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A comparison of aftermarket replacement parts for critical safety components such as bumpers and vehicle supports found they often are inferior to parts made by automakers, Ford Motor reported July 21.

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The California Air Resources Board (CARB) has mandated that all service centers are required to check and inflate customer’s tires to the manufacturer’s recommended pressure--regardless of whether or not the car’s service has anything to do with tires. California’s goal is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from cars driving around with under-inflated tires, which have higher rolling resistance. These circumstances result in cars using more fuel and thereby emitting more greenhouse gasses. Initiated in 2009, the law’s intent is to help car owners to have their vehicle’s tire pressure checked every time the car comes in for service.

In its third and latest revision, the regulation applies to all automotive service providers who do maintenance or repair service, but excludes certain automotive repair shops including auto body, auto glass installer, auto dismantlers, and auto parts retailers.

There could be gray areas if a service provider offers a mix of services, such as repair and body shop work. Also, consumers who have nitrogen filled tires can decline inflation service if the shop does not have nitrogen filling capacity. Shops would be required to keep accurate pressure gauges to check tires, but how they would ensure gauge accuracy is unclear. Questions remain on checking tire pressure in traditionally cold and hot states, as well as determining the responsibility of deciding if the tire is unsafe when performing the service.

Recent articles in the mainstream news are publicizing the recent testing done on some A/M parts by OEMs. Consumer Reports has written a July 22 article saying:

If your car was repaired with cheap bumper replacement parts not made by the original automaker, your air bag may not deploy as expected if you get into another crash, according to computer-simulated crash tests conducted by Ford.

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The U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources met July 21 for a markup of Senate Bill (S.B.) 3495, “The Promoting Electric Vehicles Act of 2010”; S.B. 2843, “The Advanced Vehicle Technology Act of 2009” and S.B. 679, “The Heavy Duty Hybrid Vehicle Research, Development and Demonstration Act of 2009.” The committee did not finalize its work on S.B. 679 and will address this bill at a later committee meeting. Both S.B. 3495 and 2843 were reported out of the committee.

“The Promoting Electric Vehicles Act of 2010,” sponsored by Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., introduced last month, aims to reduce the United States’ dependency on foreign oil and significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

The main component of the bill is Title I, “The National Plug-In Electric Drive Vehicle Deployment Program,” which aims to:
-Reduce the use of petroleum by accelerating the deployment of plug-in electric-drive vehicles in the United States.
-Reduce greenhouse gas emissions by accelerating the deployment of plug-in electric-drive vehicles in the United States.
-Facilitate the rapid deployment of plug-in electric-drive vehicles.
-Achieve significant market penetrations by plug-in electric-drive vehicles nationally.
-Establish models for the rapid deployment of plug-in electric-drive vehicles nationally, including models for the deployment of residential, private and publicly available charging infrastructure.
-Increase consumer knowledge and acceptance of plug-in electric-drive vehicles.
-Encourage the innovation and investment necessary to achieve mass-market deployment of plug-in electric-drive vehicles.
-Facilitate the integration of plug-in electric-drive vehicles into electricity distribution systems and the larger electric grid while maintaining grid system performance and reliability.
-Provide technical assistance to communities across the United States to prepare for plug-in electric-drive vehicles.
-Support workforce training across the United States relating to plug-in electric drive vehicles.

