WESTERN NEWS (572)
California, Arizona and Nevada
Autobody News Western print edition is mailed to 8,500 body shops monthly
Calif. Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones, Consumer Groups Condemn Anti-Consumer Legislation
Written by CDI press releaseInsurance Commissioner Dave Jones will be joined by the Consumer Federation of California, Consumers for Auto Reliability and Safety, and the Automotive Machinists Union at a press conference Weds. Aug. 29 in Sacramento to denounce last-minute, gut and amend efforts to pass bills such as AB 1098 (Assembly Member Curt Hagman) and SB 1460 (Senator Leland Yee). These bills would essentially terminate a 20-year consumer protection standard that would allow insurers—without any checks or balances—to force repair shops to use aftermarket parts on consumers’ automobiles in the event of a collision and shift warranty coverage from insurers to lesser known suppliers or distributors. Additional protections would also be lost or denied to consumers.
Xtreme Makeover Collision owner Joe Mariscal is planning to boost his services with prompt house calls and free quotes.
Mariscal says, “We do what most auto body shops won’t. We make house calls.”
Xtreme Makeover Collision Center goes an extra mile to show care for their customers by lightening the load associated with vehicular accidents.
CAA Legislative Alert-Call to Action on 'Gut and Amend'
Written by CAA staffDo not let "Gut and Amend" legislation be introduced
The CAA has been opposing insurer-sponsored legislation that would weaken long-standing law that provides for fair and reasonable auto body repair practices.
CAA has also opposed legislation that would provide legal presumptions that aftermarket crash parts are equal to OEM crash parts in all instances.
Insurer sponsored bills this year include SB 1460 (Yee) and AB 1098 (Hagman) both failed.
Caliber Collision Continues Arizona Expansion With New Tempe Opening
Written by staffCaliber Collision announced its 8th Arizona acquisition with a grand opening in Tempe.
Further accelerating its growth plans focused on customer needs, Caliber Collision Centers announced today that it has acquired Elite Collision in Tempe, AZ.
The Glendale/Foothill-CAA Chapter will hold its next meeting on Thursday, September 20, at Brookside Country Club, 1133 Rosemont Ave. in Pasadena, CA.
Guest speaker Toby Chess will address "Where are we going in the future and what are you going to do about it?" Additionally, Chess will give a demonstration on the Matrix One, a new measuring instrument which uses a special photo wand.
Tom Gattuso, trade show director for SEMA, will also present a preview of the latest cutting-edge technology.
Additionally, the meeting will include other guests: Goliath Carts will give a live preview of their body material, paint and detail carts; and Pro-Spot Welders will have their newest welder on display for CAA-Glendale/Foothill members to preview and have their questions answered; and Gyant Compliance will introduce their latest program which measures NOx emissions or VOC usage.
Meeting sponsor is D'Angelo Paint and Supply.
Registration begins at 5:30 P.M. and the meeting begins at 6:30 p.m. Cost is $45 for CAA members or $100 for non-members. Please RVSP to CAA Southern California Representative Cindy Shillito at 714-944-4028 or at
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.
California Senate Approves First of Two Assembly BHPH Bills
Written by staffThe first of a series of measures aimed at regulating buy-here, pay-here dealers in California received a majority vote from an entire legislative chamber. The bills were called strong protections for used-car buyers.
After gaining similar support from various committees, the state's Senate approved AB 1447 on August 23 by a margin of 22-14. The bill's primary sponsor is Assemblyman Mike Feuer.
Now with Senate approval, the Assembly will have one final vote on whether to push AB 1447 on to Gov. Jerry Brown for it to become law. Complete legislative approval must occur before the end of the month, and Brown has until Sept. 30 to sign or veto the measure.
To view a pdf file of this article with photos, click HERE.
Here is the scenario: One afternoon a group of very business-like individuals walk into your shop. Are they getting an estimate? No. Are they selling something? Absolutely not. Or are they here to simply discuss the advantages of waterborne paint? Not likely.
After business cards get exchanged and pleasantries are conveyed, you quickly realize that you’re being inspected by the California Labor Enforcement Task Force (LETF), a team that enforces the state’s labor regulations and cites those companies that don’t adhere to the law. Suddenly, dire thoughts begin darting through your brain. “I know I run an honest shop and we try to adhere to all the laws, but have I forgotten something?” you ask yourself. It’s a frightening moment for any business owner and plenty get cited and fined every month throughout the state for a wide range of offenses.
With more than 50 people in attendance at the Santa Clara County California Autobody Association’s (SCC-CAA) July meeting, five representatives from LETF made presentations and shared information that is designed to help body shops in order to operate within the laws of the state. Consisting of five organizations and a lot of acronyms, LETF includes the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement (DLSE); Division of Occupational Safety & Health (CAL/OSHA); Employment Development Department (EDD); Board of Equalization (BOE); and Bureau of Automotive Repair (BAR).
Insurance Lobby Says Proposed Regulations from CDI “Damage Ability to Control Costs”
Written by staffIndustry trade groups went to the California capital to protest the state Department of Insurance’s (CDI) proposed regulations governing auto-body repairs and the use of aftermarket replacement car parts. Officials issued a notice in June (see autobodynews.com) that it was seeking to change state standards of repair and use of aftermarket parts by clarifying insurers’ obligations during the repair process. Officials called it an effort to address “disputes regarding the true cost of repairs of damaged vehicles and the applicable repair standard” that “continue to negatively affect the claims-handling process.”
The Property Casualty Insurers Association of America issued the following news release in response to CDI’s proposed regulations:
Bay Area Men Charged with 90 Felonies in Elaborate Insurance Fraud, Theft and Arson
Written by staffTwo Fresno, CA, men will stand trial after allegedly operating a fraud ring that siphoned more than $600,000 from insurers.
Detectives believe that Louis Houston, 48, and Cedric Berdell Jackson Jr, 28, served as perpetrators in the filing of a variety of bogus insurance claims dating back to 2000. Their extensive scheme involved filing loss claims for traffic collisions, stolen vehicles, vehicle vandalism, vehicle fires, residential fires, and even water damage. Over the course of a year-long investigation by the California Department of Insurance (CDI), authorities learned Houston and Jackson filed more than 50 claims since 2007, and more than 165 loss claims since 2000.
Mitchell International hosted an open house for San Diego CAA members at their new Mitchell Corporate Headquarters in the University City area of San Diego on July 24th.
The California Autobody Association—San Diego Chapter partnered with Mitchell International to host the open house so that CAA members could get an insider’s view into the world of collision information software and development.
The event was well attended with over 50 participants.
Dino DiGiulio of Sonoma, CA started repairing cars at 14 and knew right away that he liked working on autos. After high school, he took a job in an auto body shop detailing cars. In 1990, at the age of 21, he took every penny he had and opened his own 1,800-square-foot shop, Body Best Collision Center, on Sonoma’s 8th Street East. He had one employee.
Today the shop has grown to 12,500 square feet and DiGiulio employees 14 people.
A few years ago, DiGiulio started thinking about giving back to the community. “I have such loyal customers,” he said.
