collisionrepairmag.com




June 16, 2009

           

In This Issue
IBIS 2009
AutoQuip Handling Spraybake
Headline News
Quick Links...
Is This For Real?
By Melissa Thanakone

for real? icon

Dumbest Car Thief?
: According to the Post Gazette in Pittsburgh, a woman who had applied for a civilian job with the police was discovered to have warrant out for her arrest in Georgia for having stolen a car. She even drove it to the interview! Police became suspicious during the woman's exam. According to the test, for the question "What would you do if your government provided vehicle broke down during work hours?" she responded, "I would stea...er...borrow a car." The truly sad part...it wasn't an oral exam!  








Switch Out is having a contest! Registered participant that send in at least two collection pails in 2009 will be automatically entered.The winning business will be featured in an article in the 2010 edition of Canadian Auto Recyclers magazine.
Did you Know...?
By Melissa Thanakone

don't know icon

Fast Shred: It only takes about 45 seconds to shred the average automobile into fist-sized pieces of steel for recycling.

Ready, Set, Age: On average a human being spends two weeks of their entire lives waiting for traffic lights to change.
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Fiat has recently stated that with their purchase of Chrysler, the company will concentrate on making smaller cars. But smaller cars do not necessarily mean smaller repair bills.

A recent study by the U.S.-based Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) looked at bumper damage on seven different small cars. The tests modeled a full width hit, front and back at six miles per hour (about 9.6 kph), and a front and rear corner hit at three miles per hour (about 4.8 kph).

None of the bumpers on cars tested by the IIHS earned a top rating of Good. The Smart Fortwo got an Acceptable rating. The Chevrolet Aveo earned a marginal rating. The remaining five other cars (Honda Fit, Hyundai Accent, Kia Rio, Mini Cooper and Toyota Yaris) got the lowest rating of Poor.

In terms of cost to repair, the Kia Rio is at the bottom of the heap. It had the most expensive single repair as well as the highest total damage ($9,380) for all four repairs. The front full bumper test resulted in a repair cost of  $3,701. That's about 30 per cent of the purchase price!

If the big automakers are serious about raising repairability, they should seriously consider going back to the old style of shock absorbing bumpers.

Mike Davey,Editor

Sustainability the Central Focus at IBIS 2009

A new strategy for reducing the number of total losses would be an incredible boon to the repair industry. This was just one of the topics under discussion at IBIS 2009. The 2009 International Bodyshop Industry Symposium ran from June 10 to June 12 at Hotel InterContinental in Berlin, Germany.  The theme of IBIS 2009 was "Platform for Sustainability."

IBIS 2009 opened with Dick Cross, the CEO of CARSTAR's U.S. organization. Cross noted that today's consumers want to "gift" their business, and rely heavily on personal recommendation.

Read more...
AutoQuip Now Handling Spraybake Line

There's good news for any shop with a Spraybake paint booth. AutoQuip has recently acquired the Spraybake parts and service department led by Andrew Fletcher, who has over 18 years experience working directly for Spraybake. Spraybake built their last booth in late 2008, leaving a parts and service gap for anyone owning one.

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Andrew Fletcher of AutoQuip and Kingsley Lloyd of Don Valley North Automotive Group in front of the recently installed Garmat Frontier.


Discovery Collision Receives Environmental Award

Discovery Collision of Burlington, Ontario has received a special Environmental Award for switching to waterborne coatings well in advance of the future deadline as set by the Ministry of the Environment.

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City Collision Services Waterborne ConversionFrom left: Cam Lavender of BASF, John Hido, manager of Discovery, and Tom Langton and Don Teevens of Co-Auto Co-Operative.
Headline News
 
Free Miller TIG Buyer's Guide Now Available
Miller Electric Mfg. Co. has announced the availability of a free TIG Buyer's Guide designed to help the reader make sense of...
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Space-Ray Celebrates 60th Anniversary
Since the original gas-fired burner was manufactured 60 years ago, Space-Ray has become one of the major manufacturers...
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BASF Celebrates 90 Years of R-M Paint
BASF Automotive Refinish has announced that it is celebrating the 90th anniversary of one of its automotive refinish paint...
DuPont to Sponsor Car Painting at WorldSkills
The Honda and Acura brands have chosen AkzoNobel and their Acoat selected  Verified Repair Network (ASVRN) to support...
Collision Repair Talent Search
The search is on! Click here for more information on how you can satisfy your creative side and help the industry at the same time.

That's all for another week. Make sure to visit collisionrepairmagazine.com every day for the latest news.
Sincerely,
 

Media Matters Incorporated
Collision Quote
"Procurement is the insurance company coming and saying, 'Do you mind using day old bread, and some almost fresh fish? Oh, and please turn the tables out quicker while you do it. The general consensus of shops in the U.S. has been to say 'Stay the hell out of my kitchen." - John Yoswick.