Better Safe Than Liable: Check the Safety Features
Hurried techs sometimes forget to – or just simply don’t – check the safety features on a collision-damaged vehicle. But being rushed is no excuse.
Scolded by Grandma
You’re better off assuming your customers are car experts rather than car-ignorant. One shop manager learned this valuable lesson from a little old lady who knew her vehicle all too well.
Damaged Goods
Fact: Consumers won’t pay as much for a vehicle that’s been wrecked and repaired as they will for a vehicle that’s never been in an accident. This market condition – or stigma as some like to call it – diminishes the vehicle in value, regardless of how expertly repaired it may have been.
Inherent DV: One Man’s Disbelief
I truly don’t believe that a properly repaired auto is worth less by virtue of the fact that it’s been repaired. It’s not that black and white. How many times have you repaired a vehicle back to pre-accident condition – and then some – and said to yourself, “That wreck was the best thing that ever happened to that car”?
Is the Industry Suffering from Widespread Billing Fraud and Repair Defects
Editor’s Note: Some background: In 2000, California’s Department of Consumer Affairs, Bureau of Automotive Repair (BAR) launched an Autobody Inspection Program after Gov. Gray Davis signed legislation (2000-S.B. 1988) requiring the BAR to conduct a pilot program to determine the extent of autobody fraud in the state and to then recommend solutions to the legislature.
Don’t Be Another Face in the Crowd
“How can I make a higher profit margin in the body shop as the insurance companies are paying less and less?” – John Thompson, shop manager, Fix Auto Mall, Auburn, N.Y. There are only two ways to increase gross profit on a given sales volume. The first is to increase your bottom line, i.e. charge
You Choose, You Lose?
“Why don’t insurance companies offer two different policies? If they had an OEM parts policy and an A/M parts policy, consumers could choose which one they wanted and when they wrecked, they couldn’t say anything about using A/M parts since they chose that policy. Wouldn’t this solve a lot of problems for collision repairers?” –
Can Your Shop Withstand the Scrutiny?
Shops producing poor quality repairs?
Save a Buck… Pass the Buck?
As the market demands cheaper, faster, better repairs, the concept of “better” can often be forgotten. But who decides what’s acceptable in terms of repair quality? And how close is close enough?
Insurer-Relations Profile: DRP Arrangements
From DRPs to parts usage to insurers in general, you tell it like it is.