LARGEST QUARTERLY MEMBERSHIP INCREASE FOR
COLLISION REPAIR TRADE ASSOCIATION

Forty-Nine New Member Applications In The First
Three Months Of 2007

April 23, 2007

The collision repair trade association at www.ciia.com, who administers to eight regional collision repair trade association groups across Ontario, have reason to feel gratified.

Their campaign to provide more profitability options for collision repair shops is paying off.

The association reported their largest quarterly membership increase ever with 49 more shops applying for membership in the first three months of this year.

Shops are asking about the discounts and benefits with our 26 special vendors including discounts on garage, as well as health/medical/dental insurance. Reaction to our new Accident Claim Penalty (that identifies the increase in renewal premiums charged by your insurer after an accident) and the planned "The Insurance Company Paid What?" program that details the rates insurers pay to shops in your city or town is very positive.

"With complimentary manuals on profitability and marketing to members, our compliance assistance and employee/apprentice grant and incentive programs, we are getting more and more calls from shops," advises Board Member Jerry Gerritsen of Jerry's Auto Body in Beamsville.

For information on joining your local collision repair trade association, please contact our office at 1-866-309-4272 or e-mail info@ciia.com

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DRILLING FOR AUTO BODY WORK
Man Arrested After Drilling Holes In Over 30 Vehicles

April 20, 2007


Hamilton, Ontario police have caught the person responsible for drilling holes in dozens of cars.

A cordless drill, used by a person on a bicycle, was used to drill holes through hoods, doors and panels on parked cars. Then the cyclist would pedal off.

A women was approaching her vehicle late into the evening, and saw a man behind her car, holding a power drill on his hand.

Seeing the woman, that man put the power drill into a bag an pedalled away. Police apprehended him a short time after and found a bag with a power drill inside, close by.

Fortunately, the phantom driller had not yet drilled into a gas tank when caught.

He is charged with one count of mischief under $5000 and a number of auto body and collision repair shops will have a few busier days as they repair the damage.

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BURLINGTON BUS REFURBISHED FINED $135,000
19-Year Old Employee Killed

April 20, 2007

Eastway Inc., pleaded guilty in the Ontario Court of Jjustice to a charge involving the death oaf 19-year old worker at their plant on Ironstone Drive near Appleby Line in Burlington, Ontario.

On July 21, 2005, Doug Klaffke became trapped after a heavy metal hopper basket he had been operating toppled onto its side.

The company must also pay a 25% surcharge, legislated by the Provincial Offences Act, to go toward a victims-of-crime fund.

Member shops of ciia.com can call the office at 1 866 309 4272 or info@ciia.com for their free health and safety kit.

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Q. What is the "Right to Repair"?

A. All new vehicles are equipped with On-board diagnostics (OBD II) - they have computerized parts. In order to diagnose problems, repair or replace those parts, specialized electronic tools and update software is needed. Independent repair shops need the right to access the tools, training and software to repair and service today's vehicles. Many of the car manufacturers do not provide this access.

Q. Who is impacted?

A. Consumers! Without access to information, independent repair garages cannot adequately service the needs of their customers. This leaves consumers without a choice.

Q. Does this impact the Environment?

A. Yes! Fewer choices means longer wait times for repairs, longer distances to access repair facilities and some repairs that are left unchecked - all of which will have an impact on emissions.

Q. Does this impact road safety?

A. Yes! And for the same reasons it impacts the environment.

Q. Do other jurisdictions have legislation?

A. Yes! In the United States, the Environmental Protection Agency mandates that emissions related diagnostic and repair information be made available at a fair and reasonable cost over the public internet.

Q. Is legislation necessary?

A. Yes! For a consistent, long term, made in Canada solution, a legislative approach is a prudent option.

Q. How does the Private Members Bill address the current access issues?

A. Mr. Masse's bill makes use of existing legislative tools by proposing changes to the Competition Act and the Canadian Environmental Protection Act.

Q. What are the proposed changes to the Competition Act?

A. The Competition Act is Canada's primary legislative tool to prevent unfair trading practices. Section 75 of the Act is referred to as the "refusal to deal" section, where remedies may be imposed on companies to sell a product that is required for another company to adequately conduct its business. The proposed amendment to the Competition Act is intended to provide greater clarity for Section 75 by ensuring that "information" is deemed a product.

Q. What are the proposed changes to the Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA)?

A. The proposed amendment would add a new section to the Act that clearly defines motor vehicles, motor vehicle owners and repair facilities. The amendment also adds a "Duty to disclose" feature that will compel the car companies to make information, tools and training available. It also ensures the information will be made available in a timely manor and at a reasonable cost.

