In Katrina's wake

"In the first three months, we were working with about 20 or 25 families to try to get them some help and assistance. Over the past three weeks, we've had more new people seeking help than we had in the three months prior to that."

- Chuck Sulkala of the National Auto Body Council, speaking last January about the NABC's effort to help at least 50 families from the industry who lost tools, shops and homes in the late 2005 hurricanes.

"We're one of the only industries that seems to be responding to its own people. I'm really proud to be a part of that."

- Arizona shop owner Mike Quinn, who was among those leading the NABC hurricane relief effort.

"I don't know if it's people looking at damage and not where they are going, or traffic lights not working, or a lot of new people in town or what, but we're pulling in four or five cars a day of collision work."

- Tommy Ferguson of Ferguson Automotive in Biloxi, Miss., on the steady flow of work in his shop this past fall, one year after Hurricane Katrina filled his shop with 11 feet of water, engulfing 25 vehicles in mud, blowing apart his paint booth, and ripping the roof from the building.

Disposable cars

"This thing is moving in the wrong direction and it's moving fast. Based on our analysis, it would not surprise us if we were pushing toward 30 percent totals within two to three years. Every stakeholder in this room is going to lose - is losing now and will lose more. I don't have all the answers, but there's a train wreck coming, and we need to decide if we want to do something proactive about this or just flat get run over. We truly do have a crisis going on in our industry. I don't think we as an industry can ignore [that we are moving] toward a throw-away vehicle."

- Lee Petersen, training marketing manager for Chief Automotive Technologies, speaking about the rising percentage of collision-damaged vehicles being declared total losses.

Truth or consequences

"The problem we have now is we don't know how sharp the teeth [in the law] are."

- Max Yates, president of the Montana Collision Repair Specialists, speaking this past fall about a perceived lack of enforcement of a year-old state law the association helped pass that requires insurers with direct repair programs in that state to open those programs to any shop that meets the program's criteria.

"In past years I've tried to get stricter 'title branding' statutes passed nationally to require that all major auto damage be reported on a car's title, which is linked to the VIN. It's gotten a lukewarm reception from the insurance industry and others who frankly think it's too much work. I expect insurance companies will oppose this latest measure, too."

- United States Senator Trent Lott of Mississippi on legislation he introduced in 2006 that would have required insurance companies to report the details of any vehicles declared a total loss to a national database accessible by consumers.

Compiled by John Yoswick, a freelance writer based in Portland, Oregon, who has been writing about the automotive industry since 1988.