants to be Stand Alone

WE HAVEWE HAVE YOURYOUR

GENUINE GENUINEHYUNDAIHYUNDAIPARTS.PARTS.

Huffines Hyundai Plano909 Coit Rd • Plano, TX 75075Hours: Mon-Fri 7-7, Sat 8-5, Sun closed

(800) 955-5388(972)-202-2200 Local(972)-202-2195 Fax

Huffines Hyundai McKinney1301 N. Central ExpresswayMcKinney, TX 75071Hours: Mon-Fri 7-7, Sat 8-5, Sun closed

(800) 679-6705(562)-683-0380 Local(469)-525-4365 Fax

HYUNDAIHYUNDAIGM Parts Center

5950 Chef Menteur Hwy., New Orleans, LA 70126www.bannerauto.com E-mail: [email protected]

* Buick, Olds, Pontiac,Chevrolet, GMC,Cadillac, Hummer

Fax: 504-253-8590

NEW OORLEANSS

Both the Tennessee House of Representa-tives and the state's Senate currently are re-viewing bills that would require insurersto inform claimants of their right to choosea repair facility. The bill also would pro-hibit insurers from requiring insureds orthird-party claimants to use a certain busi-ness for their vehicles' repairs.

The bill is labeled H.B. 3488 in theHouse, and S.B. 3455 in the TennesseeSenate. 3488 is sponsored by Rep. DennisFerguson (D), while S.B. 3455 is spon-sored by Sen. Ken Yager (R).

Like many other recent consumerchoice bills that have been filed throughoutthe United States in the last few months, thebill would add language to the state's insur-ance code defining the term “deceptive re-ferral” (known as the practice of steering bymany). The bill would define a deceptivereferral as “any trade practice by which an

insurer attempts to persuade, convince, co-erce, or intimidate a claimant into changingthe claimant's choice of repair facility afterthe insurer has been informed that theclaimant has selected a repair facility.”

The bill reads as follows, “An insurershall inform a claimant upon initial notifi-cation of a claim that the claimant has theright to choose the repair facility of his orher choice to repair a damaged vehicle.” Itcontinues: “An insurer or any of its repre-sentatives shall not request or require anyinsured or third-party claimant to use aspecific person or business for the provi-sion of automobile physical damage re-pairs, automobile physical damageappraisals, automobile glass replacement,automobile parts, or glass repair service.”

Both pieces of legislation were filed onJanuary 28 and assigned to House's Con-sumer and Employees Affairs Committee.

Tennessee House’s Anti-Steering Legislation

“While the U.S. has arguably thebest automotive safety net in the world,these types of infrequent problems arethe hardest to catch and the most difficultto diagnose, in this case with deadly con-sequences.”

The recommendations come as theU.S. Congress begins the first of two daysof hearings that will feature a grilling ofboth safety regulators and Toyota on thequestion of why red flags were missed.

Separately, Consumer Reports releasedits annual ranking of the most reliable autobrands.

Honda Motor Co. topped the list for thefourth consecutive year in a tie with Subaru.

Toyota was No. 3, although ConsumerReports suspended its recommendation forthe eight models recalled for sticky acceler-ator pedals.

Hyundai Motor, one of the automakersexpected to benefit most in the short-termfrom Toyota's woes, jumped to fourth placefrom ninth a year earlier.

The annual report is considered an in-fluential benchmark among consumers.

Many automakers set internal targets tomake the magazine's list of recommendedvehicles since the endorsement is seen asvaluable in advertising and in supportingauto resale values.


Auto Safety Reforms


The nation’s new-car dealers and the tradeorganization that represents them havemuch to look forward to in 2010 as the in-dustry rebounds after a tough year thatbrought many changes, the incomingchairman of the National AutomobileDealers Association (NADA) said at itsconvention in Orlando, held Feb. 13–15.

NADA is ready to “hit the groundrunning” to tackle a fresh slate of issuesthis year with a new attitude and newagenda that relies heavily on feedbackfrom dealer members, said 2010 NADAChairman Ed Tonkin, a multifranchisedealer from Portland, OR, whose father,Ron Tonkin, led the association in 1989.

After avoiding an “Armageddon” formany in the industry last year, Tonkin saidNADA will now turn its attention to thechallenges ahead: IRS issues like UNICAPand LIFO; avoiding a patchwork of mileagestandards under the new CorporateAverageFuel Economy (CAFE) requirements; andclosely monitoring Congress to avoid un-necessary and burdensome regulation.

Tonkin said NADA’s work to getdealers exempted from oversight underthe proposed Consumer Financial Protec-tion Agency is an example of how the or-ganization is well suited to representdealers in Washington. He also said lastyear’s restructuring in the industry hascreated a “watershed moment” for au-

tomakers to establish a true partnershipwith their dealers -- an opportunity thatmay not come again.

“Like my dad has said, ‘the birddoesn’t always fly by twice,’” Tonkinsaid. “With new ownership and new peo-

ple in charge, [au-tomakers] have agolden opportunityto craft a new rela-tionship with theirdealers, one basedon a genuine spiritof cooperation.”

And thoughmuch uncertaintyremains, Tonkinsaid dealers should

be optimistic. With expected sales ofnearly 12 million in 2010, rising employ-ment and improved lending, the future isbright, he said.

“We’ve faced difficult times beforeand what did we do? We sold cars andtrucks in bunches,” he said. “Every possi-ble scenario you could imagine we deal-ers have remained the constant. That’sstrength, that’s resiliency and that’s whatAmerica’s new-car and truck dealers areall about.”

More than 15,000 dealers, au-tomaker executives, exhibitors, media andguests attended the NADA convention.

NADA Chair Says Dealers See Industry ReboundA House committee has asked five insur-ance companies to provide it with infor-mation by the week of Feb. 22 regardingaccident trends involving cars and trucksmanufactured by Toyota.

The request by the House Energyand Commerce Committee was promptedby a statement Tuesday by State Farm in-dicating that it had alerted federal safetyregulators in late 2007 about a rise in re-ports of unexpected acceleration in Toy-ota vehicles.

However, officials of two of the fourother companies, Allstate and Progres-sive, that received the request for infor-mation said they have so far found nosigns of a similar trend in claims theyhave received.

The request for the data comes asthree congressional committees gear up tohold hearings soon on the Toyota recallissue.

The House Energy and CommerceCommittee sent the letter seeking the datafrom Allstate, Farmers Group, GEICO,Progressive and State Farm.

It is one of the three committeesplanning hearings on the issue.

The House Oversight and Gov-ernment Reform Committee plans ahearing Feb. 24 and the Energy andCommerce Committee plans a hearingthe next day.

The Senate Commerce Committee hasscheduled a hearing March 2.

In responding to the State Farm data,NHTSA officials said the report was re-viewed and the agency issued a recalllater that month. But a spokesman for All-state cautioned that it had examined itsrecords and found “there was no apparenttrend” in claims it had “processed thatwould point to a recurring problem.”

Mike Siemienas, the Allstatespokesman, also said that it had a processin place to deal with recalls “because theyoccur all the time.”

Mr. Siemienas said Allstate is in theprocess of responding to the request forthe data from the E&C panel.

Lee Knapp, a spokesman for Pro-gressive, added that the company is cur-rently reviewing claims that may beaffected by the Toyota recalls.

“Right now it's too soon to say howmany customers may be affected, but atthis point there's no indication that it willbe a significant number.”

She added, “We're also reviewing therequest from Rep. Waxman, and if wehave anything that is responsive to that re-quest, we will provide it.”

Congress Asks Insurers for Toyota Accident Data

Ed Tonkin

www.autobodynews.comCHECK IT OUT!


2010 ASRW Partnering Program Kicks-Off, Strong Industry SupportASRW 2010 reports strong industry sup-port for this year’s events via the ASRWPartnering Program (APP). The APP isdesigned to foster industry participationby partnering organizations supportingthe many segments of the automotiveservice and repair industry. APP partici-pants promote unified industry involve-ment, while strengthening theirrespective groups and memberships.

The ASRW 2010 events will takeplace Oct. 10–13 at the Mandalay BayConvention Center in Las Vegas (nolonger during AAIW). ASRW is a stand-alone event specifically created for all au-tomotive service and repair professionals,enabling even more industry segments tojoin under the umbrella. The high-qual-ity educational program is scheduled Oct.

10-13, a Sunday throughWednesday daypattern; the comprehensive exhibits willbe open from Oct. 11-13, Mondaythrough Wednesday. ASRW currentlyfeatures the InternationalAutobody Con-gress & Exposition (NACE), sponsoredby the Automotive Service Association(ASA), the only event of its kind de-signed for the collision repair profes-sional; the Congress of AutomotiveRepair & Service (CARS), also spon-sored by ASA, the premier event for au-tomotive service professionals; as well asAuto Glass Week, dedicated to the auto-motive glass professional.

“NABC has been a proud supporterof NACE and an active participant in theASRW Partnering Program since its in-ception. Through the APP we are able to

promote the event, attract new attendees,and grow our membership all at the sametime,” says Chuck Sulkala, NABC exec-utive director. “Our presence at NACE isvital and allows us the platform withwhich to highlight our community aware-ness project, NABC’s Recycled Rides –benefiting families and service organiza-tions in need throughout the UnitedStates.”

The ASRW Partnering Program isintended to grow ever-stronger by en-compassing even more industry organi-zations and involvement. Should yourorganization wish to learn more about theadvantages and be considered as a futureAPP participant, please contact PamelaMiller, APP facilitator, today [email protected].

ASA Urges Repairers to ContactCommittee Members to OpposeModel Parts ActThe National Conference of InsuranceLegislators (NCOIL) Property and Ca-sualty Insurance Committee Spring2010 meetings will be held Friday,March 5, through Sunday, March 7 inIsle of Palms, SC. TheAutomotive Serv-iceAssociation (ASA) has asked repair-ers to contact state legislators who serveon this committee prior to the meetingsregarding an aftermarket parts model actthat is on NCOIL’s agenda. The Prop-erty-Casualty Insurance Committeemeetings commence Friday morning.

ASAasks repairers to contact com-mittee members in opposition to theModel Act Regarding Motor VehicleCrash Parts and Repair. This model acthas several key provisions that are harm-ful to the automotive repair industry.

These provisions include the cur-rent language on certified replacementcrash parts and their equivalency toOEM parts, the lack of required writtenconsent by the consumer for the use ofreplacement crash parts as well as otherconcerns and language in Section 6,Choice of Repair Facility.

To contact your state legislatorswho are on the committee regarding thisproposed NCOIL model act, please goto ASA’s legislative Web site atwww.TakingTheHill.com. The letter isfound in the “Current Alerts” section. Alist of state legislators serving on thecommittee follows:

Chair: Sen. Ruth Teichman, Kan.Co-Vice Chair: Sen. Jake Corman, PA.Co-Vice Chair: Rep. Steve Riggs, Ky.Rep. Kurt Olson, AlaskaAssem. William Barclay, N.Y.Rep. Greg Wren, Ala.Assem. Nancy Calhoun, N.Y.Sen. Larry Teague, Ark.Sen. William J. Larkin Jr., N.Y.Sen. Joe Crisco, Conn.Sen. James Seward, N.Y.Rep. Perry Thurston Jr., Fla.Sen. Keith Faber, OhioRep. Rich Golick, Ga.Rep. Jay Hottinger, OhioSen. Vi Simpson, Ind.Rep. Robert Godshall, Pa.Rep. Ron Crimm, Ky.Rep. Brian Kennedy, R.I.Rep. Robert Damron, Ky.Sen. David Bates, R.I.Rep. Ted Edmonds, Ky.Rep. Charles Curtiss, Tenn.Rep. Chuck Kleckley, La.Rep. Craig Eiland, TexasSen. Dan Morrish, La.Rep. Hubert Vo, TexasRep. Marc Corriveau, Mich.Del. Harvey Morgan, Va.Sen. Alan Sanborn, Mich.Rep. Kathleen Keenan, Vt.Rep. Mike Colona, Mo.Rep. Virginia Milkey, Vt.Sen. Buck Clarke, Miss.Sen. Bob Dearing, Miss.Sen. Dean Kirby, Miss.Rep. George Keiser, N.D.Sen. Jerry Klein, N.D.Rep. Don Flanders, N.H.Sen. Carroll Leavell, N.M.

We’re back on part two of three on ourShelby Series 1 project that we started inthe last issue. We left off last month havingthe car ready for our base color. I chose aHouse of Kolor Orion Silver paint. Now alot of guys think it’s only waterborne thatwe can use in California, but there arecompanies such as House of Kolor thathave additives we can use to make it [lowVOC] compliant. To do that we’re going

to use one part paint, one part KU150 cat-alyst, and two parts KV1 reducer. This waywe can use these familiar custom colors

and still be compliant with the low VOCs.Of course this will also work in shops out-side California, who want to be more en-vorionmentally conscious and safe.

A word or two about safety becausemaking something compliant doesn’t meanit’s 100% safe. I always wear theMicroFlexMidknight™ gloves for the booth area andthings I’m doing. I can go through 100 pairsor more easily on a project like this, but it’sworth it. I also always use my shoot suitswhich keep me nice and clean and awayfrom the lacquer thinners and other solventsthat can get into the pores of your skin. Ialso use a fresh air system from SATAwhich keeps me safe. I want to be aroundfor another 40 years and still be paintingwithout worrying what any refinish productcan do to me over a long period of time.

We’re going to end up with twobatches in the booth, with applying threecoats of Orion Silver base coat, but beforethat we have to hit it with the sealer. I amusing House of Kolor KS210. It comes ina white and a black and I mixed 50% ofeach to get a gray color so I can apply sil-ver over top of it. First I apply two light

coats of the sealer over the surface and theparts. I’m going to apply three coats of theorion silver total. I’m using my SATA gunat 27 psi when I’m applying base color.

We’re getting our silver base on witha topcoat. I like TranStar and I’m using6531 to 2.1 low-VOC clearcoat. For myhardener I use the 6894HT and that allowsjust a little bit more flow time. It is betterfor what I do—graphics and custom work.

I’ve been using Transtar topcoat for about14 years and I’ve never once had it biteme or go wrong. A lot of guys out theremight not apply enough material so don’tskimp. It’s all about how you apply yourmaterial. I’m putting two coats on becauseI know I’m going to go back and sand itdown with 800. I’ve chosen to use a top-coat versus an SG100 (Intercoat clear) be-cause of all the taping. Instead of using theSG100 and having to use the KU150 andthe KV1 to get this compliant—to me, it’sbetter to put a low-VOC clearcoat on andskip the SG100 system.

We get the two coats on and I’m goingto come through with 800 grit 3M wet anddry and I’m going to use the Soft-Sanderblocks and Quick-Cut sanding DAs on theflatter areas. There aren’t many of those onthis car. The Soft Sanders are a huge helpbecause the multiple lengths of sandingblocks fit the body contours. The blocks areall color-coded so as you use them moreyou find out which ones help you most.Obviously they’re saving me a lot of timeand give me a better result. A straight blockreally doesn’t work on this project becauseof all the contours going on. I can use anyof the Style-Line Super-Flex® sandpapersup to 3000 grit. We’re cutting this with 800grit and then we’re going to bring it in anddo a mock-up for graphic layout.

I’ve called in Matt Van Wingerden todo the airbrushing on the project. You mightremember him from his Marilyn Monroeheadliner that we did for the ‘57 Chevy lastyear. Matt is very creative. He’s young butvery well-rounded as an artist. He wearsthree hats: having the plotter skills; the

graphic design touch; and the airbrush skillsall in one. I don’t have to sub-source any-thing. He’s a real talent and I’m sure you’llbe seeing a lot more of his work out there.

What we want is the real subtlegraphic layout and Matt’s doing the Ulti-mate Vodka bottle that I explained in thelast column. We want this bottle to lookreal and it represents the company, so Mattis my design and concept to place it on thehood in the rally stripes.

Matt puts about 20 hours into gettingthe bottle looking great and we’ve got thecar mocked-up, sanded down with the 800grit and ready for the second color which isgoing to be True Blue Pearl (part numberPBC36.Q01) from House of Kolor.

I used a panel-alignment tool before Itore the car down. I take an 1/8-inch drill bitand drill into the hinge areas of the hood,doors, fenders, the rear hatch; just so I havea reference so I can put those panels backexactly where they were. I know where I amall the time instead of wasting a lot of timetrying to line things up. You experiencedguys know what I’m talking about.

I’ve designed my own panel alignmenttool which is just a set of 6 screwdrivers withan 1/8-inch dowel of different lengths to getinto different areas. So you can make yourown, or I’ll make them available soon forothers. Sometimes we need to make our owntools, but these tools work for me. I’ve saveda lot of time with them and time is money.

So now that we’ve got everythingmocked-up, our graphic design is going toinclude some rally stripes, striped down theleft and right hood right before it meets thefender. We’re going to break it off in the frontto make it look racy and add some check-


Custom Cornerwith Rich Evans

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

Ultimate Vodka’s Shelby Series 1, Part 2

Matt Van Wingerden, Air brush artist extraordinaire.

Graphic lay out.

House of Kolors Orion Silver Base coat withTranstar top coat

House of Kolor Orion Silver Base with Transtar topcoat sanded with 3M 800 grit sand paper usingthe Quick Cut sanders followed by Soft-Sanders

ered-pattern designs. I collaborated with EdBlinn—with Patron Tequila, the owner—onthe layout. I really want to give them whatthey’re looking for and represent their com-pany and their brand as best we can.

I use Photoshop to mock-up the vehi-cle in a picture to get on the same pagewith the company. When they give me thethumbs up then we need to make that pic-ture real. That’s the way that works for ushere at Rich Evans designs.

We’ve got all the graphics layed outand then we mask everything up ready forthe True Blue Pearl second base color. I like3M tape and masking paper, which is a real

good quality tape that doesn’t leave residuebehind, especially when you’re doing graph-ics. Make sure you pre-clean all your panelsbefore you mask them. Using the MicroFlexgloves keeps your fingerprints off the car.Use a nice hard mask, applied tight, so it’seasy to unmask. All of those steps reallycount when you’re trying to put out a high-quality commercial product. It takes a littlelonger but your end results are better.

So after tear down, we have twobatches. It could easily be three batches butif I do three it could cost another six hoursof time waiting between coats. It’s a littlecrowded but I have enough room to walkaround and apply the True Blue.

I’m using a 1.4 tip on my SATA gunand my comfort zone is 27 psi so it atomizesthe paint and I don’t have a really highbuild. I might get a two-mill build with thisproject’s six coats, half-triggered to just giveme coverage with the second base color.

You want to make sure that you arenot creating more work for yourself anddon’t get a high build on your second basecolor. When you’re doing graphics you canextend yourself for more color, sandingand buffing to make it smooth, where youcan’t feel the lines.

With the left to right doors we’readding the Ultimate Vodka image on andwe got those laid out to where they looknatural and not crowded.

I just used the House of Kolor whitebase color, two coats, with just enough forcoverage. We put on the white before weapplied the True Blue, then re-masked sowhen we’re done with the True Bluegraphic part we can de-mask everythingand add our shadows to give it a three-di-mensional look. It’ll make the Ultimate

Vodka lettering look really deep so that it’sreally popping off that Orion Silver. We’regoing to shadow where the checkerboardsmeet the graphic on the fenders and give ita natural rollover so it looks like it’s rollingunderneath that graphic and disappearing.It’ll be real subtle with a couple of littlehighlights here and there that’ll makesense to separate the blues (where it meetsblues) especially on the front where itcomes around and meets the rally stripe.We want that stripe to go underneath therally stripe to look like they’re really div-ing underneath it. You don’t have to overdoit to get the look. We’re not going for a

bunch of wavy effects or anything likethat. This car needs to look like it’s going100 miles an hour standing still.

We’re using six True Blue coatsthroughout the two batches and then de-masking. You really need to spend yourtime cleaning up making sure everythingis right. Blow off everything, tack it off,walk around, check it and make sure thateverything is blown out before you applyyour TranStar clear topcoat.

I’m going to apply five coats and onetack coat. I like to use the tack coat tomake sure I’m covering it and creating afoundation for my clear that I’m going toapply pretty heavily on. I’m going to comeback and cut two of those coats off so I re-ally want to leave a minimum of 3–3½coats of clear for a protective coat through-out its lifespan.

