Joyner moved from Waco in 1996 to rebuild the body shop business at Continental, a dealer in Austin since 1978 selling Mercedes, Honda, Infiniti and Subaru. "They were doing maybe $2 million in body repairs and didn't have a good reputation. They couldn't get on with any DRPs."

 

Joyner didn't rush in and start courting insurers, though. "First, I had to clean house," he explained. With 32 years of experience to guide him since he graduated from Texas State Tech College, Joyner started weeding out people who didn't produce quality work or wouldn't cooperate. "We try to work as a team. If any part of the team is missing, some job doesn't get done, and that won't work for long."

Joyner describes himself as a very low key guy. "I let people do what I hired them out to do. But I expect them to do it."

 

Much of the shop's work is referral from the dealership, with repairs on Mercedes and Honda making up more than 50% of the work. With the business more than doubling in the last five years, efficiency was suffering with the paint and metal shops being four blocks apart. "We were forever jockeying cars around," Joyner recalled. Together with Continental's owner Bryan Hardeman and General Manager Harvey Dyer, Joyner made plans for a new, street-frontage building one-half mile from the dealership. "Getting all the permits in place took forever. They're real tight about air quality around here, and getting the spray booth permits was tough." The 32,500 sq ft center opened in May 2002, and ten additional employees were brought on to staff the expanded facility.

But even before the move, the improved work quality at Continental was drawing insurers back to the shop. Insureds from State Farm, USAA, Farmers and Allstate starting showing up at the shop regularly. "I run an honest shop," stated Joyner emphatically. "We fix every car the best we can. I guess people around here know that now. The insurance people, they know the good, well run shops. They know that everything I put on the invoice I put on the car. We don't have to make any compromises to get insurance work." That includes the use of non-OEM crash parts. "We do use aftermarket parts. They have a place, but our use of them is limited."

To make certain that his techs get the most out of the Car-O-Liner equipment, they are all sent to Car-0-Liner's facility in Dallas for training. "All my metal men already know how to use frame racks. I mean, they're pretty simple machines. But they all say that they get something out of that Car-O-Liner school."

 

Working towards I-CAR Gold

"This is a trade," Joyner stated, "and you've got to work people into it." Continental hires apprentices in its metal and paint departments and encourages them to take I-CAR training. "I-CAR isn't hands on, though. It's a lot of theory and rules, and it's expensive," cautions Joyner. "You can't expect that because a man has passed an I-CAR class he can fix a car. Of course, the insurers all want that I-CAR Gold sign, so that's a goal now. We're working on getting our people through the classes."

Joyner is more positive about the new I-CAR welding certification program. "It's very well done. You have to demonstrate real skill to pass. Last Saturday, we took 12 people to take the welding test. That cost $5,000, but I feel like we got some value. "

Pro-Spot welding gear