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NEARLY ONE OUT OF EVERY FIVE CUSTOMERS CONSIDER SWITCHING INSURERS AFTER CLAIM (U.S.)

A recent J.D.Power and Associates survey of consumer opinion has found that one out of five consumers after an auto accident considers switching insurers.

The reasons war usually that the insurance deductible was more than the cost of repairs, concern that the carrier would increase the premium after the claim or at the advise of their intermediary.

The J.D. Power and Associates 2006 Collision Repair Satisfaction Study found that three factors drive customer satisfaction with the repair experience.

Claims/estimation , voted by 62% of the respondents, body shop noted in 36 per cent of the answers and a rental car at a 2% satisfaction level.

Jeremy Bowler, Senior director of the insurance practice at J.D. Power and Associates, says " Filing an insurance claim is a critical moment of truth that shapes a customer's overall perception of their insurer. Often this is the first time they truly become familiar with their insurance policy. Misconceptions about what is covered by the auto policy or what to expect during the claim and repair process can lead to significantly lower customer satisfaction, which in turn increases the likelihood that the customer may consider switching carriers into the future. "

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NATA's Vehicle Information and Service Tool Access (VISTA) campaign has some good news for the automotive
aftermarket repair industry:

If I am beginning to sound like a broken record, good! That means you've been paying attention. And well you should, because this is probably the most important issue the automotive aftermarket repair industry has ever faced. But I am coming to you with some good news. The tide seems to be turning. We have reason to be optimistic that a solution is on the horizon.

It may not come next month, or maybe not even this year, but our campaign is definitely gaining momentum, and may soon reach the point at which it is unstoppable. In order to explain, let me begin with a quick review.

In May, 2006, when I had just begun to work for the Automotive Retailers Association (ARA), it was reported that out of the twenty-seven OEM technical information Web sites set up under the requirements of US EPA regulations and the Automotive Service Association (ASA)/automaker agreement, twenty-one did not accept subscription registrations from Canada. It was determined that there was a general unwillingness among the Canadian offices of those 21 OEMs to allow their US counterparts to make the Web sites available to Canadians, or to provide any alternative means by which the aftermarket could obtain their service and repair information. Some have flat-out stated that they consider this information to be "proprietary in nature."

Over the summer of 2006, NATA launched its "VISTA" initiative, beginning with an industry awareness campaign. This campaign took the form of a new Web site for NATA Canada (www.natacanada.ca), a brochure distributed to repair businesses, and articles in publications like this one.

We wrote letters to all 21 manufacturers in question, and asked each of them to explain their position on the matter. A few responded quickly, some took up to several months to reply, while others still have not responded at all. Between August and December, 2006, we met with some of the OEMs and their associations. We also spoke with Industry Canada. All of these meetings were constructive and positive.

During the latter part of 2006, we had to update the status of a number of the OEM Web sites. I'm saying "update" rather than "change," because in some cases, it is now unclear whether these sites actually ever were closed to Canada as originally reported. Regardless, in all cases, the update is that the sites are open to Canada, which we will take as a positive development.

As I reported previously, our first meeting was with Volvo, and their Web site's status was the first to be updated from "closed" to "open." General Motors' site was definitely closed for several months but was reopened by September. Apparently, it had something to do with the GST, but the problem was resolved and GM has pledged that their site will remain open to Canadians.

During a random check one day in October, I discovered that Canadian subscriptions were being accepted by Jaguar, Land Rover, Nissan and Infinity. In December, we received a reply from Suzuki Canada in which they told us that their US technical web site is available to Canadians, and I was able to confirm this. I then found that not only is Kia's site open to Canada, but they don't even charge for the information! Again, these had all previously been reported as closed.

In the case of Honda and Acura, I found I was able to link from their Web sites to that of Helm Inc., the "official" Honda and Acura International service information outlet. Canadian subscriptions are accepted there, but without actually giving them my credit card info I could not determine the depth of coverage. It looks to be comparable to the US sites. I also noticed that the Mazda site has a button for "International Orders," but when you move the cursor over it, you get a pop up saying "Coming Soon."

If we remove all of these from the list, we're left with only ten OEMs that remain closed to Canada. Of those ten, the BMW/Mini group appears to be trying to make moves in our direction, and Toyota agreed to look into the situation (which will also affect Lexus). Ford, Subaru, Porsche and Mitsubishi have not responded, and neither has the Canadian Vehicle Manufacturers' Association.