I have a system when I’m sprayingmy clear with my RP gun, which is a 1.4,and I recommend everybody get an RP gunwith a 1.4. I’ve been using one for aboutsix years and I use it about 35–37 psi,about 3 inches away. I usually shoot atabout 3 inches and I like to control theproduct when it goes on and make sure it’sflat. I want to make sure that I’m in con-trol and the paint is not controlling me andthere’s really no room for double lapping.You’ll create a comfort zone for yourself.

A word about keeping it clean. Go toshootsuits.com and pick yourself up a RichEvans shoot suit (ad adjacent). I’m walk-ing around in a shoot suit all the timethey’re washable, they last forever, and theprice is right. Cleanliness and safety gohand in hand because they show care andattention to detail. It’s nice to walk out ofthe booth and see everything right and

clean. You’re happy, you don’t have dirtflying around, and you don’t have to repeatsteps. Once again, time is money.

So five coats of clear, one tack, thatleaves me a lot of room to color, sand, andbuff. For that, I am going to start with 800grit and we will finish this in the third stageof this article. I really want to get the stepsand procedures across to you guys so youcan try what I’m doing, or maybe you’llcome across one or two things that you’renot doing that you might try that mighthelp you save time.

I’m going to hit some of my flat areaswith the Quick Cut sander with 800 grit.

That’s what I start with then I really keepmy focus on the second topcoat (True Blue)and it works those areas down because Iknow they’re going to be two mills higherthan everything else. So as I applied my top-coat I really pounded on the five coats. Find

a system that works for you but 15 minutesin between each coat works for me. By thetime it’s tacking and is starting to set up, Ipile it on again. You know that you have awindow of 24 hours between coats so someof you guys out there are doing extra by put-ting 3 coats on, sanding, cleaning every-thing up, putting it back in the booth andputting another three coats on.

Take your time to read up on yourproduct to see what your windows are. Youcan put three coats on, and come back thenext morning, without sanding, and put an-other three coats on. The more you dig intothe product details and the more you use it,

the more it will work for you the wayworks for me. It’s worked for me for years.

Breaking out the Soft Sanders, I’ve gotabout five or six blocks that I’m using onthis. They’re different sizes and lengths and


Phone: (360) 687-3451

Ready for Transtar top coat Blocking with the Soft Sanders 1000--1500 gritHouse of Kolor True blue pearl. Second batch with clear coat ready for color sandand buff

See SHELBY PART TWO, Page 39

Autobody News recently attended a 3-hr.evening training session for about 35painters, informally called a “SATA EPAclinic,” held at Sacio Enterprises in SanDiego. The Jan. 20 event was hosted bythe jobber, Tri City Paint, headed by SteveEllis, Sales Manager, and assisted byWayne Morrison and Felipe Contreras.Also present was the local representative,Gerry Carter, from Total Sales & Mar-keting.

The featured presenter was SteveTreutel, national industry relations andtraining manger for Dan Am/SATA, whocovered the theory behind the EPA regula-tions, the compliance requirements, andsome critical, but often overlooked, main-tainance issues for spray guns. The trainingincluded hands-on booth spraying beforethe painters could be certified in the course.

We asked Treutel about trainingpainters in light of the new EPA rule, andwhat refinish companies—including hard-ware manufacturers—and jobbers can do,and are doing, to help them get up to speed.

Steve Treutel ◄ Two things are hap-pening in the collision industry rightnowthat are huge, the EPA rule and water-borne, and I’m not sure which is the larger.

First, the EPA put into the rule whatso many of us wanted to do for some time

which is basically educating the painter.What we’ve done at Dan Am and SATA isset up a training program with our 39 repsdoing evening clinics on this. We coverhow the gun operates works, volume, air,from HVLP to RP technologies: they allfall into this rule. We teach them how toachieve the very best transfer efficiencyThen we turn around and physically do it.Every student in the class sprays and isgraded on it.

In the past if you tried to hold a work-shop for painters about how to use theirown spray gun nobody would show up.They thought that they knew everythingthere was to know. It’s because everybodylearned by watching someone else, not byknowing the principles behind the paintingprocess. Now they say “thank you.”

Every paint manufacturer out thereand their brand of waterborne basecoat isworking to make that operate and dry theway they want it to with color match andeverything else. Understanding how thatgun is set up is critical.

Starting with California, now everypaint company is releasing their water-borne nationally, some more effectivelyand aggressively than others. But nowyou’ve got the OTC group in the North-

east, and the Great Lakes group also,which are working on their waterborne lawfor 2012, only two years away. I think itcould all happen nationally within 5-10years.

That’s a lot of painters—bigger, even,than the California waterborne launch be-cause we’re talking about changing

primers and clears (to match the 1151 rule)and everything that goes with that. Aswe’re doing these evening clinics and I’mworking with our reps we hear that every-body wants to know how soon until I haveto do it? Across the street that shopmight’ve already changed over to water, oris seriously planning for it.

ABN ► So what percentage would yousay are doing it voluntarily?

Steve Treutel ◄ So far, it’s a small per-centage that have changed over voluntarilybut it’s bigger than many people think. Inmany cases it’s a shop that wants to standout from its competition more. For someof them it’s just for marketing; others aresaying “it’s going to come anyway” and Idon’t want to be waiting in line for jobbersand reps to help me.

ABN ► We know about two large MSObody shops that are planning a “flip theswitch” date to transition to waterborne.

Steve Treutel ◄ Yes, there are a lot ofproactive shops that are gearing up theirequipment and they have the plan in place.They understand that new equipment canmake it a lot easier. You can spray water

Dan Am-SATA & Jobbers Provide EPA Painter Spray Gun Training


See DAN AM/SATA EPA, Page 35

Steve Treutel, right, talks to a San Diego group ofmotivated painters seeking national certification forEPA mandated painting operations.

Steve Treutel reviews protective equipment and ex-plains some of the potential health hazards the EPArules are designed to prevent.

Distracted driving is an attention problemnot a manual operation problem, so it’s nosurprise to many that laws banning the useof hand-held phones while driving havefailed to reduce crashes, according to re-search conducted by the Highway LossData Institute.

HLDI, an affiliate of the Insurance In-stitute for Highway Safety (IIHS), said itsfindings were based on a comparison ofcrash damage insurance claim rates in fourU.S. jurisdictions before and after the phoneuse bans. The research showed claim ratesremained steady compared with nearby ju-risdictions that have not passed such bans.

“The laws aren’t reducing crashes,even though we know that such laws havereduced hand-held phone use, and severalstudies have established that phoning whiledriving increases crash risk,” said AdrianLund, president of the IIHS and HLDI.

In New York, HLDI noted, there wasa decrease in collision claim frequenciesrelative to comparison states, but that trendbegan “well before the state’s ban took ef-fect.” HLDI added that trends in the Dis-trict of Columbia, Connecticut andCalifornia did not change.

Mr. Lund said, “So the new findingsdon’t match what we already know aboutthe risk of phoning and texting while driv-ing. If crash risk increases with phone use

and fewer drivers use phones where it’s il-legal to do so, we would expect to see a de-crease in crashes. But we aren’t seeing it.Nor do we see collision claim increasesbefore the phone bans took effect.

“This is surprising, too, given whatwe know about the growing use of cellphones and the risk of phoning while driv-ing. We’re currently gathering data to fig-ure out this mismatch.”

Mr. Lund said a possible reason forthe finding may be that drivers are switch-ing to hands-free phones, which presentsabout the same risk as hand-held phones.

“Whatever the reason,” he said, “thekey finding is that crashes aren’t goingdown where hand-held phone use has beenbanned. This finding doesn’t auger well forany safety payoff from all the new laws thatban phone use and texting while driving.”

On January 11, 2009, The NationalSafety Council advocated a total ban oncell phone use while driving, stating thepractice is clearly dangerous and leads tofatalities. The group’s president likenedtalking on cell phones to drunken driving.She said cell phone use increases the riskof a crash fourfold, and that hands-free cellphones are just as risky as hand heldphones. The council examined more than50 scientific studies before reaching its de-cision. For more see autobodynews.com

Autobody News’ Online FeedbackFollowing are some responses posted onthis story as it ran online at a number ofmedia sites, including autobodynews.com.These are anonymous responses, not newssources, and do not represent any kind ofsurvey results or, necessarily, majorityopinion. —Editor● Accidents are not decreasing because thelaw is not enforced by police. Actually Isee police on the road using cell phones asmotorists. Police look at people talking onphones and do not even pull them over.

● This new study result simply can’t be ac-cepted. I question the baseline and quan-tifiable information, and perhaps thelimited span of the time period from whichdata has been grabbed. Regardless, person-ally and from others are many accounts ofhazardous driving behaviors of persons indeep phone conversation or texting. Lawsbelong on the books with stiff penalties forviolations.

● I’m amazed that so many still think theproblem lies in a driver having a cell phonein their hand. It’s the fact that people’sminds, not their hands, are preoccupiedwhen using a cell phone in any fashionwhile also driving a car. The ban needs tobe on any usage, not just texting.

● In July of 2008, California banned theuse of cell phones while driving for all per-sons under the age of 18 years. The Statealso banned the use of hand held cellphones for persons over the age of 18while driving. All cell phone users have toutilize hands-free devices, either corded orcordless, such as Bluetooth, to be withinthe law and avoid fines. That law is a hugejoke! Every day I watch dozens of peoplewith their cell phones glued to their earsand yapping away. There are a number ofpossibilities for their idiotic behavior:1) They don’t care about the law; 2) Theydon’t care if they get caught; 3) Theywould rather pay the fine than shut theirmouth. They think whatever they have tosay is more important than safe driving; 4)They think they can talk and drive but theycan’t chew gum and walk So, brillianceaside, what did the lawmakers think theserocket scientists were going to do to dialtheir cell phones? Not all of them havevoice dial, so here we now have motormouth tethered to the cell phone by theirnew hands-free ear bud and microphonecombo, holding it up in front of him or her,trying to see the keyboard and dial a num-ber. Or holding a piece of paper and a penand the cell phone, while trying to writedown a number that has appeared on thescreen, and must be of utmost importance.


Hand-held Phone Bans Are Not Reducing Crashes, Distraction is an Attention Problem

®

Bob Birkhauser, owner of AEGIS ToolsInternational, has 34 years experience in theautomotive glass industry, as a second-gen-

eration owner/opera-tor/product developerwhose father startedan auto car glass spe-cialist company 48years ago.

“My parentsstarted their auto glassbusiness in 1961 and Ibecame an S.O.B.(Son of the Boss) afterI graduated from Uni-versity of Wisconsinin 1975,” Birkhausersaid. “My dad wanted

me to commit to the family business, so hemade me sign a five-year commitmentagreement. I never looked back or hesitatedfor a minute.”

In 1982, Birkhauser invented the firstAEGIS windshield repair system for AutoGlass Specialists, Inc., to be used in hisfamily’s chain of auto glass installation

centers headquartered in Madison, Wis-consin.

“In the earlier days of this industry,windshield repair was an emerging serviceavailable primarily from repair-only fran-chises. Viewed as a serious threat to the autoglass replacement industry, windshield re-pair reduced the demand for replace-ment and directed referrals away fromreplacement shops.”

Never slowed by a challenge, theBirkhauser family decided to offer repairas an additional service, but needed high-quality tools without franchise fees. Withina short time, the AEGIS windshield repairsystem was designed, tested and awardedtwo patents.

Over the years, AEGIS designed inno-vative glass installation tools and refinementsto the windshield repair system. In 2005, theBirkhausers sold the Auto Glass Specialistsinstallation centers to Belron NorthAmericabut retained AEGIS Tools International,which is now a separate corporation.

“AEGIS Tools International Inc. is asmall, family-run business still located in

Madison,” Birkhauser said. “AEGIS toolsand equipment are sold worldwide througha network of distributors and our Web site.Our specialties are in custom-config-ured windshield repair kits and tools tomake glass installations safer and more ef-

ficient. Constantly innovating, a staff en-gineer brings new ideas from concept todesign, while a talented group of cus-tomer/field testers assist us in making ourtools the most well-designed in the indus-try. Most of our components are made inthe Upper Midwest and assembled at andshipped from our Madison production fa-cility.”

In 1990, Birkhauser became presidentof AEGIS Tools and assumed completecontrol of the company when his father re-tired several years later. The company isflourishing today, with seven employeesand selling more than 1,000 repair wind-shield kits annually, he explained.

It’s a worldwide business today,Birkhauser said. “Half of our business isinternational right now. We’re currentlyselling to 50 countries and growing thisrapidly expanding market, to shops andwholesale distributors in South and Cen-tral America, France, Germany, Nether-lands and sections of Eastern Europe.”

AEGIS Tools sells primarily wind-shield tools, repair kits and related com-ponents. Since opening its doors more than

three decades ago, AEGIS has sold itsproducts to more than 17,000 auto glassshops, Birkhauser said.

AEGIS Tools has designed many ofthe most popular auto glass repair systemsin the market today, Birkhauser said.

“Auto glass techs fromall over the world pro-vide us with valuablefeedback, telling us whatproducts want manufac-tured and how these toolscan be designed or re-de-signed in order to maketheir jobs easier,” he said.“We tap into our cus-tomers’ extensive knowl-edge regularly and itmakes for better tools.”AEGIS Tool’s wind-

shield repair systems arethe company’s largestsellers, Birkhauser said,

popular with auto glass shops, collision re-pair facilities, new car dealerships andwholesale distributors.

The company’s newest leading productis the patented dry vacuum-hydraulic pres-sure system for AEGIS windshield repair,featuring the QuikSilver Technology, whichallows repairs in as little as five minutes,Birkhauser explained. Dry vacuum allowsall moisture and air to be evacuated from thebreak, while hydraulic pressure forces resincompletely and quickly into the break.

One of Birkhauser’s main goals ishelping auto glass companies doing a bet-ter quality job by using superior productsand bettering efficiently, ergonomics and

overall safety, he said.Even with better tools

and training in 2009, thereare still a wide range ofsafety and quality issues inthis industry Birkhauser said.

“I would guess that 80percent of the same types ofmistakes happen when autoglass work is performed,” hesaid. “Some errors are small,but others are significant,

but we don’t have any sympathy for compa-nies who take shortcuts using inferior materi-als and engaging in unsafe practices. If youviolate the standards, you’re running a risk ofgiving the customer an unsafe product.”

AEGIS Tools International2810 Syene RoadMadison, Wisconsin 53713(608) 274-9266www.aegistools.com


AEGIS Tools Innovates Windshield Repair Systems Worldwide

CompanyConnections

AEGIS Tool’s staff assembles one of the company’s patented windshield in-stallation tools.

AEGIS Tools headquarters is located in Madison, Wisconsin.

AEGIS Tools OwnerBob Birkhausergrew up withinhis family’s autospecialist business,starting in 1961.


www.autobodynews.comwww.autobodynews.com

NEWSNEWSNEWSNEWSService, Diagnostic

and MechanicalService, Diagnostic

and Mechanicalcc, g cg cggService, DiagnosticDi iService, DiagnosticService, DiagnosticS i o iService, DiagnosticService, DiagnosticDService, DiagnosticService, DiagnosticS i i o iggg, DService, DiagnosticDService, DiagnosticService, DiagnosticD cccccceeeeee sssaaa tttggService, DiagnosticService, Diagnosticg iiinnnnnnaaService, Diagnosticaiiiiiirrrvvv ga tSS DService, Diagnostic

nda dda dddddaaa ddandanddnnnnnnaaanda daandddandd hanicalech n caMd Mec a calllhanical Mechanicali Mechanical Mechanical Mechanicalicnhecg

Mechg

MMd Md cccccceee aaaaaa lllaa Mechanicalaiiinnnnnnaa MechanicalahhhhhhMM Mechanical MechanicalM aaMMechanicalgService, Diagnostic

MechanicalddandService, Diagnostic

and MechanicalService, DiagnosticService, DiagnosticService, DiagnosticService, DiagnosticService, DiagnosticService, Diagnostic

Autobody News March 2010

by Jim Lang, Aftermarket Insights

Annual 2009 vehicle sales are in, and thepicture is clear. Foreign vehicles (importsand transplants) have gained control of theU.S. new vehicle market. Foreign cars andlight trucks captured 55.8% of dwindling2009 new vehicle sales, up from 52.5% ofthe 2008 market and much stronger thantheir 48.9% share in 2007. This is phe-nomenal growth since 1999, when foreignmodels totaled only 29% of new vehiclesales.”

“Americans purchased 16.2 millionvehicles in 2007. By 2009, new vehicle vol-ume slumped to 10.4 million (down 36%),as foreign cars and light trucks increasedtheir sales share more than one-seventh intwo years. Skyrocketing foreign share ofnew vehicles is reshaping the aftermarket.”

Domestic share of new vehicle vol-ume (not including transplants) plungedfrom 51.1% in 2007 to only 44.2% by2009. General Motors sank from 24% of2007 sales to only 20% of the 2009 mar-ket. Ford held at 16% share from 2007 to2009; while Chrysler saw its share fallnearly one-third, from 13% to just 9%.

GM unit sales dropped 41% between2007 and 2009; while Chrysler sank 51%.Ford achieved a Pyrrhic victory (amongthe Detroit Three), as its volume receded amere 27% from 2007 to 2009.

Toyota passed Ford in 2009 volume,capturing second position, as Hondapushed Chrysler from fourth place.

Reshuffling Foreign Vehicle ShareHyundai and its Kia division sold 735thousand new vehicles in 2009, within 10thousand units of all German carmakerscombined and pulling close to Nissan in abid to take sixth position in total sales. TheHyundai Kia group is on track to pass Nis-san as well as all German carmakers in2010 U.S. volume.

Aftermarket ImpactThe foreign new vehicle surge is a futurewhich has already happened. Its impact onthe aftermarket in the next five to ten yearsis inevitable. Here are just a few aftermar-ket changes coming from this ongoingseismic shift in carmaker sales mix.

1. Manufacturers, Distributors, Re-tailers and Installers which cannot adapt

to the changing mix of vehicles on U.S.roads will not hold their competitive posi-tions.

2. Domestic cars and light trucks willgenerate one-tenth less aftermarket prod-uct share in six years than they do today,and their volume of aftermarket productswill steadily decline.

3. Foreign cars and light trucks willincrease their aftermarket product sharemore than one-fifth over the next six years,and they will generate all aftermarket prod-uct growth during that time.

4. Aftermarket volume will dispro-portionately be captured by product brandswhich are deemed “appropriate” for use onforeign cars and light trucks (imports andtransplants) by Installers and DIYers.

5. Service outlets perceived by con-sumers as “qualified” to repair foreign carsand light trucks will disproportionatelygain market share.

6. Retail Parts Stores as well as partsdistributors which sell brands perceived as“appropriate” by DIYers and Installers foruse on foreign vehicles will disproportion-ately increase their aftermarket sales share.

Foreign Vehicle Aftermarket GainsForeign cars and light trucks will set thecourse of aftermarket growth and develop-ment over the next ten years.

By 2020, foreign vehicles will gener-ate the majority of aftermarket use of many(if not most) product categories.

Domestic Woes Affect the AftermarketOver the past three years, the number ofdomestic cars and light trucks (not includ-ing transplants) sold in the U.S. dropped atotal of over four million units, reflectinglower overall new vehicle sales and plung-ing domestic car and light truck share.

Domestic cars and light trucks sank to44% of 2009 vehicle sales, down from51% of the 2007 market and off more thantwo-fifths from their 78% share of the1998 new-vehicle market.

While January 2010 vehicle salesseemed to show stabilizing Detroit Threevolume, there are some problems in the Jan-uary numbers. For example, despite GeneralMotors posting a sales gain, its January sharewas only two-thirds what it was 11 years ago.

Although Ford is showing salesstrength, its share is down nearly one-third

from 1998; and the future of Chrysler re-mains cloudy. Unless Chrysler can stage acomeback, with the assistance of Fiat,Chrysler's sales could plummet and takethe Detroit Three's combined share into thebasement.

Change Is In The PipelineHowever, things can change rapidly, asshown by Toyota's recent headaches, andthe Detroit Three could stage a comeback.Nevertheless, even if things stay aboutwhere they are over the next several years(or even improve a bit), significant after-market changes are already in the pipeline.

Less General Repair Shop VolumeGrowing legions of foreign cars (importsand transplants) on U.S. roads means thatgeneral repair shops (Service Stations andGarages), which traditionally depend ondomestic vehicles for a majority of theirvolume, could shrink substantially in re-pair share over the next several years.

