Northside Collision Paint & Body Inc. in San Antonio, TX, was established in 2001, when Mark Gutierrez - a longtime Allstate agent with no collision repair experience - purchased a small body shop, determined to set a higher standard for collision repair in the area.

You know how much hard work it takes to get customers’ vehicles back on the road safely. When it comes to maximizing your return, it pays to know how often other shops across the country are being reimbursed by the insurers for the same procedures.

Luckily, the results of the latest Who Pays for What? survey do just that, providing a goldmine of valuable information that could directly improve your bottom line.

2022 FenderBender Award winner Mike Schoonover

Mike Schoonover, owner/operator of Schoonover Bodyworks & Glass in Shoreview, Minn., is the winner of the 2022 FenderBender Award for the “Finest in Collision Repair,” an honor he describes as “Very humbling, and also very cool.” In addition to being a loyal ALLDATA customer for more than 15 years, Schoonover attributes his shop’s success to always focusing on what’s right for the customer, always doing high-quality work, and always providing great customer service.

The countdown is on to the 2022 SEMA Show and there’s plenty to be excited about! Whether you’re a loyal customer or just kicking the tires, stop by ALLDATA Booth #31067 to say hello! Catch up on our latest enhancements and get a hands-on look at our industry-leading OEM repair information products, diagnostic tools, and shop management software. And of course, score the best deals of the year!  

A successful repair starts with the right parts, the right training, the proper equipment and an understanding of the latest repair procedures. As vehicles on the road today become more and more sophisticated with advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), lidar-based autonomous driving systems, and other new technology, the proper OEM repair and calibration procedures have become ever more ...

College collision repair department heads and a recent graduate say the industry as a whole needs to get behind pulling kids’ interest to the skills it takes to become technicians at younger ages.

And that’s just what Metropolitan Community College (MCC) in Omaha, Nebraska is doing through its summer camps focused on kids ages 10-12, called “College for Kids,” and “College for Teens” for ages 14-17. The first group of 10-12-year-olds spent a day last week learning about the uses of and differences between rigid and flexible foam with an I-CAR frame rail demonstration. They also learned about tools used in collision repair. The same topics will be covered with a second group this week.

Last month, we reported on results from the Who Pays for What? survey by Collision Advice and CRASH Network that showed the use of OEM information on the rise and ALLDATA’s continued dominance (73.4%) as the #1 choice for that essential repair information. Now let’s see what collision shop owners and techs had to say pre- and post-repair vehicle “health scans” and DTC research.

When it comes to getting paid for your work, it helps to have the top tools at your disposal. The Who Pays for What? survey shows that ALLDATA continues to be the most popular choice among body shops for researching OEM repair information and procedures. It also reveals how often shops are being compensated for dozens of collision-specific procedures and materials, from seat calibration to sound-deadening. For now, let’s take a closer look at what’s trending for OEM repair information. Next month, we’ll dig into shops’ feedback on pre- and post-repair vehicle “health scans” and DTC research. 

Industry experts speculate that auto manufacturers will soon be adopting 800-volt electrical systems in their electric vehicles (EVs). The latest research shows that 800-volt electrical systems can lead to smaller, lighter, and more environmentally friendly motors. Vehicles using these powertrains could also be charged faster and travel further on a single charge.

In 2008, Volvo released “Collision Warning and Auto Brake,” the first automatic braking feature offered on a production vehicle. This early form of ADAS (Advanced Driver Assistance System) used radar mounted behind the front grill and a camera located on the rear-view mirror to detect vehicles and pedestrians in front of the car. It would then alert the driver of the obstacle and apply the brakes if the driver failed to react in a timely manner, very similar to the way that present day automatic braking functions.

The Car Doctor interviews ALLDATA VP Robert McBride

Ron Ananian is the owner of R/A Automotive in Waldwick, New Jersey. Since 1991, he has also educated and entertained millions of listeners through his nationally syndicated radio program, The Car Doctor. In December, Ron interviewed ALLDATA Vice President of Product Development Robert McBride on what’s fueling all the interest in ADAS. Listen to the audio from the program, or read on for a slightly edited version.

When Mark Ventrillo joined Quality Color & Collision in Greenwood, SC, as its fixed operations director in early 2021, his assignment was to improve its management of the collision repair industry's most valuable resource---time.

ALLDATA Collision delivers OEM diagnostic information in a consistent format for each manufacturer, so you can easily find the information you need to inspect, estimate, and properly repair each vehicle in your facility. Includes OEM Position Statements, scan tool requirements and positions, DTC code charts and procedures, system wiring diagrams, and more.

Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) are designed to improve driver safety through the application of several technologies developed during the last two decades. ADAS has been implemented on vehicles of all price and performance levels; it is no longer only for high-end cars and trucks.

ALLDATA Collision covers 95% of all vehicles on the road today, including German manufacturers Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Volkswagen, and Audi, with the critical OEM information, procedures, and graphics you need for accurate estimates and repairs.

See how to get the OEM documentation you need, quickly and accurately. In addition to OEM position statements, ALLDATA Collision includes OEM repair matrices, collision bulletins, body repair manuals, body guides, and more.

To streamline your initial damage assessment routine and ensure estimate and repair accuracy, we’ve gathered the OEM inspections required after a collision in one easy-to-access grouping within the vehicle’s repair procedures.

A quick tour of the OEM information ALLDATA Collision provides for required PDR operations, including scanning, as well as manufacturer information on vehicle construction, how to identify panel materials, safe battery removal/reconnection, and more.

