NABR announced the launch of the Honolulu VRS Labor Rate Survey, sponsored by the Automotive Body & Painting Association of Hawaii (ABPAH).
The online survey is free for all Hawaii collision repairers and can be found on the NABR website.
The VRS Labor Rate Survey provides collision repairers with an independent, third-party survey of labor rate data for all of Honolulu County (the island of Oahu). The VRS reports the true, market-based labor rate ranges throughout the area, based on shops’ actual prices, not on an artificially defined single prevailing rate for all shops.
“The insurance industry has always reimbursed customers for the ‘prevailing’ or average shop rate,” said Van Takemoto, ABPAH board member and owner of Island Fender in Honolulu. “But with today’s complex vehicles, you need shops that have invested in the equipment and technical training to become certified repairers. These are not average shops, they are best-in-class repair facilities.
“The Variable Rate System labor rate survey enables labor rate comparisons among similar types of facilities, not merely computing an average of lower rates and higher rates. Customers deserve and are entitled to have their vehicle repaired to the manufacturer’s specifications by best-in-class repair facilities and to get properly reimbursed. With today’s high-tech vehicles, average is just not good enough.”
Sam Valenzuela, president of NABR, added, “All collision repairers are not alike. Shops that make huge investments in training, certifications and state-of-the-art equipment deserve to get paid accordingly with sufficiently profitable labor rates. The VRS reveals that market prices for high-line collision repair facilities are higher than other facilities that don’t make these investments. In addition, other repairers who aspire to become better trained, certified and equipped are now more enabled to do so, because the VRS can help them earn the rates and ROI they need to grow and prosper.”
Hawaii now becomes the 15th state to launch the VRS Labor Rate Survey, joining other states currently running the VRS Survey including Arkansas, Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Texas and Utah.
To see the Variable Rate System, any collision repair owner or general manager can request a free, no-obligation demo.
