News Briefs Extra
Ford Study: Collision Shops Often Foot Cost Difference For Genuine Parts
Growing concerns about the quality of imitation crash parts could be the reason behind the increasing number of collision repairers who replace them with genuine original equipment (OE) crash parts, according to a national survey commissioned by Ford.Thirty-four percent of collision repairers responding to the survey believe the quality of imitation crash parts to be "much worse" than OE parts, which is the highest level in the past five years. This belief may be the reason repairers report replacing insurance company-specified imitations with genuine parts 51 percent of the time, a 20 percent increase from a year ago.
But collision repairers who do substitute genuine parts in place of imitations may pay the price. In 44 percent of the cases where collision repairers replace imitation parts with genuine, the body shop pays the difference in cost. Thirty percent of the time, the customer pays the difference. However, 70 percent of the initial decisions to use imitation parts are made by the insurance company, according to the survey.
New Pollution Prevention Manual Available
A new manual is available for the vehicle maintenance industry. Techniques to reduce waste and save money are outlined in the guide titled "Vehicle Maintenance Pollution Prevention." The manual also includes regulatory information and lists vendors, recyclers and service providers. For more information, contact the Iowa Waste Reduction Center, a non-profit service providing environmental technical assistance to small businesses, at (319) 273-2079.Mitchell Revises Software, Introduces Recycled Parts Locator System
Mitchell International has revised its collision shop management system, Advanced Business System (ABS). Compatible with Windows ’95, ABS version 4.01 offers feature modifications including a new pop-up date control, improved job costing, enhanced interfaces will all estimating systems as well as the BusinessWorks accounting package.Mitchell also has available its Quality Recycled Parts (QRP) Electronic Locator System. The product debuted bearing the Automotive Recyclers Association’s (ARA’s) official stamp of approval for assisting insurance companies and collision repair shops in locating quality recycled parts. The system is Windows-based and automatically provides labor times from the Mitchell Assembly Time Guide.
All Pro/Bumper To Bumper Offers New Program
All Pro/Bumper to Bumper introduces its service dealer program, Automotive Service Center. Focus groups and a service dealer advisory council were used to compile research to create the program.ASA Main Page || AutoInc. Main Page
TechTips || Stat Corner || News Briefs || Directions
News Briefs Extra || Taking The Hill || More Info About AutoInc.
Chairman's Message || Tech To Tech
Guest Editorial || Diversifying Your Collision Shop || National VOC Rule Sparks Congressional Interest
AutoInc. Magazine ®, Vol. XLIV No. 8, August 1996