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Love (to Undercut) Thy Neighbor
“It seems like shops are more obsessed with competing than with working and sticking together, so how will we ever better the industry for ourselves?” – Dennis Terry, technician, Hilltop Auto, Cabot, Ariz. The fact that insurers work so hard to control the consumer explains one of the reasons why shops don’t “stick” together. Shops
Profitable by Popular Demand
Shops upselling their owners on accessories.
A Jump in Profits
Would you like to know how a Michigan body shop owner’s 8-year-old son doubled the facility’s profits? Here’s a hint. It involved a ramp, nine cars, a motorbike and “Ripley’s Believe It or Not.”
Labor Guides Aren’t Your Boss!
Who performs, oversees and approves the labor time standards? Why are they done on clean, undamaged? Who replaces clean and undamaged? When will labor time standards reflect life and not a sterile lab?” – Tom Ferguson, body shop manager, Thoroughbred Ford, Kansas City, Mo.
Associations: Time to Join or a Waste of Time?
Opinions vary regarding the repair industry’s national associations, but one thing is certain: The industry has a wide range of national associations, each with differing beliefs, views and goals. Our examination of the industry’s national groups may help you decide if one coincides with your own convictions
Consent Decree: Enforceable or Forgetable?
In 1963, 265 insurers signed a Consent Decree drafted by the U.S. Justice Department and Attorney General Robert Kennedy. By signing, they agreed to abide by the Decree’s terms: no more demanding discounts, setting hourly rates, boycotting repair shops and using specific appraisers. It’s still a binding agreement today … but will it ever be enforced?
Price Fixing or Price Negotiating
“Why do insurance companies control a shop’s labor rates? Isn’t this price fixing?” –– Ron Humphress, former parts manager, Good News Auto Body Shop, Salisbury, Md. Black Law Dictionary, 7th Edition, defines price fixing as an “artificial setting or maintenance of prices at a certain level contrary to the workings of the free market.” Price
In Court with State Farm
The trial against State Farm for its usage of aftermarket crash parts is underway. Since you can’t be there in the courtroom, we’re doing the next best thing: bringing the courtroom to you.
Repairing the Crash-Parts Market
The situation with replacement crash parts may be a bit of a wreck, but it’s not a total loss. What’s considered a pile of unwanted sheet metal and plastic by many repairers could be turned into a more favorable and profitable alternative to OE parts — if the industry can quit complaining and learn to communicate.