Did NATA's VISTA campaign influence the apparent change of heart by some of the OEMs? At least one manufacturer insider told us that their legal department advised against a public statement. So while they may be acting for the reasons we advised, they seem to prefer acting with little or no fanfare or acknowledgement of our involvement. That's fine. We're not in this for any recognition. The end result is all that matters. Still, it would be better to have a formal agreement instead of it all being a bit of a mystery.

Anyway, that's the good news. But there is a bit of a dark cloud developing over this issue. There are certain parties within our industry whose actions have the potential to divide us over this issue. "Together we stand, divided we fall," so we can't let that happen.

NATA Canada's approach to the information access problem is to continue to pursue a voluntary agreement with the OEMs. The approach that others are taking is to seek government intervention. NATA has never said that it opposes a legislated solution. We simply don't hold much hope that the government will act on it within the short timeframe we have before we won't be able to work on vehicles due to lack of information.

Just because we don't believe a legislative solution is the best way to approach the issue doesn't mean we're about to put obstacles in the way. We're not telling our members to withdraw their support from other associations they may belong to if they don't back our approach. The industry must stick together if we hope to resolve this issue.

NATA does not want to send any mixed signals. We have been very clear from the get-go how we propose to work on the issue, and we have not altered our course one bit. We most certainly don't want to end up with a situation like there is in some parts of the US. I'm referring to the battle being waged between parties still backing Right to Repair legislation and the ASA. Yes, there are groups still pushing R2R bills in the US in spite of the existence of the aforementioned OEM technical information Web sites.

The way I see it, there can only be one motivating factor behind the push for R2R legislation in the US: a deeply rooted mistrust between the OEMs and the aftermarket. R2R backers do not trust that the OEMs will maintain their technical Web sites indefinitely unless the law makes it mandatory that they do so. The OEMs don't trust the R2R backers because they believe such legislation could force them to also hand over their proprietary engineering data and software to aftermarket parts and equipment manufacturers.

Recently, Oklahoma introduced its own version of the Motor Vehicles Owners' Right to Repair Act. The bill proposes that a state government agency and the Oklahoma court system assist repairers in acquiring automotive service information. The ASA opposes the bill because it would put the ASA-Automaker Agreement at risk, and because independent repairers already have access to service information via automaker Web sites, making such legislation unnecessary. As it has done at the national level, and in all states where similar bills have been introduced, the ASA is urging Oklahoma shop owners to contact their state House of Representatives members and ask that they oppose House Bill 1584.

"Right to Repair legislation has failed on the federal level in the last several congresses. Proponents of Right to Repair legislation have now moved to the state level. We hope Oklahoma legislators will also say no to Right to Repair legislation and more government intervention," said Bob Redding, ASA's Washington, D.C. representative.

Of course, this has caused an uproar. David Parde, president of the Coalition for Auto Repair Equality (CARE) fired back, "In its zeal to kill a pro-motoring consumer/pro-small business bill in Oklahoma, and to seal its relationship with the car companies, the Automotive Service Association (ASA) has misrepresented the recently introduced Motor Vehicle Owners' Right to Repair Act to its Oklahoma membership, wrongly stating that the Right to Repair Act will depend on a state government agency and the Oklahoma court system to assist repairers in acquiring automotive service information.

"The legislation only mandates court action by consumers or repair facilities if the car companies do not release the entire necessary repair information to the vehicle owners and repair shops," Parde continued.

So what is the argument? The bill would provide a process by which vehicle owners and/or repair shops can bring car companies to court if they don't provide service information. Where is the contradiction in the ASA statement? Besides, the information is already available, so why is this necessary? Sounds to me like a dog chasing its tail.

Then the name-calling began…

"Falling back on its association with the car companies' clearinghouse called the National Automotive Service Task Force (NASTF), ASA states in its release that they are working through the voluntary National Automotive Service Task Force to assure repairers timely service information via the automaker Web sites," said Parde. "NASTF is Car Company founded, funded and monitored. It's the classic fox watching over the chicken coup," he continued.

NASTF is a "Car Company clearinghouse," Car Company founded, funded and monitored? I don't think so. NASTF is a non-profit organization made up of representatives from the aftermarket auto industry, the US Environmental Protection Agency, automotive associations including the ASA, and automobile manufacturers.

The bottom line is, in the US they have NASTF and the Web sites it oversees. I believe it is likely that many of the R2R supporters in the US are unaware of the OEM Web sites, or haven't tried using them. But here in Canada we have no voluntary agreement or legislation governing our access to OEM service and repair information, so we're at the mercy of the OEMs, and a number of them clearly don't want us to have access at all.