More Specialized RepairSpecialty Repair Shops (outlets conduct-ing a limited menu of repair) and ForeignSpecialists (outlets focusing on importsand transplants) stand to ring-up big repair-volume gains at the expense of Dealers andgeneral repair outlets.

DIFM versus DIY RepairAs domestic vehicles on U.S. roads growolder, they will generate an increasingportion of DIY volume. At the same time,the Service market will continue expand-ing its product share, bolstered by thegrowth of foreign vehicles, which aremuch more often taken by their owners toprofessional shops rather than be repairedby DIYers.

Foreign Vehicle StrengthWith domestic cars and light trucks losingnew vehicle share, foreign models will ex-pand their portion of the Service market,which will generate most if not all car andlight truck aftermarket growth over thenext several years.

This means all car and light truckproduct expansion for the foreseeablefuture will be generated by foreign ve-hicles (imports and transplants). Theiraftermarket product sales will continue

expanding at an unprecedented rate.

OE Brands And OE DistributionThe strength of OE brands and OE distri-bution will differ substantially between do-mestic and foreign vehicles.

OE distribution and OE brands forforeign cars and light trucks will continueringing-up strong sales; while thousands ofdomestic Dealer closings and declining do-mestic vehicle sales will severely undercutthe domestic segment of the OE channeland the domestic OE brands it distributes.

This will provide opportunities for in-dependent (non-OE) aftermarket distribu-tion and non-OE brands.

Aftermarket ChangesHow well the Detroit Three perform overthe next several years has significant con-sequences for many aspects of the after-market. These changes will widen the gapsbetween aftermarket winners and losers.

From Aftermarket Insight™ by Jim Lang,President of Lang Marketing Resources,Inc., www.langmarketing.com.

Soaring Foreign Car Sales Shape Both Detroit’s and the Aftermarket’s Future

Replacement Safety CertificationLabels Gaining Wider UsageMore body shops are taking advantage ofordering replacement safety certificationlabels online. The Federal Safety Certifi-cation label and the Tire and Loading labelare required by law to be permanently af-fixed at the time of manufacture. The Fed-eral Safety Certification label indicatescompliance with all applicable FederalMotor Vehicle Safety Standards and in-cludes the month and year of manufacturewhich is important for recalls. The Tireand Loading label contains several keypieces of information such as the manu-facturer’s recommended PSI for the vehi-cle’s tires, the maximum weight (“load”)recommended for the vehicle, and the rec-ommended tire size. These labels providethe vehicle owner with valuable informa-tion and should be replaced if damaged orremoved. Body shops also benefit from re-placing these labels with a standard partmark-up and labor rate. All major insur-ance companies accept these labels, soshops are paid to replace the label ratherthan tape the old one back on. Shops canlog on to www.AutomotiveID.com.


Early Morning De-Light and Nursing Ingenuitywith Gonzo Weaver

Gonzo’s Toolbox Excerpted from Scott “Gonzo” Weaver's New Book, “Hey Look! I FoundThe Loose Nut”, which provides a Good Laugh for Mechanics of Any Age.For more information, Contact Scott Weaver at [email protected] andsee his website at www.gonzostoolbox.com.

Here’s another true story from my book. Itreminded me that the true sign of a crafts-man is no wrinkles in the duct tape.

A few years ago a nurse dressed in herscrubs came into my Tulsa auto-electricshop early one afternoon. She had just fin-ished her morning shift at the hospital. Shetold me that things were kind of tight at herhouse financially, and she didn’t have a lotto spare for car repairs. I told her I wouldhelp her out as much as I could.

Her problem was that her headlightsdidn’t work, and she really needed to takeher old Datsun (Dats before Nissan) to workin the early morning hours, regardlesswhether or not she got a ticket for having noheadlights. She explained that she had toleave for work at ‘Oh-dark-thirty,’ as weused to say in the Marines, so I was thinkingshe had some sort of lighted route that wouldkeep the prying eyes of the law off her tail.

“I get the picture, Ma’am. I’ll take alook at it,” I said.

Now I’m no car snob but I was gen-uinely suprised at how decripit this has-been automobile she was driving was. It

should have been crushed years earlier, al-though it looked pretty much all biode-graded already—completely rusted anddented up with not much left of the inte-rior. But as it was, this was this nice lady’sonly ride to-and-from work.Yes, she would wait to seewhat I found.

Rather than surveyingthe outside any longer thannecessary, I popped the hoodand got right to work onfinding the problem. It was-n’t that hard to find. At thepositive battery post onthis type of car was a se-ries of fusible links thatpowered up different systems in thecar. One of them was corroded off the ter-minals. It just so happened to be the one thatpowered the headlights.

I grabbed the trusty baking soda andcleaned off the crud from the positive postof the battery. After replacing the corrodedend of the fusible link, I attached it backonto its proper post. One flick of the head-light switch and she was in business.

I went into the lobby and told thenurse, who was waiting anxiously, what Ihad found. I told her that it was going to bea cheap fix, and not to worry about havingto get a car-fix loan (as she had worriedaloud to me). I then asked her how long had

she been driving around with noheadlights.

She told me with an airof satisfaction, “Oh, I had head-lights all the time. I just wantedthe factory ones to work becauseI was getting tired of changing thebatteries in the other ones.” Saywhat?Factory ones? Batteries? What

other ones? Did I miss something?I just stared at her for a few sec-

onds. I thought that by now I was prettygood with electrical systems. What did Imiss on this old Datsun’s electricalschematics that involved alternate head-lights that she was aware of, but I wasn’t?

“Really?” I said. “Can you show mewhat you are talking about?”

We walked out to the car and there oneach edge of the front bumper were two 9-

volt flashlights duct-taped around thebumper with what could have been awhole roll of tape. She walked up to themand pushed the button on each of the rightand left flashlights. Then she turnedaround to face me with both arms outstretched like a TV ad model; pointing onetoe and all. And wouldn’t you know it…she’s got headlights, sort of.

“I just thought it was going to cost somuch to fix them that I have been puttingit off for months,” she said. “But I had tobuy so many batteries I thought it wouldbe cheaper to find out what was reallywrong with the factory ones.”

Now I’ll admit I’ve never seen duct-taped flashlights attached to a bumper be-fore. And I haven’t seen them since... ButI’ll tell you this, if I’m ever in need of anurse in an emergency, who can get the jobdone till the cavalry comes, she is mychoice. Way to go girl. You got my vote forduct-tape engineer of the month.You can order Gonzo’s book, Hey Look! I FoundThe Loose Nut, from Amazon and othersources. Gonzo is working on a second vol-ume now. Contact him at the banner address.


With all of the new vehicles being devel-oped and introduced every year, your staffmay have questions about how to developa strategy or a proper repair plan for ade-quately repairing a vehicle to a safe andquality standard.

Among the many decisions you willhave to make will be whether to repair, re-place or section a structural component.The answers will depend primarily onwhat the industry currently recommends.

This knowledge will be the most im-portant tool that you and your staff willhave available to them on a daily basis.

Collision business management prac-tices, as well as KPI demands from insur-ers, are often confusing and misunderstoodby estimators, technicians and sometimesthe management team. By obtaining andreferring to manufacturers’ or industry-ac-cepted repair procedures in the pre-pro-duction phase, your staff will have theknowledge necessary to repair the vehicleup front, rather than after or during pro-duction.

Ask yourself this: If we had proper re-pair information up front, could we:● Lower cycle times?● Reduce out-sourcing?● Increase hours per day?● Develop or enhance insurance or cus-tomer relations CSI?● Reduce costly returns?● Improve efficiencies?● Increase overall shop revenue?● Enhance our staff’s knowledge?I am guessing the answer is yes!

How are you currently gathering critical re-pair information?Current information gathering techniquesare often time-consuming, cumbersomeand more often than not, unsuccessful. Es-timating systems offer labor times, partspricing and very limited diagnostic infor-mation, but they do not offer comprehen-sive repair procedures or “how to”information, such as current manufactur-ers’ sectioning and repair procedures.

When asking collision repair shopshow they obtain repair information, I havebeen told:● Technical experiences● Training programs● Co-workers● Dealerships contacts (when available)● Technical manuals● Industry training instructors● Manufacturer-supplied installation

instructions● OE websites● Educated guesses

Most of these sources are time-consumingto research, sometimes outdated or incor-rect, incomplete—and most importantly,not all in one place! The authority regardingproper sectioning procedures and practicesis the vehicle manufacturer. Best practicesshould always be the recourse when a man-ufacturers’ procedure is not available.

The decision to section or replace anentire component on a damaged vehicleshould be a systematic process involving:● Readily available, up-to-date repair doc-umentation from the most reliable and rep-utable source● An educated and qualified staff that un-derstands current Industry repair practicesand theories● A method or process to gather repair in-formation in the pre-production stages● A proper teardown or disassemblyprocess to perceive all hidden damages● A working knowledge of available tools,techniques and talents within your facility● Parts availability● Insurer program requirements (If appli-cable)

With all of these elements in place,your staff should have the critical tools inplace to develop a proper repair plan.

The sectioning mystery doesn’t haveto be a mystery.

Manufacturers publish many proce-dures that we may not know exist when itcomes to structural repair recommenda-tions. Without the proper procedures wecould be setting ourselves up to fail. Re-source the manufacturers repair proce-dures first to determine the best course ofrepair.● Educate yourstaff on industrytheories and ap-plications.● Develop a pre-production planto gather rep-utable repair in-formation in atimely manner.● Develop an

evaluation or disassemblystage, or a method to properlyidentify hidden damages.● Provide your staff withmanufacturers’ recommendedguidelines and current indus-try-recommended repair infor-mation.● Refer to Industry Best Prac-tices if the manufacturer doesnot publish repair infor-mation for a given oper-

ation.While the manufacturers may

not always provide all the informa-tion you need, they provide a lot. Weneed to be aware of the informationthey do provide.

I learn of new sectioning and re-pair procedures every day on allmakes and models. You and your staff cantoo—through effective communication,proper guidance and education. The effortwill help make your business stand outabove all the rest.

Here is the manufacturer’sprocedure for sectioning thefront lower frame rail on a2008 Dodge Caliber:

2008 Dodge Caliber SRT-4—Front Lower Frame Rail1. With vehicle mounted to ap-propriate pulling and 3-dimen-sional measuring equipment,complete the following proce-dure paying particular attentionto body dimensions while fit-ting and welding panels.

2. Remove bumper components, coolingmodule, headlamp, and all other compo-nents for clear access to repair area.

3. Remove front rail cap panel on damagedrail.

4. Remove welds holding lower radiatorcrossmember to damaged rail (if cross-member is damaged, remove completely).

5. Remove welds holding FESM structureto rail (if damaged, remove complete as-sembly).

6. Mark existing rail as follows:a. Right side

i On inner rail, mark at 50mm for-ward of the leading edge of flanged hole in rail.

ii On outer rail, continue markfrom inner rail.

7. Mark replacement part in same location.

8. On left rail, remove bracket located oninner rail.

9. Using a cut-off wheel, reciprocatingsaw, or equivalent:

a. Cut all existing parts on the for-ward side of the scribe line using care notto damage the material that will not be re-moved.

i. Right rail section location: Wheninstallation of new tip is complete, there isa 6mm hole on the inner rail at the forwardedge of the section joint which may needto be recreated or restored.

ii. Left rail section location: Wheninstallation of new tip is complete, there isa 10mm hole in bottom horizontal surfaceof rail which may need to be restored.

b. Cut all replacement parts on therearward side of the scribe line again usingcare not to make any additional damagebut do not discard any material yet.

10. Clean all sharp edges and create aslight taper for weld purposes.

Proper Repair Strategies and the Sectioning Mysterywith Dan Espersen

ALL OEM Information Dan Espersen is ALLDATA® CollisionSM Program Manager. Dan is a Gold PinMember of the Collision Industry Conference (CIC) and holds an AA Degree inAutomotive Technology. He has 17 years of experience in the collision industryand 17 years of experience in the automotive industry.


11. From the remaining replacement part,cut a 19mm strip from both the inner andouter rail. Clip off the weld flanges, topand bottom, and dress edges. These pieceswill be the weld-backer.

12. Prepare welding equipment per theweld chart.

13. Install the weld-backers into the frame

rail, centeringthem on cut edge.Clamp and tackthe weld in posi-tion when properfit is confirmed.

14. Weld using askip-stitch methoduntil the fulllength of the jointis completed onboth the inner and

outer rail. To avoid excessive heat buildup,move between inner and outer rail duringwelding.

15. Dress welds without removing anybase material paying particular attention tothe mounting surface of the outer rail.

16. Reinstall bracket removed from leftrail.

17. Either install new or reposition the lowerradiator crossmember and FESM structureand clamp in place and weld.

18. Install new front rail cap panel.

19. Dress the welded area and apply cor-rosion resistant coatings inside and out.

a. Apply etch-primer to the inside of the

frame rail repair area.b. Inside the rail, inject a

creeping wax based rust in-hibitor compound through theexisting holes in the frame en-suring 100% coverage includ-ing the space between theoriginal frame rail and the re-inforcing sleeve; using MoparCavity wax kit (part#68042969M) I Undercoating

kit (part #68042967AA)or equivalent.

c. Apply adurable top coatto the outside ofthe repair area.

Note: UseMopar Cavitywax kit (part #68042969AA) IUndercoatingkit (part #

68042967AA) or equivalent.

©2010 ALLDATA LLC. All rights re-served. All technical information, imagesand specifications are from ALLDATACollision. ALLDATA is a registered trade-mark and ALLDATA Collision is a markof ALLDATA LLC. All other marks are theproperty of their respective holders.

Under sharp and at times hostile question-ing, the president of Toyota's U.S. opera-tions told a Capitol Hill hearing on Feb. 23that even the massive recall by the world'sbiggest automaker may “not totally” re-solve safety problems implicated in acci-dents in the United States that have killednearly three dozen people.

Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. Inc. Presi-dent James Lentz defended the embattledJapanese auto giant's safety record, but con-ceded that the company had failed to meetits own high standards in responding to thecrisis. The company was too slow to respondto the safety issues that have led at least threecongressional committees to begin what islikely to be a long and exhaustive investiga-tion, Mr. Lentz acknowledged.

“Put simply, it has taken us too long tocome to grips with a rare but serious set ofsafety issues, despite all of our good-faith ef-forts,” Mr. Lentz told an oversight panel of theHouse Energy and Commerce Committee.

Lentz insisted that Toyota's engineershad identified “two specific, mechanicalcauses” of sudden unintended acceleration,which has been associated with at least 34deaths, according to complaints filed withthe National Highway Traffic Safety Ad-ministration (NHTSA).

“We are confident that no problemsexist with the electronic throttle control

system in our vehicles,” Mr. Lentz said.“We have designed our electronic throttlecontrol system with multiple fail-safemechanisms to shut off or reduce enginepower in the event of a system failure.”

Toyota President Akio Toyoda, thegrandson of the company founder, will tes-tify Feb. 24 before the House Oversightand Government Reform Committee.

In documents obtained by the DetroitFree Press, Toyota’s leading U.S. execu-tive ‘boasted’ to the automaker’s Washing-ton staff last summer that they had savedthe company more than $100 million byactions which limited any regulatory ac-tion on sudden acceleration to a recall ofequipment such as floor mats, according todocuments turned over to a key U.S.House committee which will hold hearingson the issue Feb. 24.

In the documents, the deal with the gov-ernment was listed among “Wins for Toyota”in an internal presentation by Yoshimi Inaba,chairman and CEO of Toyota Motors SalesU.S.A. in Washington last July 6.

The documents were among thou-sands of pages turned over to the HouseOversight and Government Reform Com-mittee. A second committee will met onFeb. 23 to discuss the Toyota recalls.

“The question this raises is was thebottom line factored into Toyota’s decision

making,” said Kurt Bardella, aspokesman for the committee’s rankingRepublican, Rep. Darrell Issa of Califor-nia. Issa has acknowledged that his familyowns four Prius models.

“Did regulators do their due diligenceonce problems were brought to their atten-tion? Did Toyota raise potential safetyproblems with regulators as soon as theyknew a problem existed?”

Toyota defended its commitment tosafety.

“Our first priority is the safety of ourcustomers and to conclude otherwise onthe basis of one internal presentation iswrong,” the company said in a preparedstatement. “Our values have always beento put the customer first and ensure thehighest levels of safety and quality.”

Toyota has recalled more than 8 mil-lion vehicles worldwide in recent monthsbecause of sudden acceleration problemsthe company and regulators have connectedto entrapped floor mats and potentiallysticky accelerator pedals. A third recall cov-ered more than 400,000 hybrid vehicles, in-cluding the popular Prius for faulty brakes.

Earlier this month, before the hybridrecall, Toyota executives estimated that theunintended acceleration recalls would cost$2 billion in lost sales and cost of extraparts for repairs. Toyota stopped produc-

ing eight models in the U.S. from Jan 26until Feb. 8. Analysts have said the costcould be higher.

Toyota has said repeatedly that nomalfunction in any of its vehicles’ elec-tronic throttle system contributed to any in-cidents of unintended acceleration, whichhas been cited in hundreds of accidents, in-cluding 34 fatalities, according to NHTSA.But the automaker has offered a brake-override software remedy on 2007 through2010 models of the Toyota Camry, Avalon,Lexus ES and IS models. Brake overrideensures that the brakes will slow the vehi-cle if both accelerator and brake pedals arepressed at the same time.

Toyota is making the brake overridestandard equipment on all Toyota andLexus models by the end of 2011 modelyear, but it has refused to offer it on manyof the 5 million vehicles covered by thefloor mat and sticky pedal recalls.

The estimated cost savings of morethan $100 million was among nine pointsthat Inaba’s presentation labeled as “Winsfor Toyota.” In addition to the savings,Inaba made note that NHTSA had foundno defect.

That was before the Jan. 21 recall thatfound a possible defect in the gas pedalsamong 2.3 million vehicles, and the brak-ing recall on Prius and other hybrid models.

Toyota Testifies, Documents Show Savings by Limiting Recall Actions

The Relationship between your Compres-sor, your Spray Gun and the Final Appear-ance of your Paint Finish

After my February column on spray-gunchoices appeared in Autobody News, I wasasked to clarify a point I made on CFMavailability in the shop during peak airconsumption.

CFM stands for cubic feet perminute and a spray gun’s peak perform-ance is depending on proper air volume.Each spray gun is engineered and tuned,just like a carburetor, for a specific CFMconsumption. Some spray guns ask for 8-9 CFM and others want 17 CFM or morefor optimum performance. Less CFMconsumption doesn’t automatically trans-late into a better quality spray gun; it sim-ply means that it could be the betterchoice for your situation. Most manufac-turers’ spray guns will consistently per-form well and do exactly what they aredesigned to do, as long as you providethem with their basic pressure and vol-ume requirements.

How do you know how much CFMyou have available? The following is not a100% scientific answer to that question,there are simply too many unknown (to me)variables in every shop’s situation, but it isa fairly reliable rule of thumb and it beatsbuying highly expensive equipment you arelikely to use only once. Just look at the tagon your compressor for the necessary in-formation and do the following math.

A standard two-stage piston compres-sor produces about 4 CFM per HP (horse-power) and a screw drive compressorgenerates about 4.7 CFM per HP. Multiplyyour compressor’s HP rating by the appro-priate CFM and you get your maximumCFM output. To have all of the potentialCFM available to you, the air should be de-livered to your work area in a 1½–2 inchpipe. Make sure that the connections fromthe compressor to any filter or dryer is alsoproperly sized. Whenever possible, thepipe should be a closed loop system. Themoment you close the pipes in a loopedsystem, the pipe becomes a very effectivestorage reservoir. It also evens out the air

availability to each work station. All ofyour quick-disconnect couplers in the paintdepartment should be 3/8 of an inch in di-ameter. Many shops are still using ¼ inchcouplers or wall regulators with too low ofa CFM rating and can’t figure out why thepaint jobs are not as nice as they hoped for.Leave the rest of the shop on ¼ inch cou-plers. Nobody in your shop is as dependenton CFM as your painter and he deserves toget preferential treatment when it comes toair supply. Most shops don’t have a dedi-cated compressor for the paint department.In that case, you must deduct the air con-sumption of all other air tools that couldpotentially be used at the same time fromthe total CFM produces. By deducting allof the potential air tool CFM consumptionfrom the total volume produced, you get agood idea what type of spray-gun you canconsistently support in your shop. Be sureto consult the air tool owner’s manual forthe actual CFM consumption of each tool.