In less than two minutes, you’ll see how simple and straightforward it is to access unedited OEM collision repair data direct from the manufacturer. Ensures you’ll always have the information needed to troubleshoot, estimate, and repair Subaru vehicles.

Material identification is key to determining repairability on today’s vehicles. See how to quickly access OEM Repairability Guidelines that identify what an OEM will and won’t allow on today’s repairs – information that’s critical for proper collision repair planning and execution.

Can hybrid and electric vehicles be dangerous to work on? Absolutely. However, if you get proper training and follow OEM repair procedures, you can safely and efficiently service and repair them.

In this article, we will cover manufacturer-specific safety guidelines aimed at keeping you safe while working on two fully-electric vehicles – The Nissan Leaf and the Chevy Bolt.

These tips guide you to the OEM repair information you need prior to scheduling the removal and replacement of glass, which often impacts trim, the rearview mirror, and ADAS components. For any OEM you need to access, our consistent format makes it easy to find the information you need.

Shows you step by step how to access unedited, up-to-date OEM procedures for sectioning and welding the inner quarter of a Chrysler Pacifica.

If you took a service technician from 1955 and transported that person to 2021 they would be amazed, and frightened, by the level of technology in today’s cars and trucks. Even today’s technicians are surprised at how interconnected all the systems are. Systems that you would not expect to share data do so with frequency. Lots of frequencies. So many that it Hertz.

Two of the major challenges facing today’s collision repair shops are the exponential increase in vehicle complexity due to advanced technologies like ADAS (Advanced Driver-Assistance Systems) as well as the threat of liability that may result from not repairing vehicles properly according to OEM procedures.

Can hybrid and electric vehicles be dangerous to work on? Absolutely. However, if you get proper training and follow OEM repair procedures, you can safely and efficiently service and repair them. Here are a few manufacturer-specific tips that will help you just that.

Can hybrid and electric vehicles be dangerous to work on? Absolutely. However, if you get proper training and follow OEM repair procedures, you can service and repair them safely and efficiently. Here are a few manufacturer-specific hybrid safety tips that will help you do just that.

The specialty equipment aftermarket industry is ready to come together for SEMA360, the new online event taking place Nov. 2-6, that will allow industry professionals to connect and conduct much-needed business.

We’re all doing things differently this year. And SEMA is no exception. ALLDATA is pleased to support this year’s SEMA360 by offering attendees a number of ways to engage with us during the virtual event, Nov. 2-6, 2020

When it was announced that the collision industry’s foremost trade show was going virtual for 2020, ALLDATA embraced the opportunity to offer attendees an online experience unique to these challenging times.

Two auto body trade schools last week described programs structured to provide students with significant shop time early in the process.

Representatives from Cleveland, Ohio-based Matrix Trade Institute and Saint Louis, Mo.-based Ranken Technical College presented to an SCRS virtual open board meeting July 20 what SCRS had previously pitched as “unconventional approaches to technician development.” 

Business was humming along and no one saw it coming: a pandemic unlike any that anyone has seen since the Spanish Flu in 1918

Autobody News used its 19,000 shop email subscribers and social media channels to conduct a survey of collision shops across the country April 17-19, to see how they were coping with the COVID 19 pandemic.

Aaron Stokes is a well-known figure in the automotive coaching industry. He started from a repair shop in a garage and over the course of 20+ years fought his way to his current status: the owner of five repair shops and founder of Shop Fix Academy. Recently, ALLDATA has worked with Aaron Stokes and Shop Fix Academy to bring shop owners useful webinars about increasing performance at their shops. The webinars can be quite lengthy – ranging from two and a half hours to almost four – so here is a summation of his first two: Win BIG in the Final Months of 2019 and Anatomy of a Record-Breaking Month.

On Feb. 13, CIECA offered a CIECAst webinar entitled “Utilizing Technology to Thrive and Not Just Survive in 2020” with Mike Anderson of Collision Advice. 

Topics included eliminating human disruption, how AI will impact collision repair facilities, electronic quality control checklists, text reminders, customer updates using technology and much more.

Vehicles today are a far cry from what they were 20 years ago, when cars weren’t equipped with a single advanced driver-assistance system (ADAS).

We live in an age where it is easier than ever to share expertise. According to Edison Research, in 2018 alone there were more than 700,000 active podcasts and over 29 million podcast episodes. Yet professional trustworthy automotive collision industry videos or podcasts designed specifically for automotive collision technicians are rare. AutoBody’s Ed Attanasio has written this article describing ‘BoothTalk’, a podcast by a Collision Refinisher for Collision Refinishers.

Two of the biggest challenges facing repairers today: widespread litigation and increasing vehicle complexity. But what if there’s one easy solution to help protect your shop from liability and get a firm grasp on advanced vehicle technologies?

Like many independent repair shops, Dietrich’s Collision in Imlay City, Michigan is family owned. Has been for three generations, in fact, founded in 1968 by the late patriarch Larry E. Dietrich.

We first heard about Dietrich’s Collision when Tony Benke – who now co-owns the business with his dad Kevin Dietrich – answered a survey following his experience with ALLDATA’s Library Request. Here’s what he wrote:  

Now, accredited repairers in Saskatchewan can get a nice bonus – up to $170 a month! – just for using ALLDATA Collision®. Though limited in scope geographically, this is a great example of an organization recognizing the importance of requiring accredited shops to utilize OEM information, and then supporting that requirement with a generous monthly reimbursement.