Introduced last year, S.B. 2843, “The Advanced Vehicle Technology Act of 2009,” sponsored by Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., seeks to promote federal aid for developing and promoting new vehicle technologies. The main purposes of this legislation include:
-Developing and promoting the deployment of technologies and practices that:
A. Improve the fuel efficiency and emissions of all vehicles produced in the United States.
B. Reduce vehicle reliance on petroleum-based fuels.
-Supporting domestic research, development, demonstration, deployment, engineering and commercial application and domestic manufacturing of advanced vehicles, engines and components.
-Enabling vehicles to move larger volumes of goods and more passengers with less energy and emissions.
-Developing cost-effective advanced technologies for wide-scale utilization throughout the passenger, commercial, government and transit vehicle sectors.
-Allowing for greater consumer choice of domestic-made vehicle technologies and fuels.
-Shortening technology development and integration cycles in the domestic vehicle industry.
-Ensuring a proper balance and diversity of federal investment in domestic-made vehicle technologies.
-Promoting the integration of intelligent vehicle technologies with infrastructure-based information and communications systems and the electrical grid.
-Strengthening partnerships between federal and state governmental agencies and the private and academic sectors.

To view a complete summary of the legislation, along with the full text, visit the “Track Legislation” section of ASA’s legislative website, www.TakingTheHill.com.

The Automotive Service Association is the largest not-for-profit trade association of its kind dedicated to and governed by independent automotive service and repair professionals. ASA serves an international membership base that includes numerous affiliate, state and chapter groups from both the mechanical and collision repair segments of the automotive service industry. ASA’s headquarters is in Bedford, Texas. ASA advances professionalism and excellence in the automotive repair industry through education, representation and member services. For additional information about ASA, including past news releases, go to www.ASAshop.org, or visit ASA’s legislative website at www.TakingTheHill.com.

Collision centers that work with Enterprise Rent-A-Car may get more than they expected when it comes to going “green.” In addition to repair center customers driving off in some of the most fuel efficient rental cars on the road today, paperless technology helps streamline the rental car process between collision repair centers, insurance companies and Enterprise. In terms of going “green,” it’s a win-win situation for everyone.

With the world’s largest fleet of fuel efficient vehicles, Enterprise is helping reduce the nation’s carbon footprint and giving more drivers the opportunity to experience fuel efficient vehicles. Nearly 450,000 cars in the combined fleet of Enterprise, National Car Rental and Alamo Rent A Car average a highway fuel efficiency rating of at least 28 mpg; nearly 230,000 average 32 mpg or better; and nearly 425,000 have earned the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s SmartWay certification mark – a distinction the EPA grants to vehicles that emit relatively low levels of both regulated pollutants and greenhouse gases such as CO2.

To reduce paperwork, as well as lower costs, save time and enhance service with insurance companies and car owners, Enterprise offers free of charge to collision centers the ARMS® Automotive and ARMS® Automotive Exchange applications. Widely recognized as two of the most effective tools available to the collision repair industry, ARMS® Automotive updates the status of car repairs, while ARMS® Automotive Exchange automates labor hours and provides free cycle time reporting.

Steve Vettel, owner of Pacific Collision Centers, with six locations located in five Southern California counties, learned the collision business by working at the dealership level for many years, and gleaned much knowledge from that perspective.

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Since then, Vettel’s shops have flourished and consistently generated rave reviews, while establishing a reputation for embracing the latest technology and operating on the cutting edge. His relationship with PPG, his paint supplier for more than a decade, is one of the reasons why Pacific Collision has hit impressive numbers, even during a recession.

Together, Pacific’s six locations repairs an average of approximately 500 cars monthly, operating out a total of 140,000 combined square footage and employing 100 people, including 25 paint crew members, Vettel told Autobody News.

At his peak, Vettel said he was repairing 750 cars per month, but the recession dropped his numbers, just like everyone else’s in the country. “So much has changed within the last 18 months that we don’t know where we’re headed right now. The larger operations will survive and a lot of the smaller independents will be closing or getting absorbed by the larger chains. That’s the reality of it, so we need to prepare for these developments if we want to survive and stay profitability.”

One of the things Vettel calls a “smart move” involves his 12-year relationship with PPG. “They’ve helped us in so many ways,” he said. “We’ve used their assistance on how to dial in our processes and we’ve tapped into their knowledge and experience time and again. PPG is a great supplier, because they have a good product, Envirobase® High Performance, but they also help us on so many different levels.”