Following are some general figures forthe most frequently used tools in our indus-try. A standard DA sander consumes about

10–15 CFM and an air buffer 20–25 CFM.A wide-open air blower could use as muchas 35–40 CFM. The length of your air hoseis also a factor in the calculation; you canlose an additional 1 CFM for each 10 feet ofhose over the standard 32-foot length. De-pending on the type and the manufacturer ofyour quick-disconnect couplers, you maylose as much as 7 CFM for each quick-dis-connect coupler the air has to travel through.

One last comment about CFM. Yourair supply is only as good as the weakestlink in the system. If your air volume is re-stricted anywhere between the compressorand the gun, your available volume can’tbe more than the restriction allows to passthrough. For example, if the compressor ishooked to the main line with only a ¾ inchpipe, it doesn’t matter what you do afterthat restriction, you can only access thevolume that passes through that pipe.Whether it’s 100 HP or 10 HP compressorswouldn’t matter.

Last but not least, all pressure regula-tors and filtration systems should be ratedfor sufficient CFM pass-through.


Compressors Affect your Spray Gun and your Paint Appearancewith Stefan Gesterkamp

Paint Management Stefan Gesterkamp is a Master Craftsman and BASF representative who has been inthe automotive paint industry for 27 years. He started his career in a custom shop be-fore turning to collision repair. Stefan graduated from the University of Coatings andColorants in Germany and is the author of “How to Paint Your Show Car.”

In January I-CAR appointed William(Bill) Stage to fill the newly created posi-tion of director of marketing & distribu-tion. Stage will report to John Edelen,president and CEO of I-CAR.

Stage arrives at I-CAR with morethan 20 years of experience in the colli-sion inter-industry and previously servedas I-CAR director of Field Operations,Marketing and Product Developmentfrom 1990 through 1994.

In addition to his previous experi-ence with I-CAR, Stage most recentlyserved as manager, Network SupportServices for AkzoNobel Coatings, a po-sition he held since 2007. From 1994 to2006, Stage was vice president & direc-tor of Field Services for Mitchell Inter-national. Stage also owns SSR CollisionCenter in Alpharetta, GA.

“I am very excited to join I-CAR atthis time to assist in implementing the newprograms developed under John Edelen'sleadership,” said Stage. “The I-CAR staffand volunteers are a dedicated group of in-dividuals committed to improving the in-dustry and I am proud to be a part of theteam.”

In his new role as Director of Mar-keting and Distribution, Stage has beentasked with taking a body of work twoyears in the making to the next level. Therole-based training curriculum known as

the Professional Development Matrix re-aligns the I-CAR curriculum into a frame-work for industry training based upon anindividual’s role and level of experienceand responsibility.

“It’s important to me that we engageevery segment of the industry around this

body of work. Cen-tral to this curricu-lum model is theI-CAR vision thatevery person in thecollision industry,current and future,has the necessaryknowledge andskills relevant to

their position to achieve a complete andsafe repair,” said Stage.

“I’m very excited to serve I-CAR andthe inter-industry at a greater capacity as amember of I-CAR’s leadership team.”

“I want to reassure our volunteersand instructors that they play a key com-ponent in our role-based training curricu-lum, as they administer and delivertraining to the industry,” said Stage. “I-CAR’s history and 30 year legacy wasbuilt by volunteers and instructors manyof whom are still involved with I-CARtoday, it is our vision that we continue tobe defined by the industry that is our fu-ture.”

New I-CAR Director for Curriculum Work

Bill Stage


by Rand Schweizer —Chemco Mfg. Co. Inc.

This is part one of a two-part article con-densed from a longer article by RandSchweizer. You can read the full article cour-tesy of Chemco Mfg at their website:www.chemcomfg.com/ articles/articles-tips-overspray-collectors.html

IntroductionFrom today’s vantage point, the industrialfinishing industry’s technical challenges ofthe 1960s through most of the 1980s werepretty straightforward. Conventional airspray equipment was the predominant ap-plication technology. Most finishers werespraying low-solids, solvent-based coat-ings. Frequently, production painting wasdone in waterwash spray booths that oper-ated for weeks, sometimes even months,

with little maintenance. Over time, thebooth’s water tank would fill with the cap-tured overspray solids. The water-saturatedsludge cake was manually removed fromthe tank over a weekend and productionresumed the following Monday morningwithout a hitch.

Intermittent or batch spray paintingwas generally done in dry filter spraybooths. Typically, these booths wereequipped with either expanded paper (seeFig. 1), accordion-style pleated paper, orspun fiberglass paint overspray collectors.Depending on the finishing process partic-ulars, these collectors were capable of cap-turing 85–97% of the overspray entrainedin the booth’s exhaust air stream. Most ofthe remaining overspray was deposited inthe booth’s back section, on the exhaustduct’s interior walls, and on the exhaustfan blades. Any residual overspray still en-trained in the exhaust was emitted to theatmosphere.

How Do They Work?Overspray is the paint mist produced as abyproduct of spray application processes.As the cost of industrial coatings has in-creased, finishers have worked to maxi-mize their application process transferefficiency. They have a double incentive tominimize overspray. By definition, over-

spray isn’t applied to substrates; therefore,it is wasted. Additional expense is incurredto capture and dispose of this wasted at-omized paint. In spite of the use of highertransfer efficiency spray technologies,such as HVLP, electrostatic air spray, andautomatic rotational atomizers, more than30% of all spray-applied liquid industrialcoatings end up as overspray. During1998, U.S. industrial finishing operationsproduced more than 90 million gallons ofliquid paint overspray.

Recent advancements in collectortesting procedures have produced labora-tory test data that challenge the acceptedrules-of-thumb on how collectors actuallycapture overspray. The arresting process ismore complex than previously thought.Most modern collectors utilize a combina-tion of physical principles to capture andretain overspray from spray booth exhaustair streams.

At the end of the 20th century almostall overspray collectors utilize one or acombination of several types of mechani-cal filtration. Traditional air filtration tech-nology teaches us there are threemechanical filtration processes that maybe used to remove foreign particles from amoving air stream.1. Impingement, also known as impaction2. Interception3. Straining

Impingement is the process by which thelarger (typically 0.10 microns) oversprayparticles are captured. As the overspray-laden exhaust air stream approaches theface of the arresting media, the individualair molecules begin to align themselveswith the openings in collector face. Thelarger overspray droplets have too muchforward inertia to follow the surroundingair molecules as they zig and zag throughthe collector’s staggered openings. Figure2 shows an overspray droplet about to beimpinged on the front face of an expanded

paper collector even as the air shifts later-ally to pass through the openings in each

ply of the media. Depending upon theprocess dynamics of a given spray booths,as much as 80% of the total mass of the en-trained overspray may be impinged on thecollector’s face. An additional 15 to 18%of the overspray is removed as the exhaustair stream passes through the successivestages or layers of the filter media. The re-maining 2 to 5% (the smallest droplets)pass into the exhaust plenum to be de-posited on the fan blades or the exhaustduct. Droplets making it past these imped-iments pass into the atmosphere.

Interception is the primary processutilized in spun fiberglass collectors. It isalso a secondary capturing process at workin many impingement collectors. The ef-fectiveness of the interception process isdirectly proportional to the number of in-tercepting surfaces in the media. Ar-restance by interception occurs whenoverspray droplets make accidental con-tact with a media element while entrainedin the exhaust air stream passing throughthe media pad. Interception requires the in-dividual overspray droplets to remain at-

tached to the filter element for theremainder of the collector’s functional life.Although many overspray droplets are rel-atively sticky, most interception collectorsare tackified—coated with a sticky sub-stance, usually an oil or a pressure-sensi-tive resin by the media manufacturer.Interception collectors are more effectivein capturing larger overspray droplets thansmaller ones. Experience shows thatsmaller fibers are more likely to retaindroplets than larger ones. Additional fac-tors having a positive impact on the per-formance of interception media include theair velocity—slower is better than faster,the depth of the media—thicker media in-creases the probability that a droplet willmake contact with a fiber, and the fiberdensity— the closer adjacent fibers are toeach other the greater the likelihood thatinterception will occur. Figure 3 depicts anoverspray droplet making contact with afiber element as the exhaust air carries itthrough the collector.Read part two in April’s Autobody News.

Technological Advancements In Overspray Collectors, part one

Fig. 1. Expanded paper paint overspray collector.

Fig. 2. Impingement.

Fig. 3. Interception.

Collision Industry Foundation toAuction Donations for Charity


IT’S YOUR FUTURE...PUT IT IN HIGH GEAR

• Cutting Edge Web-Based Dispatch Management System.• 130+ Corporate Support Employees.• 2 National Service Centers (Los Angeles & New York).• National Marketing Division.

• Centralized Business Model.• Weekly Direct Deposits.• Established Territories Available Throughout

the U.S. & Puerto Rico.

If you’re an experienced Auto Body Estimator or InsuranceClaims Estimator and want to be in business for yourself,but not by yourself, then an SCA Appraisal Franchise justmight be right for you. With 30 years experience in theIndependent Auto, Truck, Motorcycle, Marine, RV andHeavy Equipment Appraisal business, SCA has painstak-ingly perfected its franchise model in order to provide ourfranchisees with a blueprint for proven results.

With a Franchise Licensing Fee of only $8,000.00, *plus applicable business setupand working capital costs, you can be running your own SCA Appraisal Franchisewithin a matter of *6-10 weeks.(*Franchise signing and training sessions occur every 60 days at our Los Angeles, CA headquarters)(*Business Setup and Working Capital costs can range from $3,850.00 to $28,200.00).(*Franchise Licensing Fee scheduled to increase to $10,000.00 as of 3-1-2010).

www.sca-appraisal.com> For more information please visit our website [email protected] e-mail:

WITH ANWITH AN SCA APPRAISAL FRANCHISESCA APPRAISAL FRANCHISEWITH AN SCA APPRAISAL FRANCHISE

Jon Gironda, Vice PresidentSCA Franchising, Inc.

SCRS Expands Repairer Education Presence at SEMA—ASRW will be Mid-week in October

The Collision Industry Foundation (CIF)is planning to continue its success of rais-ing funds through its online EBay Store tobenefit the charitable causes of the colli-sion repair industry by having a 2010 driveto collect items for the online auction. Lastyear, the EBay efforts raised $12,000 to-wards the Blanket the City Detroit project,giving to local food banks in need for the

hardest hit region ofour country.

As a con-tinuation of themany good works

of CIF, the goal of this drive is to fundprojects, new and established, such asRecycled Rides title transfer grants, in-dustry grant assistance, disaster relieffunding, and more.

The CIF EBay Store needs donationsof any item that can be auctioned throughthe popular bidding website EBay such astickets to sports games, hotel stays, mem-orabilia, or any other item that could havevalue. It is not required to be related to au-tomotive; there is no limit to the possibil-ities that can be donated to the program.

The CIF EBay store is perpetual, buta major push for a group of items will bedue by March 31st. To donate an itemplease contact the CIF Admin Office at(804) 427-6982, email: [email protected] (no hyphen).

In a move that will fuel the contest for thehearts and minds of collision repairers be-tween ASA (which sponsors theNACE/CARS events) and AAIW (whichsupports AAPEX and SEMA)—the 2010SEMAPaint & Body Equipment (PBE) areawill be growing due to a new affiliation be-tween SEMA and the Society of CollisionRepair Specialists (SCRS). SCRS will becollaborating with SEMA as the host of RE-PAIRER DRIVEN EDUCATION, which will bepremiering this year within the show and re-sulting in a larger SEMAfootprint dedicatedto the collision repair industry.

“We look forward to working with theSCRS to develop a valuable and relevanteducational program,” said SEMA VP ofmarketing and member services TomMy-roniak. Typically featuring 50–60 sessionsthroughout the week, the educational pro-gram is one of the cornerstones of the an-nual trade-only event.

“As more and more attendees at theSEMA Show become interested in thepaint and body market, it is becoming in-creasingly more important to incorporateseminars targeted specifically to this audi-ence,” said Myroniak. “Working with theSCRS will be instrumental in helping usdeliver value to this growing group.”

REPAIRER DRIVEN EDUCATION atSEMA will feature a wide array of topics

and course selections focused on bringingeducation and information covering rele-vant issues that impact collision repairersacross the nation. In addition to the educa-tional offerings and collaborative work inthe PBE wing of the show, SCRS will beholding their fall board meeting at theSCRS headquarter hotel, the Las VegasHilton. These meetings will be held inconjunction with other industry events,such as the Collision Industry Conference(CIC), to be held at the same location.

“SCRS’longstanding mission has beento educate, inform and represent the collisionrepair professional,” stated SCRS ExecutiveDirector Aaron Schulenburg. “A venuesuch as this certainly provides a stimulatingand exciting environment to build upon theeducational focus of our activity, and we arelooking forward to a bright future of possi-bilities for our industry as we collaborate tobring enhanced collision industry offeringsto the SEMA Show.”

“Responding to our membership’sneeds and desired direction has always beenone of the strong traits of SCRS,” addedSCRS ChairmanBarryDorn. “Through on-going discussions with our membership, it isobvious that there is a strong desire to par-ticipate, and have representation, in thisevent. Partnering with SEMAto significantlyenhance the offerings available to our indus-

try makes a lot of sense, and we are ecstaticto build upon what is shaping out to be a verystrong foundation between SCRS and theSEMA Show.”

“We’re constantly adapting to changesin the industry,” notes Chris Kersting, SEMAPresident and CEO. “We challenge ourselvesto deliver high value to both exhibitors andattendees, all with the goal of providing themwith a show that is current and relevant.”

Manufacturers interested in exhibit-ing at the SEMA Show will be able to ac-cess space rental agreements inmid-March. Attendee registration for theevent opens in May. Updated informationis available at www.semashow.com.

The third annual Automotive Service& Repair Week, ASRW 2010, announcedthat Jerry Burns will return as the eventchairman for the International AutobodyCongress & Exposition (NACE); and MitchSchneider will serve as the event chairmanfor the Congress of Automotive Repair &Service (CARS). The ASRW 2010 eventswill take place Oct. 11–13 at the MandalayBay Convention Center in Las Vegas (nolonger duringAAIW). ASRW will now be astand-alone event specifically created for allautomotive service and repair professionals.Eucational programs are scheduled Oct. 10-13, a Sunday through Wednesday. Exhibitswill be open from Oct. 11–13.

I-CAR announced its 2010 Interna-tional Board of Directors and ExecutiveCommittee following the I-CAR AnnualMembership Meeting in Torrance, CA.

The 2010 Executive Committeeconsists of: Chair Tom Moreland, Ak-zoNobel; Vice Chair Elise Quadrozzi,Crawford & Company; SecretaryDustin Womble, Roger Beasley Colli-sion Center for SCRS; Treasurer BobKeith, CARSTAR; Past Chair RobbyRobbs, NuCon Services Inc.; Member-At-Large Bruce Bares, Hi-Tech Colli-sion & Glass Centers; andMember-At-Large William Brower,Liberty Mutual Insurance Company.

“Over 30 years ago, I-CAR wascreated to educate the industry on theproper repair of unibody vehicles. Astoday’s vehicles are complex and rolesin the industry are diverse, it only makessense for I-CAR to pursue a role-basedcurriculum model to better serve thecollision inter-industry,” said Moreland.“The I-CAR International Board of Di-rectors appreciates the work staff, in-structors, and volunteers are doing todevelop, implement, and deliver contin-uous improvement of the curriculumthat is truly relevant and beneficial to in-dustry professionals.”

The remaining directors include:FarzamAfshar, Verifacts Automotive;Terry W. Angell, Warren Tech; RollieBenjamin, ABRA Auto Body & Glass;Bruce Cooley, DuPont PerformanceCoatings; William DeGrocco, GEICOInsurance;Ronald Doerr, General Mo-tors Corp.;Chris Evans, State Farm In-surance Education Foundation Rep;David Henderson, See Progress, Inc.;Joseph Laurentino, Esurance; JohnNorton, Ford Motor Company; SamPezzullo, State Farm Canadian Repre-sentative; Greg Potter, DearbornGroup Technology for Equipment &Tool Institute;Monica Rivers, BMW ofNorth America, LLC; MikeSchoonover, Schoonover Bodyworksfor Automotive Service Association;and James Spears, USAA.

The board of directors sets theoverall strategic direction for the organ-ization and assists in obtaining re-sources in support of the I-CARMission. The board of directors is com-prised of representatives from each ofthe following six industry segments:collision repair; insurance; equipment,tools, and supplies; education, training,and research; vehicle manufacturers;and related industry services.

I-CAR Announces 2010 International Board of Directors

The dealer owner where we buy most ofour parts for a certain line of cars ap-proached us with a proposition. In returnfor an extra discount on parts, he wants usto pass along customer names as new carsales prospects. Anything wrong with that?

Not for the dealer. He’s entitled to usewhatever information he can dig up. Butwithout the customer’s unequivocal priorpermission it’s a foolish risk for you, nomater what the additional discount isworth. Your knowledge of the customer’sidentity is not your property to use to yourbenefit. In any case, in this age of privacysensitivity, sooner or later a customer willclaim to have been damaged somehow byyour “unauthorized” disclosure. Inciden-tally I know of some DRP’s where even afirst offense in this department will resultin immediate and irreversible termination.

Our competitor seems to have just aboutall the city and county vehicle collision re-pair business pretty well locked up. Doesthis traditionally go up for bids? How dowe go after it?Don’t you have enough in your life to de-

press you already? This is highly political,low-profit, low-quality, shop-cloggingbusiness. Unless you like doing $2000 jobsfor $1600, leave it to the guys that fixtaxis.

Try this instead: Go make some goodsales calls on the HR departments of at theone or two non-profit agencies in your areawith the most employees. Provide themwith special cards for them to give theiremployees that will produce an automatic$10 or $25 contribution to the agency foreach employee’s car fixed at your shop.

Dale, Settle a bet. My brother says medriving my most expensive car to my shopevery day makes the employees resentful. Isay that good employees are motivated byseeing the material benefits of hard work.

You lose. I hope you bet him the car.

We have been a dues-paying member ofour state trade association for many years.It’s been beneficial learning and sharingbest practices. But recently the associationhas become very aggressive politically,hiring a lobbyist to confront insurers with

the Insurance Commissioner and publish-ing “consumer education” materials thathave an anti-insurer flavor. Is our mem-bership going to cost us business?

Not unless you’re a conspicuousspokesman for the new aggressiveness.But at some point you will have to askyourself whether everyone your dues aresupporting are worthy fellow members ofyour profession. If you can’t remember thelast time your association kicked outsomebody for not being up to its standards,what’s the point of being part of it?

We used to belong to a paint company “20group” where we compared numbers threeor four times a year. What are consideredgood basic operating numbers these days?

Circumstances and regions vary, of course,but you really need to be at least in the low40’s at the gross margin line to haveenough left over for sufficient retainedearnings to keep strengthening the busi-ness. Nobody on the property should becashing a bonus check for a month below40%. With margins on parts typicallybelow 30%, you need your gross marginon direct labor at 60% or more includingbenefits. Also, if your paint & materialssales are less than 10% of total sales in anyquarter, your estimators need some moretraining. Indirect labor needs to be at orbelow 12% of sales, and rent shouldn’t getmuch beyond 5% of sales unless you’rethe landlord. Get back in a 20-group, butpick critically. They range from pointlessto priceless.


with Dale DelmegeAsk Dale Dale has been Collision Industry Conference Chairman 1999–2000; a Lifetime

Member (since 2001) of Society Of Collision Repair Specialists. He is a NationalAuto Body Council Founding Member and Director; a C.I.E.C.A. Founding Member,Director, and Chairman. Contact Dale at [email protected].

Parts and Car Sales, City Vehicles, Standards for Associations

A Work Of Art.

Isn’t it time others see her the way you see her?

Fiberglass Quarterpanel Extensions. Replica Plastics of Dothan designs, tests andmanufactures over 400 quality parts for GM cars including Buick, Cadillac,Oldsmobile, Pontiac and Chevrolet. Our affordable quarter panels install in minutes,without having to remove the rearbumper, and come with a full lifetimewarranty. Contact us today for acomplete listing of parts and prices.

P.O. Box 1147 • Dothan, Alabama 36302P: 800-873-5871 F: 334-792-1175

W: replica-plastics.com E: [email protected]

Ford Motor Company vehicles accountedfor four of the top five vehicles for cus-tomer brand loyalty, according to recentindustry analysis from Experian Automo-tive. The analysis, compiling industry-wide automotive trends for the thirdquarter of 2009, also saw Hyundai per-forming strongly with gains in overallmarket share and increased new vehicleregistration.