Rather than approaching them in a confrontational or threatening way, we have chosen to demonstrate to them why it is in their best interest to share the repair information with the aftermarket industry. We have developed a pretty strong case. Where we have been afforded an opportunity to present it, we have been successful in identifying some facts that they hadn't considered. At this point, if the government is to get involved, all we're asking them to do is help us get the manufacturers to the table. I'm sure the government would much rather see the industry resolve its issues by itself rather than drafting complex legislation that may never see the light of day.

To you, the grass roots repairer, I say: stay informed and support this cause as you see fit. Just know that we all have the same goal and we must support each other as we take this journey together.

Editor's Note: Our sincere appreciation to Kara Cunningham and Collision Quarterly Magazine for granting us permission to reproduce the foregoing article by Rene Young.

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INFORMATION ACCESS TO OEM DATA AN
IMPORTANT ISSUE FOR NATA

The National Automotive Trades Association (NATA) is a 60 year-old federally chartered "association of associations" formed to provide a unified voice for the Canadian Mechanical and Collision Automotive Service Industry.

For those independent mechanical and collision repair businesses not yet aware of the fact, you have organizations and dedicated individuals working hard on your behalf, behind the scene, to keep you in business. These people employ the same amount of effort you put into retaining your customers and keeping them 100% satisfied.

Some food for thought-

* Where do you think you might eventually be if after a 15-year business relationship, your best client brought his/her vehicle to you for some work, but you couldn't identify or fix the problem due to a lack of information?

* What if your relationship with the local dealer's parts or service departments soured to the point where they no longer cooperated with you when you needed to obtain the information required to diagnose and repair your client's car?

* What if diagnostic information and equipment were not available to you because you are not an OEM dealer?

* What if, due to the resulting frustrations of your technicians, they decided to simplify their lives and go to work at the dealership, or get out of the trade entirely?

* And the beat goes on… these are very real questions in today's very real world.

But how can an independent shop owner fight industry trends like this on his/her own? The answer is, they can't. But thankfully, they don't have to because of the organizations and individuals mentioned above who take on these issues on behalf of all independent businesses. Your provincial and regional associations do exactly this kind of work. They understand the industry, the issues you face, and they are equipped to take the appropriate actions to make your life simpler. Hopefully, if you are a shop owner reading this, and you have a valid reason not to support the people whose sole purpose is to make it easier for you to improve your bottom line, you will drop us a line and share your rationale with us.

Let's try to understand the OEM information access issue from the dealers' perspective. Why wouldn't the people selling a vehicle want to be able to assure their customers that their vehicles can be serviced properly by not only their own service department, but by any competent independent repairer, as well? Would that not constitute a selling feature? What if a breakdown occurs hundreds of miles form the nearest dealership? What if the customer has a long established relationship they wish to continue with an independent repairer?

Is it a sound business model for the OEMs to dictate where their customers can go for service, or should they protect the consumer's freedom of choice? The latter seems to be the right thing to do. Confrontation is not the way… cooperation would seem a much more sensible approach. This is the automotive industry climate your association is working to cultivate.

With the interests of shop owners, technicians and the motoring public foremost in mind, NATA, the Automotive Service Association (ASA), Industry Canada, and the grass roots associations from across North America are working together to resolve the service information and tool access problem. There is no need to reinvent the proverbial wheel. NATA's 'Vehicle Information and Service Tool Access' (VISTA) approach is to mirror the accomplishments of the ASA and the National Automotive Service Task Force (NASTF) in the U.S. With less than a third of the manufacturers still blocking access to their information in Canada, closure to this issue is forthcoming. As in the U.S., our voluntary agreement approach should enable everyone to go abut their business without encountering years of delay and evaporation of funds while pursuing a government-legislated solution.

NATA and its affiliated provincial and regional associations believe that ours is a logical business model that should eliminate barriers on both sides of the issue. Any person whose livelihood depends on our success should support us through membership in the applicable association listed at www.natacanada.ca.

VISTA is the national task force initiative with the mandate of restoring full aftermarket access to OEM service and training information and service tools. The task force consists of provincial and national trades associations under the direction of NATA, acting on behalf of aftermarket service providers across Canada.

"The voluntary approach has been judged preferable due to the quicker implementation timeline that would accompany it as compared to taking the legislative approach, which could be protracted."
Auto Service World, October 5, 2005.

There is too much at stake for inaction…let's all get involved!

Editor's Note: Our sincere appreciation to Kara Cunningham and Collision Quarterly Magazine for granting us permission to reproduce the foregoing article by John Scissons.

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Turn-key body shop in East Oakville. New downdraft booth with make up air. HID lighting. 2 drive in doors and a nice showroom. A/C in offices and lunchroom. 4300 square feet at 886 Winston Churchill. Asking $3300 month + TMI. Great location with traffic in Automotive Complex.

