ALLDATA, an AutoZone company, was recently designated a “Preferred Partner” of the Collision Advice Legacy Group Cooperative.

You: Hey, Mike, I keep hearing you saying we need to look up the OEM repair procedures on every single vehicle every single time. But surely you’re not talking about even the easy jobs, where we’re just replacing a single part.

Me: Oh, you mean like the Infiniti vehicle I saw recently where something had flown from the road and put a hole in the grille? All the vehicle needed was to have that grille replaced. Sure, you could skip looking up the OEM procedures for that. But then you’d miss the parts diagram showing the small part on the grille marked with a little black dot with a white X in it. That symbol in the Infiniti procedures indicates a non-reusable part.

Caliber talent development Senior Vice President Ty Gammill earlier this year described the company’s rationale and playbook for using veterans to fill the collision industry technician shortage.

His comments from the International Bodyshop Industry Symposium panel Feb. 15 on Caliber’s “Changing Lanes”might provide guidance to other tech-strapped employers seeking to leverage a military presence in their market.

Deep down, Mauro Vitale is a drag racer at heart.

So, even though Vitale’s parents operated a pizza restaurant, he wanted no part of the family business right out of high school, in 1994. While the family business offered security, Vitale was all about racing Fox body Mustangs.

A recent Volkswagen Canada presentation demonstrated the importance of referring to OEM repair procedures by highlighting two critical considerations related to some bumper fascias.

Volkswagen Canada collision program manager Scott Wideman showed a VeriFacts Guild 21 audience March 14 the OEM’s requirements for an R&I of a 2017 Passat rear bumper cover. The procedures gave “ample warnings that you need to start thinking about what technology is on the car,” he said.

Earlier this year, ALLDATA President Satwinder Mangat traveled to Canada, exploring ways to better support this key market. Following a meeting with publishers of Collision Management, the magazine then featured ALLDATA as the cover story for the February Issue.

Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) are designed to improve driver safety through the application of several technologies developed over the last fifteen years. Although, I think that some of these systems may predate the 1970s. I’m sure my father’s car had a Forward Collision Warning system when it was equipped with the right-seat driver option.

Auto industry trade groups representing virtually all automakers selling cars and light duty trucks in the United States released a policy position statement today underscoring the importance of all post-collision vehicle repairs being conducted in accordance with the repair procedures issued by the vehicle’s original equipment manufacturer (OEM).

ALLDATA’s Diagnostics tools pay for themselves every month after just three days, according to Bayside Body Shop owner Brian Holland.

For nearly forty years, I-CAR^® has provided industry-recognized training solutions for the collision repair inter-industry. And now, they’ve gotten even better.Starting in the first quarter of 2019, I-CAR is making some key enhancements to serve this industry’s rapidly evolving needs.

A growing issue shops face is the increasing cost of the research and documentation to certify they have repaired the car to OE specifications. AutoBodyNews.com has written an informative article about the surprising results in 2018’s first “Who Pays for What?” survey. It also quotes Mike Anderson of Collision Advice about his observations regarding how shop estimators and sales are directly impacted by today’s environment.

One of the biggest trade shows in the automotive industry is right around the corner: SEMA 2018 is taking place October 30– November 2 at the Las Vegas Convention Center. With over 3,000 products in the New Products Showcase, educational seminars, product demonstrations, special events, and networking opportunities, the list of stuff to do is overwhelming. We’ve done the research and compiled a list of tips and tricks to help you get the most out of your SEMA experience.

The racing checkerboard flooring at the ALLDATA booth turned out to be symbolic of the fast pace on the SEMA show floor. It’s no wonder the action was non-stop – there was more to talk about than ever before, including our new branding, “Automotive Intelligence.” What else was new?

There’s been considerable buzz about a $42 million verdict handed down on a Texas dealership body shop that didn’t follow OEM procedures for a roof repair on a 2010 Honda Fit.

In addition to all the excitement at the ALLDATA booth, there was a lot going on at SEMA. A lot. Here are some of our favorite “Best of” recap articles to give you a sense of its total auto immersion. 

We’re excited to bring you another exclusive automotive repair software solution that will ensure your estimates are as complete as possible and OEM-accurate – the first time. ALLDATA Collision Advantage combines our best collision repair solutions – ALLDATA Collision^® and ALLDATA Estimate Integration. And it works with all three major estimating systems.

ALLDATA Collision Advantage combines our best collision repair solutions – ALLDATA Collision® and Estimate Integration. And it works with all three major estimating systems.  

At the 2017 Alliance of Automotive Service Providers/New Jersey (AASP/NJ) Conference and Tradeshow, Mike Anderson of Collision Advice debuted a condensed version of a new seminar on “100% Disassembly and Parts Mirror Matching.”

While we can’t show you the seminar, freelance writer Chasidy Rae Sisk provides a detailed recap of the one-hour event in this Autobodynews.com article.

The Women’s Industry Network (WIN) wrapped up its 11^th annual conference this past May with great success. WIN is a non-profit organization dedicated to encouraging, developing, and cultivating opportunities to attract women to the field of collision repair while recognizing excellence, promoting leadership, and fostering a network among the women who are shaping the industry. The theme for this year’s event, held in the Mile-High City of Denver, Colo., was “Be Extraordinary.” 271 women attended the conference – more than half the total WIN membership, and the highest attendance to date. And yes, there were a few men, too. WIN welcomes all!

Automotive repair industry veteran John Shoemaker writes in a recent Aftermarket Business World™ article that, “ … we need to rethink the way we discuss repairs with insurers. We need to step away from negotiating a repair based on opinion and desire, to educating how a repair should be accomplished using OEM processes.” He goes on to cite examples of how using OEM-specified repair procedures helped to turn the tables and easily convince an insurance adjuster to accept the shop’s recommendations, which were based on OEM information. We couldn’t agree more.

This being the 50^th anniversary of SEMA, they really pulled out all the stops to make it the most memorable ever. The “Battle of the Builders” is a new competition that scopes out the finest custom cars on the floor show. As reported in ca.motor1.com, the winner this year was newcomer Cam Miller and his 1969 Chevrolet Camaro, said to be “… absolutely flawless from every angle.”

The racing checkerboard flooring at the ALLDATA booth turned out to be symbolic of the fast pace on the SEMA show floor. The reason for all the buzz? We unveiled a new technology platform – with all the bells and whistles of the hottest software out there – that now powers ALLDATA Repair^® and Collision^®.

Mike Anderson of Collision Advice is renowned for his collision industry experience and data-driven approach to shop operations, management, and collision diagnostics and repair. We encourage you to check out the   webinar hosted by Mike, You Don’t Know What You Don’t Know.

The Jeep^® was a recognizable symbol of American fighting forces in World War II, just as the “Huey” helicopter was an iconic symbol of Vietnam.

Just about anyone who cares about machines on wheels – and that should include everyone reading this – has probably heard that the name Jeep was derived from the initials, G.P., initials for “general purpose.” That explanation has been repeated so many times that hardly anyone questions it.