From the second to third quarter of2009, Ford customers continued to showstrong loyalty for the Ford brand. Ford’sFusion, Edge, Flex and Five-Hundredmodels were all within the top five vehi-cles for customer brand loyalty at 61.8percent, 57.8 percent, 57.6 percent and56.3 percent, respectively. Ford Freestylehad the 10th highest brand loyalty at 47.6percent.

Hyundai performed strongly in thethird quarter by gaining 2.2 percentagepoints in overall market share and experi-encing a 30.1 percent increase in new ve-hicle registrations. Ford also sawimprovements in market share, growingby 1.1 percentage points, and in new ve-hicle registrations, growing by 5.1 per-cent for the quarter.

“Given the extraordinary challengesin the current economy, Ford andHyundai showed positive growth,” saidJeff Anderson, director of Consultingand Analytics for Experian Automotive.“Both were able to pick up market sharegains and improve on their customer loy-alty. This gain in momentum should seethese companies well-positioned for suc-cess when the market turns around.”

While Ford had a strong presence inbrand loyalty, Toyota’s new Venza modelwas No. 1 in brand loyalty at 63.2 per-cent. Toyota’s Prius (51.8 percent) andCamry (48 percent) came in at numbers

seven and nine, respectively. When itcame to corporate loyalty, Toyota movedahead of GM to take the top spot. Fordfollowed closely in third place.

Other insights from Experian Auto-motive’s analysis included:● Hyundai’s corporate loyalty rose tofifth overall to nearly tie with Honda atalmost 40 percent loyalty.● The Cash for Clunkers program (July1, 2009, to Aug. 24, 2009) accounted fora quarter of Q3 2009 new vehicle regis-trations. Toyota led brand loyalty amongparticipants, with 41 percent of those whodisposed of a Toyota purchasing anotherToyota vehicle.● Cross-Over Vehicles and Small Car–Economy were the two fastest-growingvehicle segments, gaining 50,747 and49,698 more registrations, respectively,year over year. Full-Size pickup truckssaw the largest decline with 114,613fewer registrations than in the same quar-ter for 2008.

“For several quarters now, the in-dustry has worked diligently to better un-derstand the ever-evolving landscape ofconsumer tastes in vehicles,” said ScottWaldron, president of Experian Automo-tive. “The recent shifts in consumer loy-alty, corporate market share and vehicleclass preferences show that building fu-ture success will come from increasedknowledge of the changes in consumerbuying habits today.”

However, the brands seeing thebiggest upswing in owner loyalty duringthe initial aftermath of the Toyota recallsare Korean and Big 3 automakers, ac-cording to Kbb.com, which also pointedout that brand consideration and loyaltyfor Toyota has eroded. Kia and Hyundaiappear to show the steepest upwardmovement.

Ford and Hyundai Excel in Brand Loyalty, Toyota Still No. 1

CompanyConnections

Autobody News was recently able to askHans Kempf, Regional Training Instruc-tor in charge of Course Development atBASF Automitive Refinish, for some ob-servations about recent trends in water-borne and other refinish issues.

ABN ► What is the approximate growthrate of BASF waterborne product sales?Has it plateaued or is it growing steadilyin non-mandated waterborne areas?

HK ◄ Growth continues to be strong in allareas and we expect it will continue to increase.

ABN ► Is consumption ofwaterborne prod-uct becoming more efficient with experienceand training, i.e., do painters and their shopsget cost benefits as they getmore experience?

HK ◄ We have found the learning curveto be very short for both the Glasurit 90-Line and the Onyx HD product lines. Thedegree and type of benefits that are asso-ciated with switching to waterborne areboth shop and technician dependant. It canbe said that at some shops do in fact expe-rience speed and material use efficienciesonce they have completed the transistionto a low VOC portfolio.

ABN ► Is airmanagementmore or less crit-ical with newer formulations of BASF prod-uct?Can yoube specific about how importantair (humidity, cleanliness, and temperature)is to proper application of the product?

HK ◄ There have been few changes in theformulations of our waterborne basecoatover the last several years, which is to saythat things remain the same.

The drying mechanism of all water-borne paints require good airflow, this im-portance increases as the relative humidityrises. BASF recommends a clean and tem-perature controlled environment for all ourpaint systems, not just the waterborneproducts. Just like for higher VOC systems,we have developed products and proce-dures for spraying our low VOC productsover a broad range of temperatures.

ABN ► How involved is BASF with thedata providers and their cost estimates?

HK ◄ Because we understand the impor-tance of accurately estimating material cost,BASF is willing to provide the appropriateinformation necessary for data providers tocreate accurate estimating systems.

ABN ► Let’s just “air” some issues with

current refinish processes and get your ini-tial thoughts:

Color matching and mixingHK ◄ Color adjustment and tinting is anecessary evil in our industry as OEMcolor variations continue to be problematic.

The OEM color palette continues to ex-pand bringing more complex colors that mustbe adjusted at the shop level. So many paintershave had little to no real training that createsan understanding around color adjustment.Certainly, the training centers around BASFColor Tools and information: ColorMax,SmartTrak, SmartSCAN and how to use thesetools most effectively. When colors still needto be adjusted, our training’s approach is todistill color into its basic components that areanalyzed individually and corrected sepa-rately. It also instills into the painter whattoner characteristics to consider when adjust-ing and their effects. This is a straight forward,step by step process that replaces the old con-fusing “trial by error approach” so manypainters have struggled through.

Spray gun operation and cleaningHK ◄ Throughout all of our technicalcourses there is a strong emphasis on properusage of any spray gun regardless of whatbrand. Students are coached with the basics:overlap, distance, speed and proper pres-sure, but also on more effective techniquesof application such as back-blending andproper clearcoat blending. An understand-ing of gun set up and tip/cap choice istaught, which is absolutely critical for anypainter. Through the new EPA regulations,cleaning is limited to using enclosed guncleaners or hand disassembly, both aspectsare thoroughly reviewed with painters.

Spray booth maintenance and managementHK ◄ The properly operating spray boothdefines the heart beat of any collisionshop, but it can also be the “Achilles Heel”as well. BASF training covers the basicsof booth operation and maintenance in-cluding filter change-out schedules, filtermedia requirements, proper velocity test-ing, balancing and troubleshooting.

Clear and primer trainingHK ◄ Although a large amount of effortgoes into proper training of waterbornebasecoats to meet new VOC regulations,clearcoat and primers are also being af-fected by these same rules. Proper instruc-tion into both VOC compliant productsand National Rule is conducted coveringtopics such as: prep and sanding, cleaning,application, film build, equipment, dry

time, productivity and blending/repairing.New products are continuously being

introduced to make our customers moreprofitable. What better way to learn aboutthese than where the expertise really lies,in a BASF training class.

Low VOC, solvent-based productHK ◄ With the established and impend-ing low VOC legislation, it is crucial forour customers to feel comfortable withBASF’s compliant product portfolio. Al-though many application and performanceaspects of these products are superior totraditional solvent based products, peopleresist and fear what is unfamiliar to them,this is understandably just human nature.

Developing an understanding aroundthese products is done to ease this transi-tion. Although BASF continues to lead theindustry’s development with low VOCproducts, many products have been suc-cessful in the collision industry for manyyears already. BASF Training highlightsthese products and presents a digestible ap-proach to transitioning to compliancy.

BASF has dramatically expanded itsLean educational program for cus-tomers. BASF’s Lean program used tooffer a half-day introduction to Lean,giving collision centers a high-leveloverview of Lean concepts. BASF’sLean education component of VPU nowincludes three additional programs.● Launching Lean (VPU-031) is a two-day workshop that demonstrates funda-mental concepts. This is the first step inimplementing a continuous improve-ment business model.● Lean Implementation (VPU-032) is athree-day workshop centered around abody shop simulation that guides cus-tomers in identifying non-value addedactivities, exploring methods for reduc-ing waste and developing ways to meas-ure success.● Leading a Lean Culture (VPU-033) isa seminar for those considering a leanbusiness model in which customers as-sess their individual businesses and es-tablish a plan for Lean implementation.


-a-sn-

Your market is full of average shops.

You’re not an average shop.

Now you can prove it:

Structural collision repair qualityindependently audited, verified anddocumented, month after month.

Only the very best shops do it.Vehicle owners and insurers know it.The game has changed.

Get the facts. 800-381-3447

VeriFacts AUTOMOTIVEINDEPENDENTLY VERIFIEDCOLLISION REPAIR QUALITY

BASF Responds to ABN’s Questions on Newer Refinish ProcessesBASF Expands Lean Education

With 57 warehouses in the U.S. andCanada, Performance Radiator has grownsteadily since opening its initial location in1988. Owner and CEO Mike Carr, 50,founded the company out of a duplex inSeattle, Washington, after working for aradiator retailer for five years.

“When I saw a need for a radiator dis-tribution company that could deliver aquality product on a consistent basis toshops throughout NorthAmerica, I knew I

could fill a void in the market,” Carr said.“I was convinced that my concept wouldwork if I could get the right products andthe right people, and it has proven to be asolid business model.”

Over the years, Performance Radiatorhas added an average of five new ware-houses per year. In 2002, the company pur-chased PWI, Inc., and took over theirnationwide locations. Performance nowhas warehouses located fromMiami toAn-chorage.

Performance Radiator employs morethan 400 people and carries an inventoryof $15 million in radiators,A/C condensersand vacuum parts, as well as various re-lated radiator, exhaust and A/C compo-nents. The company owns a fleet of over200 delivery trucks.

Consistency of product is a big reasonfor the steady growth of Performance Ra-diator. “We use the same suppliers for allour locations,” Carr said. “Our approach issimple—we get the best parts we can fromhighly reliable sources that meet even themost stringent OE specs. We will never

purchase inferior parts just to re-sell themat a profit.”

With more than 28 years of experiencein the radiator andA/C industry, Carr knowsa quality part from an inferior one instantly.“A lot of aftermarket manufacturers claimthat they make parts that are OEM-compat-ible,” he said. “But, they’re certainly notwhat I would put in my car. We’ve foundmany of the aftermarket radiators use lessergrade materials or are poorly designed.”

Performance Radiator purchases itsparts from reputable sources only and hasbeen using many of the same vendors for22 years. “We get the majority of our partsfrom the same OE plants in Thailand thatmake all of the parts for Suzuki, Kawasaki,

Honda andMitsubishi. The main differencebetween what we buy and the aftermarketis that the companies we deal with build 98percent of their own parts, including oilcoolers, tanks, tubes and header design,using all of our tooling. And we don’t use50 different companies for our parts, either.70 percent of what we sell is made in onefactory. By doing it that way, we can mon-itor the quality from start to finish.”

When it comes to competing againstthe recycled/remanufactured industry andthe aftermarket, Performance Radiator isconfident in how they stack up.

“We feel we have better coverage anda superior product overall,” Carr said. “Wethink we know the business better.We real-ize that price is very important, but we don’tever undercut our competition on price.Wesee the value of the job hinging not just onprice, but also on service, availability andthe overall quality of the part. The lowestprice is not always the smart buy.”

A large part of Performance Radia-tor’s business comes from body shops whorespect the company’s quality products,reasonable prices, quick delivery and in-dustry experience.

“We particularly pride ourselves onour knowledge and service. We have a tonof tenured employees working for us, with

more than 20 people who have been withthe company for a minimum of 15 years inthis industry. Same-day delivery is anotherconvenience we offer our body shop cus-tomers.With cycle times as a priority, shopsappreciate the fact that we can get themtheir parts within four hours, in most cases.”

Performance Radiator markets itselfto shops through a variety of methods, in-cluding their Web site (www.perfor-manceradiator.com), outside sales reps,and direct mail. Knowing specifically whatshops need and meeting those needs is amajor priority for the company.

“We know how important it is for bodyshops to get the right parts for a job, on timeand within their budget. Time spent waitingaround for parts that end up not fitting cankill a shop, because while they’re sittingaround, it’s costing them money and skew-ing their cycle times. Money can evaporatequickly in this industry—andwe know that-so we’re always trying to find new ways toserve our shop customers better,” Carr said.

Business has been uneven recentlybut Carr sees a bright future for Perform-ance Radiator once the dust created by therecession settles.

“People are taking the insurancemoney and keeping it,” Carr said. “Plus,cars are being totaled out by the insurancecompanies much easier nowadays, whichhas directly affected us in a major way.”

What does the immediate future looklike for his industry? Carr is hopeful, yetunderstandably cautious.

“There will be a nationwide shakeout,where some companies fall by the waysidewhile others consolidate their operations.We’ll survive, but it will be rocky for awhile until the credit market opens up. Themarket will stabilize at some point, butthere will be fewer players in this segment.In many ways, it’s a natural progression.”

Performance Radiator3901 First Avenue SouthSeattle, Washington 98134(877) 723-4286


Nationwide:Nationwide: (877) 723-4286 (877) 723-4286Nationwide: (877) 723-4286

> Fast Delivery

> Knowledgeable Staff

> Great Service

> Commitment to Quality

> OEM Fit and Function

Our Products:

• Radiators • Condensers • Fan Assemblies

• Heater Cores • Side Mirrors • Fuel Tanks

• A/C Parts (select markets) • Exhaust (select markets)

Over 50 Locationsto Serve You.

Knowledgeable Staff

QUALITY...There is a Difference...

PERFORMANCE RADIATOR...PERFORMANCE RADIATOR...PERFORMANCE RADIATOR...PERFORMANCE RADIATOR...PERFORMANCE RADIATOR...Your Partner for Quality Products

Your Partner for Quality Products

www.performanceradiator.com

> K

> G

>>>>>> C

>

cts:cts:• Conndensers •

> K

There

$$10.00 Off10.00 Offyour next radiator oryour next radiator or condenser - Couponcondenser - Coupon

code 10ABN*code 10ABN*

$10.00 Offyour next radiator orcondenser - Coupon

code 10ABN*(Web Only)

ast Delivery

Knowledgeable Staff

Difs a ffference...s a D eff e ce

PERFORMANCE RADIATOR...PERFORMANCE RADIATOR...PERFORMANCE RADIATOR...PERFORMANCE RADIATOR...

Qr QualityYour Partner for Quality Products

u lQuQu yu ty Products

Your Partner for Quality Productsu ryyQ ality Products

Your Partner for Quality Productsality Products

r Quality Products

>> Fa

K

*Coupon not valid w/other discounts. Applies to Installers, Dealerships, or Body Shops Only. Exp. 3/31/10

Performance Radiator Stresses Consistency of Product and Service

CompanyConnections

Performance Radiator carries an inventory of $15million in radiators, A/C condensers and vacuumparts, as well as various related radiator, exhaustand A/C components.

With 57 warehouses in the U.S. and Canada, Per-formance Radiator has grown steadily since open-ing its initial location in 1988.

Performance Radiator owns a fleet of over 200 de-livery trucks.

®


In the 1940s, in the Spring the MissouriRiver, in the vicinity of Kansas City,would overflow from heavy Winter snowsand Spring rains. The result was seriousflooding of the surrounding land. One fac-tor that made the flooding worse was themeandering nature of the river, and one ofthe worst meanders was locally called“Jackass Bend” where severe flooding wasnearly an annual event. To resolve this sit-uation, the U.S. Corps of Engineers dug astraight new channel several miles Southof the old one called the Liberty Bend cut-off, and dammed up the old channel. Andthey built a new bridge across the newchannel called the Liberty Bridge.

I’ve noticed that a number of shops puttheir customers through a few “JackassBends” just to get their vehicle repaired.Forms must be filled in and a customer mayhave to wait for an estimator and then waitfor a rental car. The popular buzzword ofthe day is “Lean Procedures,” with a focuson eliminating unnecessary steps and de-lays. Much of the emphasis is placed onlean production, but lean customer process-ing is equally important. Many shops thriveon customer referrals and a customer sub-jected to a series of “Jackass Bends” is notlikely to go out of the way to refer the shop.

A recent survey of health care systemsin other countries noted that countries thatuse a health care data card similar to a creditcard, can keep many doctor visits to just afew minutes. All of the patient’s medicaland physical information is on the card andcan be accessed in seconds. The card is up-dated after the visit, so the patient neednever fill in a form on the next visit. Todaymost drivers licenses have a magnetic striplike a credit card. Using a card reader mayenable a shop to capture much of a cus-tomer’s information from the drivers licensewithout having a form filled out. But thisconcept opens the door to even better timesavings along with a marketing advantage.

If a shop acquires the technology tocreate a collision customer data card of itsown, the customer can walk away with apiece of plastic that identifies everythingabout his or her vehicle plus all of the re-pairs and parts installations that have beenmade. The next visit will require practicallyno data capturing at all. Will the customerkeep this card in his or her purse or wallet?Possibly not, but most astute shops nowprovide every customer with an accidentinformation pamphlet or booklet to keep inthe glove compartment. It’s a simple moveto add a slot or pocket to hold the data card.

People are naturally inclined to fol-low the easiest path. This strategy alone

can incline most customers to return to theshop to get handled more quickly andavoid tiresome form filling. But there is away to get even more mileage out of thedata card. By adding a master code num-ber to the card and keeping that mastercode along with this customer’s data onthe shop’s computer system, the customerneed not even come into the shop to beginthe process of getting set up for the nextrepair. The code could be sent by e-mail,fax, phone, or entered into a preset area onthe shop’s website. When the customer ar-rives, he or she simply drops off the vehi-cle.

If this was all of the value a shopcould get from providing a data card, itwould be well worthwhile, but this isonly the beginning. The card can now beused for additional sales and marketingadvantages. If a shop also has a vehiclemaintenance division, tires, brakes, airconditioning service, tune-ups and otherreminders can be programmed in. If ashop sells accessories, winterizing prod-ucts and other seasonal items can be pro-moted. Today’s credit cards haveenormous data storage capabilities.These items won’t even begin to over-load the card’s capacity.

Finally, for the shop owner who is re-ally serious about getting the most out of adata card system, there is the added possi-bility of links. The Internet is filled withwebsites that earn all revenue from adver-tisements on the site. A shop can offer pro-motional connections on the card to a localcar wash, car rental facility, automatictransmission repair shop and other relatedbusinesses. All of these advantages can behad by simply eliminating “Jackass Bends”and creating a new channel for data to flow.

By the way, I really hope the currentsnowfalls in the east and southeast don’tcause serious flooding.

Help Customers Avoid ‘Jackass Bends’ by Creating Channels

On Creative Marketingwith Thomas Franklin

Tom Franklin has been a sales and marketing consultant for forty years. He haswritten numerous books and provides marketing solutions and services for manybusinesses. He can be reached at (323) 871-6862 or at [email protected].


Genuine Ford parts always fit right,Genuine Ford parts always fit right, so the job gets done on time. Theso the job gets done on time. The superior corrosion protection meanssuperior corrosion protection means they’ll last the life of the vehicle.they’ll last the life of the vehicle.Ford parts protect the value of lateFord parts protect the value of late model Ford, Lincoln and Mercurymodel Ford, Lincoln and Mercury vehicles.vehicles.

Use only Genuine Ford parts in yourUse only Genuine Ford parts in your repairs and you’ll back a winner.repairs and you’ll back a winner.

Genuine Ford parts always fit right,so the job gets done on time. Thesuperior corrosion protection meansthey’ll last the life of the vehicle.Ford parts protect the value of latemodel Ford, Lincoln and Mercuryvehicles.

Use only Genuine Ford parts in yourrepairs and you’ll back a winner.

Call your local AuthorizedCall your local AuthorizedFord WholesalerFord Wholesaler

Today!Today!

Call your local AuthorizedFord Wholesaler

Today!

Work Best...

...And we have them in stock!

t

Genuine Ford Parts

Ford Focus 2010

These dealers are Genuine Ford Parts wholesale specialists.

Make us your one-stop shop today!

