Maaco of Regina, Canada has undergone an extreme makeover, taking a shine to improving its customer service and business operations. Since the ’80s, the Maaco Collision chain of franchised service centers has been focused on lower-cost refinishing of cars as a business model. This changed for General Manager Joe Cardiff when he attended a car convention in Moose Jaw and sat in on a presentation by Leanne Jefferies, Vice President, Canadian Operations Assured Performance Network. Since then, Joe hasn’t been content with being a minor player in the major collision repair market.

Maaco of Regina has upped its game by earning certifications from automotive manufacturers such as Ford, KIA, Fiat-Chrysler, Honda and Nissan’s Pro-First. Maaco of Regina has also earned the coveted I-CAR Gold Class Certification – an independent third-party certification process that is literally the gold standard for collision repair. Which means that this center is extensively trained in the latest tools and technologies of the trade and ready to conquer any collision repair.

Maintaining those certifications requires access to OEM data for vehicles that range from a well-loved 1980 pickup to a freshly-crunched model so new it still has the salesperson’s fingerprints on the door handles.

Mr. Cardiff says that he relies on the track record of ALLDATA for that OEM data.  

“ALLDATA has been in the industry for a lot of years, and if you’re looking at a relationship perspective, I think that they have the strongest relationship with the OEs because they’ve been working with them for so long,” Cardiff continued.

“There’s a lot to be said about longevity and quality, and I feel strongly that if there’s new information coming out, that ALLDATA is going to be right on that edge of getting that information to us in a timely manner. And that’s truly what I believe.”

Currently, Maaco of Regina uses both ALLDATA Collision^® and ALLDATA Diagnostics^TM to verify that the repair is being conducted correctly.

“It’s our responsibility to fix these cars correctly,” Cardiff said, “and just like tools in the toolbox that you depend on for your success, you’re also going to need those tools that ALLDATA gives us so that we can be confident about what we’re doing. So there’s no second guessing. You bring up the car … you punch in the situation and whether it’s quarter panel or B-pillars or roofs, and it just comes up with the information.”

There are pre-OBDII vehicles, of course. For those, Maaco relies on another ALLDATA service: ”Library Requests are fantastic,” added Cardiff. “You send something to ALLDATA, to the Library Request people, and you’re moving on to the next car, then when you check back, boom! You’ve got something! That timing is quite effective for us.”

Cardiff’s forward thinking has paid off in a big way. His Maaco location has averaged around $3 million a year over the course of this makeover, concentrated mostly on insurance work. Their commitment to quality and accurate repairs will have even more customers say “Uh-Oh! Better get Maaco.”