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.

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.

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.

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.

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 service and repair them safely and efficiently. Here are a few manufacturer-specific hybrid safety tips that will help you do just that.

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

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.

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.

AutoBody News’ Stacey Phillips Ronak reports on the pros and cons of becoming 'employer of choice'

In today’s collision industry environment, many shop owners and managers are finding competent staff are becoming a scarce and valuable commodity.

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.

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.