TEXAS

Bob Tomes Ford,Lincoln, Mercury

McKINNEY

800-792-1155214-544-5081

214-544-5194 Fax

Casa Ford,Lincoln, Mercury

EL PASO

915-727-2532915-775-8259 [email protected]

Champion FordGulf Freeway

HOUSTON

Wholesale Direct800-388-4005713-371-4111

713-371-4101 Fax

Five Star FordNORTH RICHLAND HILLS


817-577-0558 Faxwww.5starford.com

Gene Messer Ford,Mazda, Lincoln,

MercuryAMARILLO

Wholesale Direct806-355-7417

806-352-9604 Fax

Kinsel FordBEAUMONT


866-339-7711 Fax

Mac Haik Ford,Lincoln, MercuryGEORGETOWN/AUSTIN

800-804-4423512-930-6260

512-930-6345 [email protected]

www.machaikflm.com/orderparts

McRee FordDICKINSON

281-337-1541281-534-2009 [email protected]

Russell & SmithFordHOUSTON

800-392-1983713-664-0965 Fax

Town East FordMESQUITE



www.towneastford.com

LOUISIANA

HollingsworthRichards Ford

BATON ROUGE



OKLAHOMA

United Ford PDCTULSA



NEW MEXICO

Bob TurnerFord Country

ALBUQUERQUE


505-449-1209 Fax

The Automotive Service Association (ASA)has written a formal letter to National High-way Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)administrator David L. Strickland askinghim to review why NHTSA does not regulateaftermarket crash parts, and to begin an after-market crash parts regulatory program as soonas feasible.

For yearsASA’s policy for automotive re-placement crash parts has been that consumersshould have notice as to the types of parts usedto repair their vehicles and give written con-sent as to the use of these parts. However, veryfew states have implemented this policy, somost consumers have no conception of the

parts used in a repair. ASA is very concernedwith the quality and safety issues relative to theproliferation of aftermarket crash parts beingused to repair vehicles involved in a collision.

In 2000, ASA met with members of theU.S. House of Representatives Committee onEnergy and Commerce and asked the commit-tee to investigate NHTSA’s role in aftermarketcrash parts regulation.The committee requestedthat the General Accounting Office (GAO) re-view NHTSA’s role in regulating replacementcrash parts.The GAO report on “MotorVehicleSafety: NHTSA’s Ability to Detect and RecallDefective Replacement Crash Parts is Limited”resulted in several important conclusions:

NHTSA has broad authority to setsafety standards for aftermarket crash parts.The Motor Vehicle Safety Act providesNHTSA with the authority to prescribesafety standards for new motor vehicles andnew motor vehicle equipment sold in inter-state commerce—a category that includesaftermarket crash parts. Although NHTSAhas the authority to regulate aftermarketcrash parts, it has not determined that theseparts pose a significant safety concern andtherefore has not developed safety stan-dards for them. The act also providesNHTSA with more limited authority to pre-scribe safety performance standards for

used motor vehicles to encourage andstrengthen state motor vehicle inspectionprograms. Because NHTSA may set motorvehicle safety standards for vehicle systems(like brakes and lights as well as for an en-tire vehicle, the agency could elect to de-velop safety standards for occupant restraintsystems, which could incorporate airbags,under the used vehicle provision. NHTSAhas not developed such standards becauseit has not identified significant problemswith occupant restraint systems that couldbe addressed by state motor vehicle inspec-tion programs. Less than half the states havestate motor vehicle inspection programs.

ASA Requests NHTSA to Use its Authority to Regulate Aftermarket Crash Parts


DO THE RIGHT THINGENOUGH TIMES,AND PEOPLE BEGINTO NOTICE.

�e Hyundai Genesis—2009 North American Car of the Year.

Hyundai Sales Up More than 14% (year onyear). In 2008 Hyundai became the world's��h-largest automaker, with 7% marketshare in the United States.

See these Hyundai dealers below for all your collision parts needs!

�ink About It

OKLAHOMATEXAS

James Wood HyundaiDECATUR

940-627-4607940-627-4653 Fax

Mon-Fri 7:30am - 5:[email protected]

Hub HyundaiHOUSTON

800-856-2212281-955-2311 FaxMon-Fri 7:30am - 6pm

Sat 8am - [email protected]

www.hubhouston.com

NEW MEXICO

Larry H. MillerHyundai

ALBUQUERQUE505-792-7050505-792-7016 FaxMon-Fri 7:30am - 6pm

Sat 8am - [email protected]

www.Larrymillerhyundai.com

Allen Samuels HyundaiNORTH RICHLAND HILLS800-888-2079817-589-7882 FaxMon-Fri 7am - 7pmSat 7am - 4pm

[email protected]

Vandergriff HyundaiARLINGTON

866-643-7320817-557-6778 FaxMon-Fri 7am - 6pmSat 8am - 5pm

[email protected]

Automax Hyundaiof Broken ArrowBROKEN ARROW866-509-3634918-872-7651 FaxMon-Fri 7:30am - 6pm

[email protected]

Automax HyundaiNORMAN

866-619-6406405-364-3307405-364-6504 FaxMon-Fri 8am - 6pmSat 8am - 1pm

Federal Government Pays For Shops To Go Green, Says GRC-Pirk ManagementAs an environmentally conscious shopowner, paint supplier or contractor, youmay be eligible for a valuable funding op-portunity. There has never been a bettertime to tap into the lengthy list of govern-ment rebates, tax credits and other financialincentives designed to encourage shops toachieve federal, state and local compliance.

Many key incentives enacted over thelast several years have focused on encour-aging shops to incorporate environmentalcompliance into their operational plans.One incentive in particular relates to Certi-fied Green Investment “CGI”, and is beingutilized by many paint manufacturers andsuppliers.

One of the key provisions of the En-ergy Policy Act of 2005 allows a tax de-duction of up to $1.80 per square foot forcertain environmental improvements madefor equipment put into service since 2005.In certain instances, this deduction may beavailable to someone other than the equip-ment owner for early compliance with En-vironmental Protection Agency rules andregulations.

Intended to offset some of the costs ofqualifying energy-efficient improvementsto commercial buildings, the CGI incentiveallows taxpayers to take an immediate ex-pense for the cost of equipment that wouldnormally be recovered through deprecia-tion over as many as 39 years.

To help you better understand the CGIincentive under Section 179D of the fed-eral energy tax code and how it may beable to benefit a shop, the environmentalprofessionals at GRC-Pirk Managementhave put together the following brief list offrequently asked questions.

What are the requirements of Section 179D?To qualify, energy-efficient improvementsmust reduce total annual energy and powercosts with respect to the interior lighting,spray booth operation, heating, cooling, andventilation and hot water systems by 50%.Partial deductions are allowed. Energy simu-lation and sustainability is required to justifythe CGI incentive; and inspection and testingmust be completed by a qualified engineer orcontractor registered in the EPA jurisdiction.

How much is the deduction?• Maximum deduction is $1.80 per squarefoot for a 50% reduction in total annual en-ergy and power costs (compared to a ref-erence building that meets the minimumrequirements of ASHRAE Standard 90.12001); not to exceed the amount equal tothe cost of energy-efficient commercialbuilding property placed in service duringthe taxable year• Partial deduction is 60¢ per square footfor a 25-40% reduction in lighting powerdensity (50% in the case of warehouses)

Who qualifies?• Building owner at the time of buildingimprovements• Public buildings – the owner may allo-cate the tax deduction to the designer (en-gineer, contractor, architect, environmentalconsultant or energy services provider) forthe taxable year that includes the date onwhich the property is placed in serviceWhat is the eligibility timeframe?

Shop upgrades must be completedafter December 31, 2005 and before Janu-ary 1, 2013

What documents do I need to produce?Current full set of architectural plans thatincludes all specifications• Energy compliance documents for light-ing, HVAC and envelope (Title 24 or IECC)• Recordkeeping File – computer file usedto generate T-24 documentation• Certified Letter of Opinion – RegisteredEnvironmental Assessor “REA” qualifica-tion letter• EPA HAPs 6H Compliance Notification -NESHAP 43 CFR 63 Subpart HHHHHHcertificationWhat do I get from a CGI 179D review?• FTD certificate package—requires fed-eral tax documentation for CGI incentive• Provide review of existing T-24 or IECCto verify compliance with current code re-quirements

• Review building lighting, HVAC and en-velope systems for Federal Tax Deductionqualification• Records Management Agreement for sus-tainability, analysis and certification docu-mentation

How do I claim the CGI incentive?• The tax deduction is taken on the “OtherDeductions” line of the taxpayer’s return• Tax returns may be amended going backthree consecutive tax years

The green movement for miscellaneoussurface coating operations is much morethan merely a trend. Local building codesare mandating that buildings be more effi-cient, and even insurance carriers are be-ginning to demand improvements that willreduce a shops operating cost. Given thegrowing number of incentives available toencourage incorporating certified greenimprovements into a shop facility, it is im-portant to consider any federal, state orlocal incentives available.

Steven E. Schillinger, is President andRobert Morris is Legal Counsel for GRC-Pirk Management in Reno, Nevada

For confidential consultation, call TollFree: 1-888-374-PIRK (7475)

Email: [email protected] orvisit www.ReComply.com.


Ever since the requirement of wearing in-sulated rubber gloves, or lineman’s gloves,when working on hybrid electric vehicleswas introduced in vehicle service infor-mation, there have been questions. Arethese really the same gloves worn by thosewho work with high voltage power lines?Are these gloves necessary or are theyoverkill? Are these gloves only used fordisabling and enabling the high voltage?What does the U.S. Occupational Safetyand Health Administration (OSHA) sayabout the use of these gloves?

This article is designed to answer thesequestions.

Glove RequirementToyota is clear on when insulated rubbergloves should be worn. The vehicle makerstates that the gloves should be worn“whenever working near high voltagecomponents. High voltage components in-clude the high voltage battery, systemmain relay, service plug receptacle andfuse, orange-colored cables, inverter as-sembly, electric drive motors, DC-DC con-verter, and the electric air conditioningcompressor.” In other words, the glovesare not just worn when disabling and en-abling the high voltage battery.

There are several classes for insulated rub-ber gloves, from Class 00 to Class 4, de-pending on the maximum use voltage thatthe gloves can withstand (see the table inFigure 1). It is generally accepted by thevehicle makers that Class 0 gloves are agood choice when working on hybrid elec-tric vehicles, as they are rated at 1,500volts DC maximum use voltage. Class 0gloves are solid black in color.

Why is the vehicle maker service informa-tion limited as to the care and testing ofthese gloves? Vehicle makers expect tech-nicians to follow the instructions and re-quirements from the glove manufacturer.These are commonly printed on the boxand the plastic bag the gloves are shipped

in (see Figure 2). Among the requirementsprinted on the bag label are the use ofleather protective outers, testing require-ments, and protecting the gloves fromchemicals and other contamination. On theoutside of the box, there are precautions tonot store the gloves inside out, folded, or indirect sunlight.

OSHA addresses the testing, use, and careof rubber insulating gloves in the PersonalProtective Equipment Standard 1910.137,Electrical Protective Devices. There aremore details in the American Society forTesting and Materials (ASTM) StandardSpecification for In-Service Care of Insu-lating Gloves and Sleeves.

Glove LabelIn the cuff portion of each glove, there’s anonconductive label (see Figure 3). Aslisted in the table in Figure 1, the label iscolored depending on the glove class. In-formation on the label may include theglove manufacturer, the class, and therated maximum-use voltage. The AC volt-age rating is only listed on the label, sincethese gloves are more commonly usedwhen working with AC voltages. The labelwill also indicate if the gloves are resistantto ozone (Type II) or non-ozone resistant(Type I).

The label may indicate the glove size. In-sulated rubber gloves are not one-size-fitsall. They should be purchased based on the

hand size of the technician who will bewearing them. For some glove manufac-turers, there are only three choices: small,medium, and large. Other manufacturersoffer half sizes, in inches. To find yourmeasurement, lay your hand palm downon a flat surface and measure the circum-ference around your finger knuckles (seeFigure 4). Add one inch to that measure-ment, and that is your hand size for insu-lated rubber gloves.

StorageProper storage is important to help keepthe gloves in good condition. The glovesshould be stored in a location as cool, dark,and dry as possible. The location should beas free as practicable from ozone, chemi-cals, oils, solvents, damaging vapors orfumes, and away from electrical dis-charges and sunlight. Fluorescent light andsunlight are especially harmful to rubber.

The gloves should be stored flat, notfolded, and not in any manner that willcause stretching or compression. Theyshould be kept inside a protective con-tainer or canvas bag. The original box thatthe gloves came in is also a good storagecompartment for the gloves.

Inspection Before UseOSHA requires that the technician who willuse the insulated rubber gloves inspect thegloves for damage before each use, and im-mediately following any incident that canreasonably be suspected of having causeddamage. If the inspection finds any of thefollowing, the gloves should be discarded:

● Hole, tear, puncture, or cut● Embedded foreign object● Ozone checking, which looks like dryrot. Ozone checking is a series of interlac-ing cracks produced by ozone on rubberunder mechanical stress.● Texture changes caused by swelling,softening, hardening, or becoming stickyor inelastic

The gloves should be cleaned as needed toremove foreign substances. If any defect isfound that might damage the insulatingproperties, such as spilled chemicals thatdo not wash off, the gloves should be sub-mitted to a testing facility for testing.

Minor damage to the gloves can be re-paired, but only in the area between thewrist and the reinforced edge of the open-ing, called the “gauntlet area” of theglove (see Figure 5). In this area, smallcuts, tears, or punctures may be repairedby applying a compatible patch. Minorblemishes in this same area may be re-paired with a compatible liquid com-pound. The patched area should haveelectrical and physical properties equal tothose of the surrounding material. Nomore than three patches may be appliedto one glove. Any gloves that are repairedshould be retested by a testing facility be-fore they are used.

OSHA also specifies that an air test shouldbe done in the field before each use, and atother times if there is cause to suspect anydamage. The ASTM standard specifies thatan air test can be done by holding the gloveby the cuff and rolling the gloves gentlytoward the fingers to form an air pocket in-side the glove. While the air is entrapped,check the gloves for punctures or check-ing, listen for escaping air, and hold thegloves up against your cheek to feel for es-caping air. If the glove will not hold pres-sure, the glove is damaged and should notbe used. The air test can also be done witha mechanical inflator. On the higherclasses of gloves, an inflator is requiredbecause the gloves are too stiff to be rolledup by hand.

Remove all jewelry before putting thegloves on. This is a common recommen-dation whenever working in a collision re-pair facility, but is of special importancehere so as to not snag the gloves on rings

Insulated Rubber Gloves And High Voltage BatteriesI-CAR Tech

This article first appeared in the I-CAR Advantage Online, which is published and dis-tributed free of charge. I-CAR, the Inter-Industry Conference on Auto Collision Repair,is a not-for-profit international training organization that researches and developsquality technical education programs related to collision repair. To learn more aboutI-CAR, and to subscribe to the free publication, visit http://www.i-car.com.

Figure 1 - This chart shows the AC and DC voltageratings for each class of insulated rubber gloves.

See Next Page

Figure 2 - Requirements for testing and care for thegloves are outlined on the plastic bag and boxwhere the gloves are packaged.

Figure 3 - There is several information on a label onthe cuff of each glove.

Figure 4 - To find the size glove for you, measureyour hand around the knuckle area and add one inch.

Figure 5 - Insulated rubber gloves may be repaired,but only in the gauntlet area.

or watches, etc., potentially damaging thegloves.

Protective Leather OutersInsulated rubber gloves should be protectedwhile being worn with protective leatherouter gloves. OSHA excludes the limiteduse of Class 00 and Class 0 gloves fromthis requirement. That is because for mostindustries, these lighter gloves are usedwhere high finger dexterity might beneeded to handle small equipment andparts, and leather outers might be too bulky.

For most work on hybrid vehicles,however, leather outers are highly recom-mended by the glove manufacturers andvehicle makers. The leather helps preventcatching the rubber gloves on sharp sheetmetal parts and frayed wiring, possiblypuncturing the rubber.

The leather outers should be exclusivefor this purpose. Do not use the leather out-ers as general use gloves. The leather out-ers should be sized and shaped so that therubber glove is not deformed. The top ofthe cuff of the leather outer should beshorter than the rolled top of the insulatedrubber glove by at least 13 mm (1/2 in).

The leather outers should be inspectedjust as often as inspection of the insu-lated rubber gloves. They should not haveholes, tears, or other defects that affecttheir ability to give protection to the insu-

lated rubber gloves. The inner surface ofthe leather outers should be inspected forsharp or pointed objects.

Care should be taken to keep the out-ers away from oils, greases, chemicals, sol-vents, and other materials that may damagethe insulated rubber gloves. This also goesfor the insulated rubber gloves.

Insulated rubber gloves are availablefrom some manufacturers in kit form,which includes the leather outers and acanvas bag for storage.

Testing at a Testing FacilityInsulated rubber gloves are tested beforebeing sold, but that’s not the last test. Thegloves should be tested every six monthsby an official testing facility. Once thegloves are removed from the plastic bagthey were shipped in, they start to deterio-rate. So even if they are used only once,they will require retesting in six monthstime. If the gloves were purchased, but notput into use for several months, retestingmay be required before the gloves are evenused for the first time. OSHA states thatthe gloves may not be used if they haven’tbeen tested within the previous 12 months.

Find the nearest testing facility bydoing an Internet search for “glove test-ing.” The testing is not done differently de-pending on the facility you find. TheASTM standard includes requirements thatevery testing facility must follow. The

standard requires that the testing facility:

* wash the gloves.* do a preliminary inspection similar towhat is done in the field.* do a more detailed inspection which in-cludes turning them inside out and may in-clude inflating them with air.* make any necessary repairs.* do an electrical test.

Note in the table in Figure 1 that theelectrical retest is at a higher-rated voltagethan the initial test. The gloves are electri-cally tested while filled with water and im-mersed in a water bath. The test voltage isapplied between one and three continuousminutes.

Once the testing is completed, the testfacility may note the date of the test di-rectly on the gloves. Employers are re-quired to certify that the gloves have beentested in accordance with the OSHA re-quirements. This can be done by noting theresults and dates of the test in a log, or bynoting whether the test dates are printed onthe gloves. The test facility we contacteddoes print the test dates directly on thegloves and maintains seven years of re-ports, which can be provided to the repairfacility if ever needed.

ConclusionClass 0 insulated rubber gloves, or line-

man’s gloves, are required wheneverworking near high voltage parts on an elec-tric or hybrid electric vehicle. There arestrict requirements for using, protecting,storing, inspecting, and testing of thesegloves. If you are a technician assigned todo work on one of these vehicles, becomefamiliar with the glove requirements.

There are, of course, a lot more pre-cautions that should be taken when work-ing near high voltage parts on an electricor hybrid electric vehicle beyond just theinsulated rubber gloves. The I-CAR courseElectric And Electric Hybrid Vehicles(ALT01) discusses these safety precau-tions. Vehicle makers also provide safetytraining for hybrid vehicles. Toyota, for ex-ample, offers instructor-led trainingcourses “Toyota Hybrid Collision Repair”and “Toyota Prius Collision Repair” atthree training sites in the U.S. For more in-formation on this training, visit www.cr-rtraining.com.

We would like to give thanks to KimSchneider, an independent electrical con-tractor based in Philadelphia, PA, for hisassistance with alerting us to the multipleissues with these insulated rubber gloves.


Original BMW Parts

bmwusa.com

BMW of DallasDallas(800) 245-7269(972) 241-3953 Fax

BMW of Houston NorthHouston(888) 215-7431(281) 875-4021 Fax

BMW of San AntonioSan Antonio(210) 732-7121(800) 880-1430

Classic BMWPlano(214) 778-2673 Direct Wholesale(214) 778-2674 Direct Wholesale(214) 778-2814 Fax

Texas

BMW of TulsaTulsa(800) 331-3996(918) 665-1360 Fax

Oklahoma

When you repair a BMW, use the parts

that are identical to those used in Se-

ries production – and just as reliable.

Choose Original BMW Parts. Because

you can’t repair your reputation.

You only get one chance at thefirst repair.

Original Thought #78

Original BMW Parts

Sandia BMWAlbuquerque(800) 642-2697(505) 217-0289 Fax

New Mexico

X6 M 2010

www.autobodynews.com

I have watched our industry take two stepsbackwards and one step forward for overthirty years. Because of this “every man forhimself” attitude that runs predominatelywithin the collision industry, we are unableto control the repair process even when itcomes to safety. I have heard it said thatmost shops really would fix the cars cor-rectly but they are being hindered becausethey are not being paid enough. I say“Bull.”

Either you fix the cars correctly or youare lying to yourself and risk resembling acrook. Sounds tough? Not really. It’s thetruth. The choice is yours.

We are the ones that know how to re-pair collisions. When something is deniedby the insurer we scramble to figure out away to make enough money on the repairto make it worthwhile. Many shops havemoved safety issues to the back burner andprofit becomes their main concern. Theymove to the damage control mode becausethey still need to make money. If you goagainst the grain and make a stand forsafety issues and the integrity of the repair,you risk looking like the bad guy when in

fact you are the good guy, and the real onesqualified to do the repair.

