Computer-Assisted Alignment
Hardware-driven alignment gear has been around since the ’70s and has simplified wheel alignment quite a bit for operators.
A Well-Rounded Painter
If your customer-service index is high and your marketing efforts are giving your shop a healthy backlog of work, you know that what happens when vehicles reach your paint
department is critical to your continued success. And what goes on in your paint department is highly dependent upon the quality.
of painters you employ.
Small-Business Administration Loans
Ask 10 body shop owners to tell you the most frustrating aspect of running their businesses, and eight of them will probably name the area of financing. It’s no secret that obtaining adequate funding to meet day-to-day needs for working capital, equipment and facilities poses a major challenge.
Car Mending On A Mega Scale
Name: Chesrown Collision Center Location: Denver, Colo. Owner: The Chesrown Automotive Group and Republic Auto Nation Group Established: 1987 Square Footage: 60,000 (total); 20,000 (body shop and mechanical shop) Number of Employees: 63 (total); 27 (body and paint) Repair Volume: 350 cars per month (collision only) Average Repair Ticket: $2,000 (collision) Ever wonder what it’d
Strategic Partnerships
No business exists in a vacuum, least of all a collision repair shop.
Tool Time: Common Hand Tools
Can you imagine finishing a weld with a file and emery cloth or sandpaper? Can you imagine prepping a panel for plastic filler with a piece of sandpaper powered only by elbow
grease? Can you imagine removing 25 different types of screws and bolts with a socket and a screwdriver – again, powered by
only elbow grease?
A Crash Course on Retrofits
As a collision repair specialist, air-conditioning service is part of your job. When your customers bring in their cars for repairs, you want to offer them all the services required.
More Than an Estimate
It used to be so easy to write an estimate. Easy, that is, until the ARMS people announced to the country: "A customer doesn’t need an estimate. The customer is in pain and wants his vehicle made whole again." This tiny piece of information had a huge – and dramatic – effect on many leading
A Model of Success: A 1:24 Collection!
Lee Stone began collecting cars nearly two years ago – everything from a Ford Model T to a ’56 Ford Pickup to the newly designed 1994 Mustang – and the collection is now pushing 30 vehicles.
Ask the Executives
There’s no better place to go for advice than to those who’ve reached the top. To help you climb your ladder of success, we asked Clark Plucinski and Russell Verona – both industry leaders and BodyShop Business Executives of the Year – questions ranging
from productivity to customer relations to future trends: