With repairable claims counts remaining down, collision repair businesses need to ensure they are seeking reimbursement for as many of the labor procedures and other estimate line items as they can. That makes staying on top of changes made to the estimating systems more important than ever.
Foglamp Aiming Now a 'Not-Included' Operation in Solera Qapter
Danny Gredinberg of the Database Enhancement Gateway said, for example, that Solera Qapter (Audatex) has added a new “labor exclusion” in its Database Reference Manual estimating guide.
“They’ve added manual or electronic aiming of foglamps,” Gredinberg said. “So this is now a not-included operation. For more and more OEMs, I’m finding that there is a procedure available in their OEM repair information about aiming headlamps or foglamps, and again, that would be considered a labor exclusion, a not-included step [in Solera Qapter].”
Gredinberg said checking for those OEM procedures is important because they sometimes include steps that must be completed before the aiming takes place, such as checking for items stored in the vehicle that are adding weight, checking the tire pressure, and maybe even an alignment of the vehicle.
CCC/MOTOR Updates Cooling Radiator and Air Purge Language
Similarly, estimators and repair planners should be aware of some recent changes made impacting use of the CCC Intelligent Solutions estimating system.
MOTOR Information Systems, developer of the underlying database used by the CCC estimating system, has updated the cooling radiator section, for example. The CCC/MOTOR “Guide to Estimating” had previously indicated that purging air from the system was an included operation, but Gredinberg said a note has been added to indicate that only a one-time purge is included.
“It is really important to realize that purging air from the system is included only one time,” he said. “It’s not uncommon that you have to repeat that effort multiple times, by duplicating purging of air, having to bleed out and evacuate that system, and refill it and purge that system, get it up to a certain level. Again, it’s only included one time.”
R134a vs. R1234yf: CCC Now Differentiates Between AC Recharge Systems
The CCC system also has been updated in terms of air conditioning recharge.
“This was a pretty big update because CCC did not really have considerations identifying the two different AC systems out there,” Gredinberg said.
More than two years ago, he said the DEG had already received at least 40 inquiries related to labor times for evacuation and recharging of vehicle air conditioning systems with R1234yf refrigerant. One shop, for example, had compiled a list showing there were significantly more steps needed to evacuate and recharge a system with R1234yf refrigerant compared to what was needed for a system with R134a refrigerant.
The CCC/MOTOR system now differentiates between recharge of the two different types of systems. For both, attaching, operating, and detaching the equipment is included.
Now identified as not-included in a R134a recharge are refrigerant recovery, adding required oil, leak testing and diagnosis, the cost of refrigerant/oil/seals/O-rings, equipment maintenance, and any retrofitting for R134a.
In a R1234yf recharge, however, vacuum leak testing and checking for leaks using an electronic leak detector are included. Not included are refrigerant recovery, adding required oil manually, the cost of refrigerant/oil/seals/O-rings, leak diagnosis, and equipment maintenance.
“This is all updated and added as a dedicated section [in the CCC/MOTOR guide],” Gredinberg said.
High-Voltage Battery Work Gets Clearer Definition in CCC/MOTOR Guide
Another change in the CCC/MOTOR system involves work with high-voltage batteries.
The guide, Gredinberg said, now spells out what is and isn’t included. While disconnect, removal, installation, and reconnection of such batteries is included in the system’s labor times, those times don’t include any time necessary to deactivate or reactivate the high-voltage system, set up of the lifting table or device, inspection of personal protective devices prior to working with the battery, or testing or replacement of individual battery cells.
Shops can download the latest version of the estimating guide for the system(s) they use at the DEG website.
John Yoswick