“Cost should never supersede safety,ignorance should never have the powerover knowledge, and intimidation shouldnever be mistaken for negotiation”.

We lack standards and we lack anyform of enforcement from the Powers ThatBe, so we are between a rock and a hardplace. We need to stand up for ourselves,even against the other shops that are notfixing the cars right. I think that we need tomake this “every man for himself” attitudework for us by standing up against thoseshops that are saving deductibles (it’s ille-gal) and putting unsafe vehicles on theroad. I really believe that many repairers“really don’t care” and no matter howmuch they were paid they would still cutevery way possible to put more money intheir pocket.

I recently (before Toby Chess’ ground-breaking parts comparison) got a call frommy quality control manager to tell me thatwe had installed an A/M bumper rein-forcement on a vehicle (against our com-pany policy) and the customer was on their

way to pick it up. He wondered if I knewabout it. I told him ‘no,’ then I made a fewphone calls to get to the bottom of it. At thesame time I had the OEM reinforcementordered.

As the story unraveled it turned outthat one of my estimators was trying to takethe easy way out so he ordered it himself(we have a full time parts department so es-timators don’t normally order any parts). Itold him to contact his customer and tellhim the vehicle would be delayed becausewe were going to be using the OEM rein-forcement. He then told me the insurancecompany wouldn’t pay and the customerwouldn’t either. The estimator thought hewas doing the right thing because he hadinformed the customer and the customerwas fine with the A/M part. My question tohim was “is the customer an expert in col-lision repair?” I made my point as anycourt would have.

I made a choice to re-repair the vehi-cle the correct way and it cost me money.Was it right that I had to pay to repair thiscustomer’s vehicle the way I knew that itshould have been done? No, it wasn’t right

that I had to make up the difference, but itwas definitely wrong for us to leave theA/M reinforcement on the vehicle, no mat-ter what the customer wanted. Why? Be-cause we are the repair experts and we holdthe liability. Any lawyer would be able tomake a case against any of us—even withthe customer’s approval because we are“the experts.”

Soon after this incident, Toby Chess’test at CIC made everyone realize that thereis a definite liability involved with using anA/M bumper reinforcement and I felt greatbecause I have no skeletons in my closetbecause we have NEVER used one.

In life we need to stand for something.We need to believe in what we do, andthere are lines that we just will not cross.We need these boundaries in collision re-pair. Who is dictating what the proper col-lision repair standards are?

We have had the Fox guarding theHen house for so long that we think that“cost” is the primary driver for the colli-sion industry, when it’s obvious that“safety” should be. When it comes to


MIKE CALVERT TOYOTA

• Overnight Delivery in Most Areas of TX & LA

• Volume Discounts

• One-Stop Shopping

2333 S. Loop West • Houston, TX 77054

(713) 558-8131

(713) 558-8272

ry in Most Areas of TX & LA

s

ng

www.mikecalverttoyota.com

Fax

Local

Toll Free

1-800-527-5368Download at www.CollisionLink.com

Young ChevroletYoung ChevroletYoung ChevroletParts for Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, GMC, Oldsmobile, Pontiac

• Same day shipping until 5:30 EST• Next-day air until 4:30 EST• 4.2 million inventory

Toll Free: 800-451-0108

Direct: 214-328-8381Fax (main): 214-328-6675

Fax (wholesale): 214-328-0716

Main: 214-328-9111, Opt. 5

Genuine GM Parts at Genuine GM PricesWe want your business!

9301 E. R.L. Thornton Fwy, Dallas, TX

[email protected]

Camaro 2010

• 60,000 part numbers• 13 parts pros eager to serve you• 15 radio-dispatched trucks

• 97,000 square-foot warehouse

Action Countswith Lee Amaradio Jr.

Lee Amaradio, Jr. is the president and owner of “Faith” Quality Auto Body Inc. in Murrieta,California. Lee is president of the CRA as well as an advocate for many other industrygroups. He can be contacted at [email protected]

“Every Man For Himself”

See Next Page

“safety,” everyone needs to listen. Safetyis a word everyone understands. Just lookat what Toyota is going through becauseof some un-safe vehicles hitting theroads. But the collision industry putsthousands and thousands of un-safe vehi-cles on the road every year and everyonelooks the other way because it would costso much more money to repair them allcorrectly.

I’m talking real safety issues such asair-bag deployment because of inferiorworkmanship.When “used frame rails” arestill being used in repairs even though it’sagainst every manufacturer’s recom-mended repair procedure, and A/M partsthat have not been crash-tested are still al-lowed, it just proves how out of whackthings really are. Someone should apolo-gize to Toyota.

I would like to see the OEM’s do thecrash test with the A/M bumper reinforce-ments to really prove we have a industrysafety problem and put a stop to sellingthese inferior parts to thousands of unsus-pecting consumers and their families. [SeeASA article on facing page—Ed.]

They should be concerned because airbag deployment can be changed so drasti-cally by something as minor as putting toomany welds or not enough welds during therepair (see the Toyota watermelon video).Don’t you think a bumper reinforcementmade out of mild steel will effect air bag de-

ployment? Any changes from OEM re-quirements could turn the air bag into adeadly projectile instead of the life preserverit was intended to be. Safety of the vehiclecan never be compromised especially whenyou are the one that carries the liability.

So should those that have knowinglyor unknowingly repaired vehicles in an un-safe manner be held responsible for cor-recting any problems related to safety? Isay absolutely “YES.”

But this would be way too costly. Imean that many shops would need to stepup and re-do hundreds of vehicles. TheAf-termarket parts companies could lose enor-mous amounts of money. Those insurersthat have guaranteed these parts wouldneed to step up and take responsibility forthe warranties involved.

But “NO,” there will be some moretests done to say that these parts are safeand everyone involved will do damagecontrol. We will return to the status quo of“every man for himself” and once againnothing will change and un-safe repairswill continue to hit our highways every daybecause money has become more impor-tant than safety.

SAY IT’S NOT SO!


Houston’s LargestVolume Honda Parts Department!

713.464.6205Wholesale Parts Line

713.464.2549 Fax

10250 Old Katy Rd.,Houston, TX 77043

ChevylandChevylandChevylandChevylandChevylandChevyland

Largest Inventoryin Tri-State Area!

Gift CertificateGift CertificateGift Certificatewith powertrain purchase.

Call for details.

WWee ddeelliivveerr ttoo mmoosstt ooff TTXX aanndd LLAA..We

deliver

to

mWe deliver to most of TX and LA.� 51,855 Part Numbers

� Order in by 5pm, Arrives Next Day

� 7:00am - 6:00pm M-F

� Online Parts Look-ups

� Jeral Lawler, Parts Mgr.� We price match! Call for quote.

800-551-8189(318) 425-3417 - (318) 425-1705 FaxBud Nelson — Customer Relations Representative (318) 841-5408

7500 Youree Dr., Shreveport, LA 71037

www.chevyland.com

Shure Manufacturing’s NEW Recycle CabinetsGo Green with Shure’s NEW Recy-cle Cabinets. These cabinets have alarge swing-out door to reveal a 40gallon plastic receptacle with dollyfor recyclable materials. Close thesteel door to conceal unsightly con-tainers, making your service arealook clean and moreorganized, while help-ing the environment.

Features:• Stainless steel top with12” recycle receptaclehole• 40 gallon plastic recy-cle receptacle with dollyordered separately• Leg levelers• Heavy-duty steel con-struction• Choose from 22 ShureSignature Powder CoatPaint Colors

Specifications:Model #791609 - Single Cabinet -30”W x 30”D x 39 15/32”HModel #791610 - Double Cabinet -60”W x 30”D x 39 15/32”HModel #791611 - Triple Cabinet - 90”Wx 30”D x 39 15/32”H


Your Source for Wholesale Volvo PartsRight Part. Right Price. Right Now.

Trust your order to the collision parts specialists at these fine Dealers:

S80 ‘10

volvo Genuine parts

Texas

Volvo of DallasDALLAS

800-498-7402972-963-9750

972-963-9749 Fax

GeGeGeGeGeGeGeGeGeeeeeeeenuunununuunununununuununuunnuunuuiiininiininnininnininininininneeeeeeeeee MiMiMiMiMiMiMiMMMMiiMiMiiMiMiMMMMiMiMiMMiiMMMMiMM tststststststsstststsstststststsstststtsttttss bbbbubububbbububububbbbubbbubbubbbuubbuubbubbubiiiiiiisisissiisshihhihihihihihih rrrrrrrepeepepepeplallalalaalaaceceeeceecc mmmemememeeemeemmmmmeemmmmmmmem ntntntntttnttnttttnttnttt CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCrarararrararararaarararaaraaashshshshshshsshhhshshshshsshsshsssssshshsss PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPParararararararararaaraaaararaaraaaraaaaaaaaaraara sttttsstss aaaaaaaaaaaaarerrererereeeererereeereeereereeeereeee cccclololololoooloooloooossessseseseeseseesessseseee aaaaaaatttttttttttttttttttt hahahahahahaaahahahahahhh ndndndnndndndddddndndndndddnnddddddddddd tttttttttttttthrhrhrhrhrrrrhrrrhrrhrhrhrhrhhhrhhhhhhh ooooooouooououuououoooouooooooooo ghghghgghggghhhh ttttttttthhhhehhhhhheheeheehehhhhhhehhehehehhehehehefofofofofoffofofofofoffofofofofoofofofofofooffofoollllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll owowowwoooowowowowowowowoowwwininininnninnnninnningggggggggggg ququuquuuquqqqqqq aalalallaaalalaa itititititi yyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy ededededdddeddedeeeeeeeeeeealaalaalllaalalalllalalaaaaalereereerererrrerrrrrr hshsshhhhhhshhhsshshsshshshhsshssshhhhshsshhhshshshshhhhhhiiiipipppppppppppiipiippppssss....sss. TTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTThehehehhhheheehhehhhhhhhhhhehhhhh yyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy o!o!o!!!!o!o!o!o!!o!!oo!o!oo!ooooo!oooooo!o!eeeeeeeeerereerrererererererrererrrrrrrerererrrererrrerrrrreerer eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeexcxxxxxcxcxcxxcxccepepepeppepeppepeppeppepepepepepeppeppepepepeppepeeeepepppepppeppppeppppppttitttiititittttttttttttttttttttt onoooonnnnooooo alalalalalllalaaaalaaaaaaaaaaalaaa ccccccccccccccuuuuuussuuuu tottttotootoototototototoottototoottoototooomemememmemmemeeemmemmmmmmemmmmmmmmmmmmm rrrrrrrrrrr sseseseseseseesesesessesesssesesesssesessss rrvrvrvrvrvrrvrvrvvrrvvrvrvvrrvrvrvrvrvrrvrrrvvrvrrvrvrvrrvrvrvviiicicccciice,e,e,e,e,,,,,,,,e,e,,,,,,,, wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwidididdddddidddddeeeeeeeeeeeeesseseeesseeseseeeessessssseesseeeleeleleleleeleeeleleleleelleelee tctctctcttctccccccccc ioooioioioioiooooionnnnnnnn ofoofofofoffofofooooofofofofofooof iiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnn-n--n-nn ssstttttsttttsttststtttsttssstststtsssttoooococccococococcooocockkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk papapapapaaapaapaapaaaapapapaaapppaapappaapaaaappapaapapaapppp rrrttttttrtrrtttrrrrttrrrrrtrtrrrttrtrrrtrttr sssssssssssssssssss ananananannannnannannnnnannanaanaa dddddddddddddddddddd tttthhhhhhhhhhthhhhhthhhhhthhtththttthhheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee xexeeexexexexxxxxxxxeexexxeexxxxexxexxxxxxxxexpppeeeeepepeeeeeeeeeepepeepepeeeppepeeepeeppepeepeepeppp rriirirrrrrirriiiieneneeneneneneeneneeneneeeneeeneeeneneenenenenenenencccccecececeeeececececceecececeeceeeceeeccceccccccccceccee nnnnnnnnnnnnnneeececcccccceececcceeeeecceeeccceceeccceccecececececcceeeeeeesesessesseessseseesesseesseeessesssesseessseesssssssssseese ssasaaaaaaaasasasaaaasaaaaaasaaaaasaaaaarryryyryryyryrrryryrrryryrryryryryryryyyyyyyyyy tttttttttttttttttooooooooooooooo eeeenneneenenennneneeenenenenenenennenenensssusususssussssussusssuss rerrrererrreeeeereeeerereeeeeeeeereeee yyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyoouuuuuououuooououoouououoouoouuouoooouuuooououuooouoouooooo rrrrrrererererereeererereererrerereeerrerrererrerrereerererreererereererrerreeeerreerererreeerreeerreeerrerreerererrreeerrreeeepaapppapapapaaaaaapppapppapapppppappapppppappppappppppppppppppppppapppppppapppppppappppppappppppppppppp irirrirriririiririrsssssssssssss prprprprprprprprprrprprrprrrprrppprrprpppppp oococococooocoooococococcooceeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee dddddddddddddd smsmsmsmsmsssmmmmmmmmsssmmsmsmsmmsssssssssssmooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooootttthhhhhhhhththhhhhhhhthhtththhthhhhhhhhthhtthhhthhhthhhhthhhllylyllyyyyyyyylyyllylyyylllylylllylylylllllyyylllyllylyyyyllyyllyllyllyylyyllyylylllyyyylyyyyyylyyylylyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy..........

Genuine Mitsubishi replacement Crash Parts are close at hand through thefollowing quality dealerships. They o!er exceptional customer service, wideselection of in-stock parts and the experience necessary to ensure yourrepairs proceed smoothly.

PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss yyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyooooooooooooooooooooooouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddd... PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeooooooooooooooopppppppppppppppppppppppppllllllleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee yyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu TTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrruuuuuuuuuuuuuuusssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttt...Parts you Need. People you Trust.

Order your Collision Repair Parts from one of these Crash Parts Specialists near you:

2010 Outlander

Don HerringMitsubishi - North

PLANO

800-548-3197(972) 490-0730 Fax#3 Volume Parts Dept.

in the Nation.$600,000 Inventory.

West Loop MitsubishiSAN ANTONIO

800-224-1968(210) 681-4583 FaxM-F 7:30 am - 6:00 pm#1 Volume Dealer in

All of [email protected]

TTEEXXAASS

with whatever you have today, but it getsmuch easier and better with the rightequipment.

We look at what they have already.You have a primer gun, a sealer gun, and aclear gun, but is it ready for tomorrow’sproduct? Is in good working condition?Just because it’s a good and relatively newgun, if you haven’t maintained it correctlyit might not be working well enough forthe new product. Now the EPA wants tomake sure that you have the right transferefficiency, and that’s important for bothshop profitability and the environment. Ifyou’re just starting with waterborne andyou don’t keep your equipment clean,you’re going to have much bigger prob-lems than you ever had with the solvent.

But guess what, if you do it right, andmaintain and adjust your equipment,things work better. The paint dries the wayit’s supposed to, your color match is cor-rect, and you’re right with the EPA, be-cause you kept your gun clean.

ABN ► So, that isn’t the product’s fault,it’s yours?Steve Treutel ◄ Yes. All of a suddenpainters are learning the hard way that theyneed to keep my gun cleaner than they

ever have before. You could have one ofour SATAjet 3000 (HVLP and RP) thatwe’ve had out for 3-4 years. If you boughtit then and you’ve never replaced the noz-zle set, it’s already worn out to some point,and then do you really have the right noz-zle set up or whatever you are going to bechanging to?

For waterborne I like to look at it a lit-tle differently. We do a true evaluation of ashop. Do we have enough air volume to runthe equipment you need. Do you haveenough to run the blowers. Are you plan-ning HVLP? But how much air does thattake? Are you doing overalls or just bumperjobs? Figure out the CFM required.

Then look at the quality of your air.Just because you got a lot of air doesn’tmean it’s clean enough. If you might haveoil droplets or oil vapors. This creates an-other contamination.

Is it breathable? Think about makingyour air breathable quality. Now we canlook at the guns—the difference betweenHVLP and RP technology is how much airdo they use?

If you don’t have enough air forHVLP, it doesn’t matter how good apainter you are. You’re never going to beable to get the same job that the paint com-pany training center will do.

Typically for HVLP we like to see15–18 CFM and 29 lbs pressure. For RPtechnology you’d be around 10 CFM,

about a third less air volume, which is themake or break point. For a shop that hasmaybe a 10 hp compressor serving threeprep people and a painter, you’re right onthe edge. At that point the RP might be thebetter choice. The quality can be main-tained even at the lower volume. That’swhy we have the two kinds of guns and theEPA has said that if you have the transferefficiency, you can maintain high qualityat the lower volume. Nothing wrong withthat.

If you have enough volume, HVLP isa good way to go because you have all theatomization, and shaping of the pattern,and drying with 10 pounds or less at the aircap. There is a lot of tooling done on anHVLP gun to get all that working. With RPtype technology you have a higher air cappressure,which does a lot of the work foryou so RP can actually work very nicelyfor you, especially if you don’t haveenough volume of air to run HVLP.

ABN ►Do all the large shops run, or pre-fer, HVLP?Steve Treutel ◄ No. It’s not always thelarge shops that are better off using HVLP.Sometimes they have so many painters andtechnicians running air tools that they’renot really able to run HVLP efficiently.Many large, and good, shops use RP.

With the paint companies doing moreconversions, they’re learning more about

where those lines are. They saw shops thatwere kind of right on the edge of not hav-ing enough air, and they allowed them totry it and they found out they don’t haveenough air.

I think we’re seeing our entire indus-try getting smarter about this. As paint com-panies continue to improve their products,you’re going to see different nozzle gener-ations, increased transfer efficiency andprobably even less air required. You need tohave guns that do the atomization, but thenalso have the increased transfer efficiencyso that the shops are still profitable.

Now the painters understand whythey need to do it. If you have a bit of timefor people to relax and listen to you. Edu-cation is becoming, once again, important.All the players are changing how they’redoing their training. They’re taking thetime to explain it.


Dan Am/SATA EPA

The training includes hands-on, in booth, demon-strations and tests.

See DAN AM/SATA EPA, Page 37


Genuine Nissan and Infiniti OEM Wholesale Parts are superbly crafted to strict quality standards. Use of genuine OEM Wholesale Parts is a shift in the right direction toward

trouble-free repairs and quicker turnaround. The following dealers proudly stock genuine parts. Call your local distributor today!

Shift into Genuine Nissan and Infiniti OEM PartsShift into Genuine Nissan and Infiniti OEM Parts

2010 Altima Coup

OKLAHOMA

Bob Moore InfinitiOKLAHOMA CITY

800-999-1447405-748-6091 FaxMon. - Fri. 7:30 - 6

[email protected]

TEXAS

Mossy NissanHOUSTON

888-268-7278281-496-9247 Fax#1 Nissan Wholesaler

in the Nation!

MISSISSIPPI

Gray DanielsNissan South

BRANDON

800-530-7989601-948-3050

601-985-3753 FaxMon. - Fri. 7:30 - 5:30

Sat. 8 - 2

Order your Genuine Mazda Parts from one of thesetrained crash parts specialists in your area:

Order your Genuine Mazda Parts from one of thesetrtrtrtraiaiaiainenenened d d d crcrcrcrasasasash h h h papapapapartrtrtrts s s s spspspspspececececiaiaiaialilililiststststs s s s inininin y y y y youououour r r r arararareaeaeaea::::

with genuine mazda parts.

Genuine Mazda parts are specifically designed, engineered and tested for Mazda vehicles.Customers and repair professionals prefer the quality and satisfaction that only comes from genuine Mazda parts.

Ingram Park Mazda6980 NW Loop 410San Antonio, TX

800-580-7278Direct 210-681-6018Fax 210-543-0739

Russell & Smith MazdaHouston, TX

800-392-1983Fax 713-664-0965Mon - Sat 7:[email protected]

Kinsel MazdaBeaumont, TX

800-454-6735Fax 409-923-5856

Give your customers what they deserve...The Best.

TEXAS

Mazda 3 2010

by Dustin Henggeler, NNL writerThis article is reprinted with the kind permissionof the Nodaway News Leader, Maryville, MO.

