News Briefs


AFV Certification Program Extended
The National Automotive Technicians Education Foundation (NATEF) has announced that the U.S. Department of Energy's Certification of Higher-learning in Alternative Motorfuels Program (CHAMP), which is administered by NATEF, has been extended until Dec. 31.

Under the CHAMP initiative, national training standards were developed by NATEF for AFV technician training programs.

In addition to training standards, CHAMP also provides for direct assistance to AFV technician training programs seeking National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence (ASE) certification. The first 30 AFV programs/providers to become ASE certified may also apply to become CHAMP Scholarship Partners, thus providing their AFV students the opportunity to receive a scholarship of up to $1,500 each (with a limit of $7,500 per program).

For complete details about CHAMP, call (703) 713-0100.

Dealerships Lose Work to Independents
More than 300 dealership service managers, parts managers and factory representatives recently completed a two-day summit in Las Vegas designed to help them recapture the service work lost to independent aftermarket repair facilities.

Speakers presented strategies for survival in the face of reduced warranty sales and gross profit. With this current and projected loss, summit delegates realized that to survive in the next decade, they would have to do a better job of retaining their new and used car customers as patrons of their service and parts operations. Keynote speaker Joe Ivers of J.D. Power and Associates discussed the results of that firm's Usage and Retention Study, suggesting dealers are "losing the battle" with aftermarket service providers.

FTC Expands Definition of "Recycled"
According to the Automotive Recyclers Association (ARA), it has successfully persuaded the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to expand its definition of "recycled" to reflect current consumer perceptions about what the word "recycled" means in its Environmental Marketing Guides ("Green Guides").

In revising the guides, the commission now makes it clear that "recycled" includes used automotive parts recovered from motor vehicles. Following is an example from the FTC guides that is tailored specifically to the auto recycling industry:

"A dealer of used automotive parts recovers a serviceable engine from a vehicle that has been totaled. Without repairing, rebuilding, remanufacturing, or in any way altering the engine or its components, the dealer attaches a 'recycled' label to the engine and offers it for resale in its used auto parts store. In this situation, an unqualified recycled content claim is not likely to be deceptive because consumers are likely to understand that the engine is used and has not undergone any rebuilding."

UPCR Changes by Popular Demand
In response to requests from users of Uniform Procedures for Collision Repair (UPCR), the Inter-Industry Conference on Auto Collision Repair (I-CAR) has created a quicker and easier layout and navigation system for UPCR.

In addition, the following items have been added to the July 1998 issue of UPCR:

To order UPCR, contact I-CAR Customer Service at (800) 422-7872.

Adhesives Not Recommended by Ford
Ford Motor Co. does not recommend substituting structural adhesives for welds when replacing body panels on its vehicles. "Based on our internal investigation," said Frank Wassilak, damageability engineering technical specialist with Ford Customer Service Division, "we believe that insufficient information exists to validate claims that repairs completed exclusively with structural adhesives will restore pre-accident strength, durability and reliability characteristics under all environmental and operating conditions."

Wassilak said Ford vehicles are designed and engineered to comply with Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS) and stated, "We can't be certain the use of structural adhesives alone will restore compliance to FMVSS requirements."

There is one exception to the general recommendation, according to Wassilak: replacement of outer door panels with structural adhesives and hem flanging is an accepted industry practice.

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AutoInc. Magazine ®, Vol. XLVI, August 1998 (http://www.asashop.org)