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

NOTE: This Shop and Product Showcase was originally published in the AutoBodyNews in October 2018.

Bayside Body Shop is located in Outer Banks, a region containing about 32,000 permanent residents. However, every summer more than 400,000 tourists converge there to enjoy its idyllic setting.

Owner Brian Holland opened the shop in 2003 and has since turned it into a highly successful business. At first, however, it was a tough uphill struggle.

“The shop we took over was in a cinderblock 2,200-square-foot building with a makeshift sheet rock paint booth with a fan in the wall,” Holland said. “It had been around since the ‘70s, and obviously we had our work cut out to turn it into a facility we could be happy with. We renovated the shop from top to bottom. Now it’s 8,000 square feet, and we do approximately $2.5 million–$3 million in annual sales.”

With no employees and a mortgage to pay, Holland didn’t panic, even though he was more than aware of the risks involved. 

“My family always stressed that being a business owner was the right way to go,” he said. “My grandmother was an entrepreneur her entire life, so I was encouraged to start my own shop. We approached two local investors, and they thought well of us apparently because they gave us the seed money we needed. I co-own the shop with my wife, Lisa, and our daughter, Carolann, works here as well.”

Brian, 51, was originally introduced to the world of collision repair at age 11 when he began helping out at his uncle’s shop, Silver Creek Body Shop in Morganton, NC.

“My Uncle Charles Gettys gave me a broom, but quickly I wanted to learn as much as I could,” he said. “I was a painter for six years and it was a great experience. After I got out of the military, we returned to Outer Banks, and for a while I managed a local collision center before starting Bayside Body Shop.”

In 2008, Brian decided to diversify and added a mechanical repair division as part of an expansion project.

“We hired a mechanic and brought everything in-house,” he said. “Our tagline is ‘more than a body shop,’ and it has turned out to be a smart move. We don’t have dealerships around here to help us with things such as our diagnostics, so doing mechanical repair ourselves saves us time and also brings us a lot of other types of work.”

To perform pre-and post-scanning on every car that comes through his doors for collision repairs, Brian started looking around for a viable solution. ALLDATA stood out.

“As a collision/mechanical shop, we have more needs than most, and we were already using ALLDATA as our management system,” he said. “When we found out about ALLDATA’s scanner and all of their diagnostic tools, we were very interested. After conducting our own research, we decided that this was the best way to go because now we have their scanning technology right here in the shop, which means we don’t have to send it off to someone else and trust them to read it, and it integrates seamlessly into our ALLDATA system.”

By using ALLDATA Diagnostics, Brian’s crew is able to retrieve and clear manufacturer P, B, C and U codes and receive live sensor data from all modules/vehicle systems (PCM, TCM, SRS, ABS chassis /body systems and more). They are also able to perform full-system, exportable pre- and post- DTC scan reporting, and it’s all completely integrated with all of the ALLDATA Repair/Collision information. The codes they receive link directly to relevant OE articles, including their new interactive color wiring diagrams, and enable them to view tech-verified repairs without ever leaving the application.

“Right now we have the capability with ALLDATA to scan all of the vehicles when they come in and communicate that information from our tablets to our workstations. We have five body technicians and three mechanical techs, and they’re all using the system every day. After just one hour of training, they were up and running, and after using it continually, they’re getting better at it as well. It provides us with the detailed documentation that we need for the insurance companies,” Brian said.

“Our DRPs are willing to pay for whatever it takes to repair the car properly, as long as it’s backed by accurate documentation, and ALLDATA provides that. Getting all of the information upfront means that the vehicle will be fixed correctly and be compliant with OE standards.”

Now that ALLDATA Diagnostics tools have become an integral part of their production process at Bayside, Brian is very happy with the results.

“We are making money, which is the goal with any tool we acquire,” he said. “The Diagnostics tools pay for themselves every month after just three days. It helps us with our DRPs and our cycle times, and we never run into surprises along the way, which is huge.”