News Briefs
AIS Repackages Product Lines Under IDENTIFIX Brand
Automotive Information Systems, Inc. has announced the renaming and repackaging of its key products under the IDENTIFIX brand. The company's flagship product, autoline Telediagnosis, has been renamed IDENTIFIX Repair Hotline. The hotline is a technician-staffed diagnostic service providing troubleshooting and repair information to the automotive trade. The company has also rechristened its Service Bulletin product as IDENTIFIX Repair-Trac. Repair-Trac is a 24-hour, voice-on-demand database of pattern failures and quick fixes developed from over 1 million calls to the hotline. The majority of pattern failure data provided by IDENTIFIX Repair-Trac is not documented by OEMs.
The company's third product is now called IDENTIFIX Diagrams-Online and provides wiring diagrams on-demand 24 hours a day by fax. Over 40,000 wiring diagrams are available.
AAA Says Truck Safety Record Trails Automobiles, Calls for Better Research
"The nation's track record when it comes to preventing crashes involving large trucks falls woefully short," said Mark Edwards, managing director of traffic safety for AAA. "The same quality of research which supported the advances in automobile safety does not exist when it comes to truck crashes."
The 41 million-member AAA recommended a four-point program in an effort to achieve zero crash tolerance for trucks. It includes a study of truck crash causation, an innovative state approach to truck safety, improvements to the Commercial Driver License program, and educating motorists and truckers about sharing the road.
The last 30 years have shown dramatic improvement in automobile safety, according to the AAA. With the lowest fatality rate of any industrialized nation, the annual death toll has been reduced from 55,000 in the '60s to 42,000 in this decade.
URG Launches Fast Find Parts Locator Program
United Recyclers Group (URG), in collaboration with its Arizona partners, the Arizona Automotive Recyclers Association, Progressive, State Farm and USAA insurance companies have announced the completion of their six-month Fast Find Parts Locator pilot program. URG is a recently formed partnership of over 360 auto recyclers across North America.
URG's Fast Find program provides parts locating information for insurance claim handlers and direct repair collision centers. Participating insurance claims representatives call one central 800 number and speak to a dispatcher. The claims representative provides a "call back" number, the year, make and model of the vehicle and the parts required. The dispatcher broadcasts the request to URG partner recyclers via digital pagers and the recyclers respond to the request typically between 3 to 10 minutes, providing complete information on the requested parts.
For further information, contact Jay Raimondi at (303) 292-6555.
Technician Survey has Funny, Interesting Results
Pennzoil Products Company, in conjunction with the National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence (ASE), recently conducted a survey of more than 16,000 technicians. The survey revealed the most common themes in auto ailment mysteries and in the professional experiences and personal preferences of the technicians themselves.
The five most unusual problems found by technicians were: engine stops when horn is honked; car starts on its own; rear window goes down when ignition turned on; horn honks when brakes are used; and the car won't run without the hood open.
The five funniest mistakes made by consumers were: installed a radio that now turns on the windshield wipers; added water to gas tank to keep car from overheating; installed mud guards on front of wheel openings; put battery cables on top of plastic terminal cover; and mounted snow tires on the rear of a front-wheel drive vehicle.
The most common mistakes made by consumers were using oil to repair squeaky brakes, installing brake pads backwards, and putting fluids in the wrong place.
The most common repair or maintenance performed is the oil change, and the most common advice or observation from technicians is to perform regular maintenance. The surveyed techs said that more than 50 percent of cars are poorly maintained.
The favorite car or truck to service is Chevrolet, with Ford coming in second. Those cars also represent the autos that most ASE technicians drive.
The 16,000 respondents, who had an average of 17.5 years of experience, were all ASE certified, and more than 50 percent had "master" certification from ASE.
DuPont Forms World's Largest Coatings Company
DuPont has announced the completion of its acquisition of Herberts, the coatings subsidiary of Hoechst AG, with management ceremonies in Wuppertal, Germany. Terms of the acquisition remained unchanged from the preliminary agreement last October, a stock purchase with payment at closing of approximately $1.9 billion.
The combined business, to be known as DuPont Performance Coatings, will have annual sales of more than $3.8 billion, making DuPont the world's largest supplier of automotive coatings and the third largest coatings company overall.
Pennsylvania Insurance Department Regulation Goes Too Far || Competing for Customers: Do Independents Have an Edge? || ASA Affects the Way Cars Are Made || Weekend Hours || Guest Editorial || Tech to Tech || Tech Tips || News Briefs || Taking the Hill || Around ASA || Net Worth || Stat Corner || Shop Profile || Chairman's Message
AutoInc. Magazine ® Vol.XIVII, April 1999
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