They don’t have desks or written tests totake each week, but you’d better believethese students are learning somethingeveryday. The new collision repair classat the Northwest Technical School [inMaryville, MO], taught by Ron Wieder-holt, gives the students just what theyneed to learn; hands-on experience onreal vehicles.

“What’s so great about this type ofwork is that you’re not working on an as-sembly line, doing the same thing every-day,” said Wiederholt. “You face a newproject every day. Even if it’s the samespot on a vehicle, you will need to do dif-ferent types of repairs in order to get a carlooking new again.”

From fender benders to completerestoration of older cars, Wiederholt’s stu-dents never see the exact same project twiceand are always kept busy. Students come tothe class from as far away as Mound City,Craig/Fairfax and North Andrew, or asclose to home as Northeast Nodaway andMaryville. Adults are welcome to take theclass, too; in fact, two are currently in theclass: one is 63 years old, proof that it’snever too late to learn or pick up a hobby.

Completely needing restored, oneof Wiederholt’s own muscle cars is aproject many of the students are work-ing on with hopes that it will be finished

by the end of the school year. Earlier inthe year, the students also completelyrebuilt a military vehicle that is nowbeing used by local volunteer firefight-ers. And on top of just repairing cars,the students are also constructing andpainting vehicles that they give awayfor those who cannot afford a fully-op-erational car.

Having owned his own auto-bodyshop for 10 years, Wiederholt knows theimportance of keeping up with the timesand does his best to offer these new tech-niques to his class. Learning about thecare and repair of hybrid vehicles issomething his class takes part in, keepingtheir expertise on anything from oldschool to cutting edge.

“The kids in here aren’t your typicalstudents who enjoy science or math, but

enjoy the hands-on experience,” Wieder-holt commented. “When I show themsomething new in here, they’re alwayswide-eyed and ready to learn.”

Though his class can handle 30 stu-dents, Wiederholt has only 15, but theplan is for more students next fall. Andsince this is his first year of offering theclass, it’s hard to say where his studentswill be after graduation. Wiederholtknows that some of his students plan tocome back next year, even if it’s post-sec-ondary. The collision repair curriculum isa two-year program, so future studentsmay plan to take it their junior year if theschool district allows.

Collision repair, a field that couldonly become extinct when we don’t usecars, will be a growth area. Wiederholtmakes sure his students learn everythingfrom the basics of the shop to the varioustechniques any repair project requires ofa Mr./Mrs. Fix-it.

“I make sure that the students knowthat a clean shop is the most importantthing in terms of safety,” said Wiederholt.“I also give them new project partnerseveryday so they can get used to workingwith new people all the time. Studentsneed to know how to work safe as part ofa team, keeping the work area clean andsafe as well.”

Collision Repair Students are Well-Prepared for the Real World CollisionBuilder.com ProvidesFree Websites to AssociationsCollisionBuilder.com, in an effort to im-prove communication throughout the in-dustry, is now offering free websites forcollision repair associations. Any and allrecognized collision repair associationsare eligible. Domain registration, hosting,and monthly maintenance are included.

“As an industry, we need to moveforward with our utilization of communi-cation tools,” said David Moore, presi-dent, CollisionBuilder.com. “The weboffers us the opportunity to get our mes-sage out locally and nationally. We can nolonger sit on the sidelines hoping thingswill get better, we have to get involved.”The website consists of a home page,about us page, contact us page and a cur-rent news page. The website’s contentwill be editable using Collision-Builder.com’s EZ Edit feature. This willenable the association to inform membersof current news and events and to keeptheir website updated. Additionally,Moore is offering free consultation/in-structions on how collision repair associ-ations can utilize Facebook and Twitteraccounts to improve member communi-cation. CollisionBuilder.com designs anddevelops websites for the collision repairindustry; offering both custom and pre-designed packages. Visit www.collision-builder.com, and contact David Moore.

As a result of these studies, the AutoBody PartsAssociation (ABPA), who rep-resents more than 150 manufacturers, dis-tributors and suppliers of aftermarket crashparts, has taken what SCRS views as a re-sponsible first step, stating to their mem-bers that if sufficient testing is notavailable they recommend “discontinua-tion of the production and sale of these parttypes as well as immediate notification tothe estimating systems to eliminate theseparts from their database.”

These studies were performed after re-ceipt of concerns from various members’shops that there has been an increase in uti-lization of these aftermarket structural re-placement parts in the claims settlementpractices of certain insurance carriers.SCRS urges the collision repair industry tounderstand the magnitude of this issue, andto heed warning as well. SCRS recom-mends that collision repair professionalsuse exceptional caution when performingrepairs to consumers vehicles, and to onlyuse parts that will perform with the sameexpectation of quality and safety, both uponinstallation, and for the life of the vehicle.SCRS also recommends that repair facili-ties understand the liability associated withutilization of inferior parts, and to avoid

being unduly influenced to utilize any re-placement part that has not undergonecredible independent testing to ensure itmeets quality and safety based standards.

“This is a serious issue, that has notreceived enough attention from the indus-try in the past,” reiterated Chess. “Theseparts are critically affecting the structuraldesign of a vehicle in its post-repair state.I think the ABPA has shown their leader-ship through their release, and we need tohold their members, the people and organ-izations that manufacture and supply theseparts, accountable for the quality andsafety of their product. The OEMs put a lotof money into research and developmentto ensure that the end product operates re-acts and sustains damage in very specificway.Any replacement part made availableto the market should be required to havethat same expectation of performance.”

“This issue is concerning on so manylevels,” stated SCRS Executive DirectorAaron Schulenburg. “Obviously our mem-bers have to understand the liability impli-cations they have when making criticalrepair decisions such as part selection. Theproblem with many of these parts is that avisual inspection at the shop level oftencan’t uncover significant differences, likematerial or alloy variances. We can’t visu-ally see the difference in weight, or thatone part is .25 mm thinner than another;especially when the two aren’t side by side

for comparison. It should also not be theresponsibility of the shop to make a deter-mination on which part is equivalent, ornot. If it is not quality, if it is not safe, itshouldn’t even make its way to the market;but they are. We have too many examples,even with current internal ‘quality assur-ance programs’ in place, that they arebeing manufactured, sold, and utilized, de-spite not meeting the most basic of re-quirements such as material composition.”

“Most importantly, there has to be away to address the individuals who alreadyhave parts that have now been deemed ‘in-ferior’ on their vehicle. It is not enough toaccept that suppliers will deal with theissue on case by case bases if, or when,there is a problem. If the process and infra-structure are not in place, to support theability to notify consumers when a problemhas been identified, then we need to signif-icantly fix that infrastructure before moreparts are sold. If there is a parts problemgenerated from the OEM, there is an elab-orate recall process in place. Every con-sumer is notified and their vehicle iscorrected. These critical safety parts shouldnot be treated with any less urgency. This isan issue that requires a proactive solution,rather than reactive; the motoring publicdeserves more,” Schulenburg added.

SCRS has made the presentations pre-pared by Chess available on their websiteat www.scrs.com. We encourage every

member of the industry to ensure you arefamiliarized with this issue. It is importantfor the repair industry to understand thesubject matter, and it is also SCRS’ hopethat the insurance industry will exhibitequal concern over the seriousness of anissue that impact both industries, and thecustomer base we each serve. This willcontinue to be an area of significant focusfor the association in the upcoming year,and will continue to share information onthe subject as it develops.

ABN ► How do you see waterbornemoving across the country. Is it smoothand uniform or is it patchy?Steve Treutel ◄ It’s a little bit patchy.Some companies have especially moti-vated regional people who are moving ag-gressively, and pushing hard for it. Therate of conversions in Texas percentage-wise, is actually quite high. In the trainingcenters that’s what they’re teaching inTexas.

If you combine how EPA and water-borne is working hand in hand, it’s a greatopportunity for everybody. Some peopleare just old school, and they’re not goin towant to change. One day, we’re going tolook back at this and say “that was huge.”


OKLAHOMATEXAS

BoardwalkVolkswagenRICHARDSON

11--880000--777777--99004477FAX: 214-453-5055www.vwoncentral.com

MetroVolkswagen Inc.

IRVING11--880000--552277--77228877FAX: [email protected]

Brian Ellis

CableVolkswagen

OKLAHOMA CITY11--880000--552222--66779933FAX: 405-789-3317

We want to be your source for Real Volkswagen Parts.

Want everyjob to be a bang-up job?

With your skill and our parts,every collision repair will be abang-up job. And that will addup to more repeat business forboth of us. Call your order intoday.

These dealers are Genuine VWParts wholesale specialists.

Verso ‘10

Sterling McCall ToyotaHOUSTON

800-231-1440713-270-3942 Fax

Monday - Friday 7am - 7pmSaturday 7am - 4pm

These Dealers are Genuine Wholesale Parts Specialists.

TTEEXXAASS

Freeman Toyota ScionHURST

888-628-7626817-287-5349 Fax

Mon. - Fri. 7am - 7pm; Sat. 8am - [email protected]

www.freemantoyota.com


Aftermarket Parts


Dan Am/SATA EPA


Order Genuine Honda and Acura Partsfrom the following dealerships.from the following dealersh

i

‘09 Acura TSX

rtsrts

‘09 Honda Accord

The Collision Parts that Fit the Best

They’re here to serve yourcollision parts needs!

David McDavid AcuraAustin

800-575-3553512-401-5976

512-401-5988 FaxM-F 7-7 • Sat 8-5

[email protected]

TEXASSan Tan Honda

SuperstoreChandler

800-765-1353480-289-2377 FaxM-F 7-6 • Sat 7-5

[email protected] delivery to most of

New Mexico and El Paso, TX.

ARIZONA

Genuine Parts And Accessories

Making the cheap parts work takes R&R — and they don'tpay you for that. So insist on using genuine Suzuki parts inthe first place.It's good for both your customer and your business.Get your parts from the crash parts specialists.

Texas OklahomaFerguson AdvantageImportsBROKEN ARROW

800-880-8815(918) 317-6280 Fax

Cavender SuzukiSAN ANTONIO

800-985-7275(210) 490-7160 FaxHours: 7:30-6:[email protected]

Celebrities can make great customers forcollision repair centers, with frequentcrashes in their cars and clashes with thepaparazzi chasing them.

In their honor, CARSTAR CollisionCenters, the nation’s largest chain of colli-sion repair experts, are kicking off the in-augural CARSTAR’DAwards to recognizethe top of the charts in dings, dents, crashesand collisions. And the winners are.....

10. Nicole Richie: On October 5, 2009 apaparazzo rear-ended her car and causedher to have to go to the hospital for obser-vation in Beverly Hills, Calif. (TMZ)

9. Michael Jackson and family: TheJackson clan made the list twice in 2009,first when MJ’s kids Prince Michael, Parisand Prince Michael II were driving withtheir nanny Grace Rwaramba in Encino,LosAngeles on October 21, and a photog-rapher rammed their security vehicle, andsecond with a hit-and-run incident with aphotographer in London on October 23,2009. (ANI)

8. LeAnn Rimes: Rimes was questionedby the Los Angeles Police Departmentover her possible involvement in a hit andrun car accidentAugust 20, 2009, in Brent-wood, Calif. Rimes reportedly rear-ended

a car that was stopped in the left turn lane.There were no injuries and minor damageto the cars. She also had a run-in with a se-curity golf cart at The Commons in Cal-abasas, Calif., on December 4, 2009.(TMZ)

7. Anne Hathaway: The Devil WearsPrada star was involved in a car collision inLA on December 17, 2009. The star’sboyfriend Adam Shulman was driving thecar when he collidedwith a bicycle onSanta Monica Boule-vard in Hollywood.(RadarOnline)

6. Renée Zellweger: Zellweger was in acar accident in Beverly Hills onAugust 31,2009. The actress was fine and there wereno injuries—her car was towed away fromthe scene. One of the headlights fromRenée’s car was shattered and one of thecars lost a license plate in the smash.(TMZ)

5. Olympic medalistMichael Phelps: Bet-ter in water than behind the wheel, Phelpswas involved in a three-car accident in Bal-timore onAugust 13, 2009. Phelps was notinjured, but a woman in the other car wasshaken up and taken to a local hospital, due

to “head and arm pain.” (TMZ)

4. Lawrence Taylor: The NFL legend hadan illegal tackle with hit-and-run on No-vember 9, 2009, allegedly ramming his Es-calade into a 1984 Ford van two separatetimes before driving off. (TMZ)

3. George Michael: The singer was in-volved in a car collision August 14, 2009,in London. In a statement released Aug.

15, Michael claimedthat statements bythe driver thatMichael appeared“dazed” after the ac-

cident and had been “weaving all over theplace” before crashing were false.

2. Weezer: While on the way to Bostonvia Toronto on December 7, 2009,Weezer’s bus slid off the road just out-side of Albany, NY, after hitting a patchof ice. Lead singer Rivers Cuomo wasquickly transferred to the hospital.Drummer Josh Freese explained on Twit-ter that there are “some injuries, buteveryone’s alive and in one piece.”(PerezHilton.com)

And the leading celebrity car crash of 2009made headlines around the world......

1. Tiger Woods: The world’s number onegolfer was injured early Friday, November30, 2009 when he lost control of his SUVoutside his Florida mansion. A local policechief said Woods’ wife used a golf club tosmash out the back window to help get himout. Tiger took the blame for an “embar-rassing” car crash that gave him cuts, bruisesand public scrutiny like never before. Soonafter, news of Woods’ having over 12 al-leged mistresses came out. (Perezhilton).

I guess he didn’t think to blame it onunintended acceleration. —Ed.

Surprisingly absent from the 2009 listare top contenders Brittany Spears andLindsey Lohan, who have earned spots onthe CARSTAR’DAll-Star list for their pastvehicular performances.

CARSTAR Collision Centers Toasts Top Celebrity Car Crashes, 2009

EPAhas tightened the one-hour standardfor measuring emissions of nitrogendioxide (NO2), but left the annual stan-dard unchanged. The long-term exposureremains at a maximum of 53 parts perbillion (ppb) while an acceptable short-term exposure limit is now 100 parts perbillion. Short-term concentrations ofNO2 were previously allowed to rangefrom 100–200 ppb.

EPA Sets New NO2 Standard

they’ve got 40 grit to 3000 grit sandpaperyou can use. It’s all good for wet sanding.The blocks will take you from A to Zprocesses. They’re a great tool to add to yourcollection; not for everything you do, butthey’re a great tool to have in your arsenalfor time-saving and better quality. Every jobis different every job is a different panel thatneeds to be sanded so these are a great prod-uct to complement the rest of your toolbox.They’ve saved me a lot of time and money.They pay for themselves on the first job Iused them on. I also just found out that PPG

has adopted them for their training pro-grams, which is a great endorsement.

We’ll talk about the color sanding stepsand procedures next month along with thedelivery of the car. And we’ll see where thisproject goes on tour and see how manythousands of people will put their eyes on it.You always want to make sure that you keepyour quality high and have a good product.

I don’t use or endorse anything I don’tbelieve in. I always thank my sponsors. I can-not create or build cars without them. Thanksto Chicago Pneumatic™ for my pneumatictools. MicroFlex™ for the safety of the latexgloves that they provide. I want to thankShoot Suits for providing a comfortable safetysuit. Quick Cut Sanders for providing a tool

that is a very efficient product which is wellthought out. House of Kolor for putting outsuch great products. I want to thank TranStarfor such a great topcoat. I look forward to try-ing out some of their new products will bewriting more about those in future. I alsowant to thank 3M for all the support they’vegiven me over the years and the great prod-ucts that they keep coming out with.

Rides of Rich Evans—iPhone AppI have a new free iPhone app game calledRides of Rich Evans that you can downloadthrough iTunes. It’s a fun app. Try to beatthe game. You can google ‘Rich Evans’ or‘Rides of Rich Evans’ to learn more. I’m al-ways trying to put something new out there

and this app showcases a good selection ofabout 80 different vehicles I’ve done. Itshows some diversity, but isn’t everything.We’ll probably add hundreds of more carsto this game over time. It’s also a learningapp to recognize makes, models, and modelyears of different projects that came throughmy shop.


To advertise, call800-699-8251

8’ x 8’ x 20’ Powder Oven

$18,995Order Now At888-770-0021

Distributors Wanted

9’ x 14’ x 26’ Paint Booth

$5,975Free Crating

On All Orders!

» Reduce Cycle Times» Repair More Cars» Improved Repair Technique

* Ram & Pump Not Included

(916) 316.3672 www.therailsaver.com Patent Pend.

Advertise in our CLASSIFIED SECTIONfor $50 per column inch!

Call or e-mail now for rates:

[email protected]

Place an ad in ourAutobody Marketplace section of Autobody News.

AUTOBODY MARKETPLACE

SHURETECH® Bench SystemShure Manufacturing Corporation’s SHURETECH®

Bench System is a modular and versatile systemthat can meet the workbench and tool storage re-quirements for any shop environment. Shure hasvarious pre-configured workstations available indouble bay (16’ length) or single bay (8’ length)configurations. Customers can also design theirindividual SHURETECH® workstation by selectingindividual components and adding additionalmatching shop equipment available from Shure.

SHURE MANUFACTURING CORP.See the SHURETECH® Bench System atwww.shureusa.com or call 1-800-227-4873.

WWHHEEEELLSS AAMMEERRIICCAANine Locations in the USA!

888-4-FIX-RIM$109 to repair with this ad

wwwwww.. ff ii xxrr iimm ..ccoomm

• Thousands of OEM Remanufactured Wheels in Stock• Lifetime Guarantee• CNC Quality• Powder Coated

102

Magna-TracPATENT PENDING

Go to www.magna-trac.com

If you’re usingWaterborne Paint...

WHAT YOU’RE DOING

FREE Air Drier Gunwith Purchase!

- Click on Product Demo- Scroll Down & Click on View Video


Shelby Part Two

OKLAHOMABob Moore Kia

Oklahoma City800-654-3987(405) 749-6011

(405) 749-6069 FaxM-F 7:30-6:00, Sat 8:00-4:[email protected]

Cable KiaOklahoma City

Wats (866) 751-1055(405) 787-6582

(405) 789-8500 Fax

Ferguson AdvantageImportsBroken Arrow

800-880-8815(918) 317-6280 Fax

Open M-F 7:00am - 6:00pm

LOUISIANAAll-Star Kia

AlexandriaHours: M-F 7:30-5:30Sat 8:00-2:00 CST

(318) 445-1486(318) 448-1828 Fax

Kia of Baton RougeBaton Rouge

5740 Siegen Lane(225) 490-8000(225) 490-8014 Fax

TEXASArcher Kia

Houston1-888-983-1425(281) 983-1437 Fax

Capitol Kia13573 North US Hwy 183

Austin(512) 583-1900(512) 583-1899 Fax7:30am - 6:00pm M-F

Central KiaIrving

(972) 257-7602(972) 257-7650 Fax

M-F 7:30-7:00, Sat 8:00-5:00

Central KiaPlano

(972) 422-9320(972) 633-5761 FaxM-F 7:30am - 7:00pmSat 8:00am - 5:00pm

De Montrond KiaHouston

Wats 1-800-392-6704(281) 872-3909

(281) 872-3914 Fax

Fredy KiaHouston

Toll Free 800-883-1933Direct (713) 941-3600(713) 947-8053 Fax7:00am - 6:00pm M-F

7:00am - 12:00 Noon SatFree local delivery Free DSI shipping

Huffines Kia DentonDenton

940-321-2504(940) 497-2920 Fax

M-F 7:00-7:00, Sat 8:00-5:00Local Delivery Available

www.Huffines.net

Huffines Kia McKinneyMcKinney

469-525-4450(469) 525-4459 Fax

M-F 7:00-7:00, Sat 8:00-5:00Local Delivery Available

www.Huffines.net

Moritz KiaHurst

(877) 651-4542(817) 595-8325 Fax

Southwest Kia39650 LBJ Freeway South

DallasToll Free 888-544-9249

Direct (972) 616-0069(972) 421-0294 Fax

M-F 7:30-6:00, Sat 8:30-5:00

Your customers want safety on the road. When it comes to repair work, everyone wins when you use Kia Genuine Parts. High quality,precision fit and backed by the Kia name. Your customers are too

important to risk. Choose Kia.

You want to provide fast, reliable repairs.

Kia Genuine PartsValue Never Looked

So Good

Go to wwwwww..iiaaeesstt..ccoomm//eeCCEEGGmmii//KKiiaa..aassppxx and choose fromhundreds of Genuine Kia Parts in our Wholesale CollisionParts Guide. It couldn't be easier.