Car Quarter Panel Installation
There are instances when using a used quarter makes sense – but only when we’re getting paid for all the necessary prep time involved.
Itemizing Estimates: Where Do We STOP?
If you’ve been involved in this industry as long as (or longer than) I have, you may still remember the days when handwritten estimates were a way of life and computers and computerized estimating systems were still just Buck Rogers science fiction. Since estimates were handwritten back then, they were often as few lines as
Legislation and Intrigue in Illinois
It’s not easy getting laws passed that help consumers (and collision repairers) – especially when people in your own industry set out to sabotage your efforts.
Disposable Cars?
More repair-friendly vehicles don’t appear to be in our future, equating to fewer vehicles being repairable and those that aren’t totaled costing more to repair.
Can This Salvage Law Be Salvaged?
Before rubber-stamping Missouri’s much-touted salvage law as model legislation, we need to examine how it’s established a benchmark for insurers that didn’t exist before — and costing shops business.
Want $10 More Per RO?
If you’re not invoicing for paint and materials, you’re giving away
THOUSANDS of dollars each year.
Leader of the Band: Jim Keller
Shop owner Jim Keller talks about retiring from rock-n-roll, picking up the pieces after a failed merger and lauching a shop network.
Write Better Estimates
The estimate is the most important aspect of our business process. If an estimate is poorly written, it can wreak havoc on your shop and cost you a boatload of cash.
Managing Customer Expectations
Use this repair timeline to educate customers about the repair process
Got Friction? Metal Department vs. Paint Department
One of the longest-running battles within a collision repair facility is the one between the metal department and paint department. And in some of the shops I’ve worked with throughout the world, it had escalated past a battle – it was more like a civil war going on between these two main production departments. Each