Digital Dealer - February 2020 - 17

discussed was that body shops will soon
need an "electriﬁcation technician" as well
as the mechanical technicians they need
now, as vehicles become more and more
dependent on electrical-related systems
including battery powered motors.

Repair Planning - Execution
Mr. Rodenroth explained that body shops
do not recognize when ADAS training
needs to be done, including windshield
camera calibrations; there is no plug and
play, and this information will have to be
determined - what will need to be calibrated upfront to calculate the amount
of money it will cost for repairs. "There is
a 30 percent failure rate of ADAS now on
repaired vehicles and a 50 percent failure
on bumper cover cameras." (I found those
ﬁgures shocking)
Audience: How do we recognize when
calibration is needed? We want to plan,
but getting the information is difﬁcult. Mr.
Craig replied, "This is the pain, and it takes
months doing research until it becomes
known, it takes this and even some specialization. Some shops are just focusing on
one brand as a result."
The most critical part of ADAS is ﬁnding
the centerline ... have to look up blind spot
monitoring replacement and what it takes
to validate testing, and the results need to
be documented during the road test. All of
this requires proper research.
Audience: I'm a shop owner and tech,
and I have adjustor training. We have to
pay our people and the message we are
getting is that we have to spend a lot more
time that we don't get paid for. We are
working for free. These extra tasks have to
get paid, including reading and signing off
by techs. We have to charge for this time;
we are mini-claims adjustors. The insurers
have no bad faith when they cheat a body
shop. Until the industry changes to pay for
all the extras we work for free - calling out
an obviously exasperated message.
The panel agreed that if it takes two
hours of research, the body shop should
get paid. They suggested that customer education is very important, beginning with
the estimate and what it will take.
Mr. Rodenroth: Our company is
ﬁghting the cost ﬁght every day. We have

February 2020

" ...and we are
getting pressure
about what our
services cost. We
have to explain and
show exactly what
we have to do and
the equipment we
have to use. "

of the procedures and a screen shot of the
OE tool measurements for the ﬁle. Pictures
as the vehicle is being tested validate the
process, a fuel receipt, and before and after
alignment specs are items which support
costs to be recouped.
Mr. Logan: I went to a meeting where
we noted how the mechanical side is now a
major part of body repair too, and some of
the information needed is found in mechanical service manuals - passenger seats are
an example. It was suggested that copies of
this kind of information should be included
in repair documentation to justify the time
and related fees.

Relationships

to purchase ﬁrst-rate equipment because
some Aftermarket tools don't work properly. We have assigned work teams based on
European, Asian, and American vehicles,
and we are getting pressure about what
our services cost. We have to explain and
show exactly what we have to do and the
equipment we have to use.
"We had a German car we can't get the
ADAS set using our $30K worth of tools
... the scan tool was giving us a wrong
direction. It turned out the aftermarket
windshield didn't work with the vehicle's system. The fuel level makes a big
difference too. We had to ﬁll up an Inﬁniti
to make a proper alignment, and insurance
has to be educated to these types of facts
to get paid."
He further explained, "Each brand has
its own steps even though they may have
the same parts and you are responsible for
proper calculations." Mr. Bartanen added,
"Six tenths of a degree created a collision.
Today repairs have to be perfect."
The panel explained that DTCs (Diagnostic Trouble Codes) are not the answer.
It's important to take a picture of where
the ADAS is being performed. Example:
The space cannot have metal near the
ADAS check area, and getting a cheap
ADAS price means you probably aren't
getting a proper job.
Body personnel have to get a printout

Panel: There are thousands of books and
training classes to learn to negotiate but
for what? The bottom line is there is an
issue because people get upset. Completely
documenting what the repair requires (with
some give and take) is most important. Take
the time to check every car bumper cover for
example and when it's ﬁxable do it, it helps
negotiation. Show that you are studying and
on top of what can and has be done - the
straightforward message was clearly for the
body personnel to be the knowledgeable
ones.

Overview
I sat beside a Southern California estimator
representing a major insurance company
in another session. Since we both attended
this round, I asked him what his take was
on the workshop. He agreed that the more
information provided to him, the more he
was able to justify paying. He admitted that
some shops get less for the same job due to
poor documentation habits. His employment challenge was that he was measured
against other estimators in the company as
far as average estimate pricing. He did note
that he was often estimating high-end expensive cars in a tall labor rate arena which
didn't seem fair. "The front bumper on some
of my cars costs more than an estimate for a
20MPH frontend Honda accident." I thought
that his comments summed it up clearly in
an often-muddy industry.
To submit article feedback, questions or topic
suggestions, email magazine@digitaldealer.com

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Digital Dealer - February 2020

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