Call Joe Sbrocchi @ Homelife (905) 279-8300 or email jsbrocchi@trebnet.com

MOTIVE POWER/AUTOMOTIVE TRAINING CENTRE

Is Now Offering WHMIS Training For Your Auto Service
Or Collision Repair Business

DON'T RISK A MINISTRY LABOUR OFFENSE ORDER
If your WHMIS Training is not up to date, please make arrangements to attend this session

Location: 606 Rennie Street, Hamilton

Date: Wednesday, April 18, 2007

Time: 6:30 p.m. - 9:30 p.m.

Cost: $60.00 (GST included), per person

Outline: MSDS, warning symbols, diesel exhaust, batteries and isocyanates.

Included: Workbook, handouts, pocket cards, certificate upon successful completion

Pre-registration and payment is mandatory. If you wish to attend, please contact 1-866-309-4272

SPONSORED BY:

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With over 278,000 visitors the Canadian International Auto Show is a major nine-day special event.

With hundreds of new, specialty antique and prototype vehicles on display, it is no surprise why the show reaches so many people during the February 16- 25, 2007 Toronto event.

The collision repair industry information booth at the Autoshow highlighted efforts in the Career Forum room of the many benefits of starting a career in the collision repair, autobody and automotive refinish trade. With information on apprenticeships, co-ops, Ontario Youth Appremiceship Programs and grants and incentives programs, the booth was a busy place for these interested in the collision repair industry. Members of associations across Ontario dropped by as well to pick up brochures and manuals.

Helping at the booth, kindly donated by the National Automotive Trades Association (NATA) were staff from the Skilled Trades Alliance, the Automotive Aftermarket Retailers of Ontario (AARO), volunteers from their Board and volunteers from the collision repair industry, including Mark Delorenzo from Ryding Auto Body. The Canadian Automotive and Service Council (CARS) also supplied significant number of handouts and information packages for the show.

For more information on how to becoming an auto body or collision repair apprentice, and the assistance available for grants and incentives please contact the association at 1-866-309-4272 or email info@ciia.com or visit http://www.ciia.com/provinces/ontario/stepstoapp.html

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AUTOMECHANIKA
CANADA

SEPTEMBER 26-28, 2007
INTERNATIONAL CENTRE, TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA

When would you be most likely to attend a trade show and/or conference program at the International Centre in Toronto, Canada?

Please check all that apply:

Wednesday
10am - 5pm 
12pm - 4pm 
4pm - 8pm 

Thursday
10am - 5pm 
12pm - 4pm 
4pm - 8pm 

Friday
10 - 3 
11 - 4 

Saturday
10 - 5 

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September 26, 27, 28, 2007

International Centre - Toronto

Messe Frankfurt, the producer of eleven Automechanika automotive trade shows around the globe, is teaming up with CarFixWORLD to make Canada number twelve. With over 250 exhibitors and 4,000 attendees anticipated, Automechanika Canada is destined to be our country's largest aftermarket trade show.

To be held September 26-28 at Toronto's International Centre, the show has to be considered a giant leap forward for the Business Information Group (BIG). The publisher of SSGM and other automotive industry magazines, BIG realized that many players in the Canadian aftermarket - suppliers and retailers alike - wanted a comprehensive trade show.

"BIG's intuition and knowledge of the industry encouraged them to bankroll the inaugural CarFixWORLD event held last fall. To leverage that initial success into a partnership with Messe Frankfurt, and roll out Automechanika Canada a mere year later, well... I think that's praiseworthy to say the least," observed HARA President Tony Nigro. HARA ( the Hamilton District Autobody Repair Association), was the prime organizer of the Career Day event at last year's CarFixWORLD show with almost 3000 interested students attending and learning. For more information on Career Day, see: http://www.ciia.com/provinces/ontario/november06.html#2600

Anyone inclined to go "ho, hum" concerning the joint Messe Frankfurt/BIG announcement is missing its significance, according to Burkimsher. This puts the city of Toronto and the Canadian aftermarket on an international stage with Bangkok, Buenos Aires, Dubai, Istanbul, Kuala Lumpur, Mexico City, Moscow, Rome, Shanghai, St. Petersburg and, of course, Frankfurt, where the Automechanika brand had its beginning, he said.

The 2006 Automechanika show in Frankfurt attracted an astounding 165,000 visitors, 40 percent of them from outside Germany. These attendees included a significant increase in top decision makers from previous years. In addition, 96 percent of all visitors were satisfied with the exhibits and product groups at the show. This growth and satisfaction is a trend throughout all the Automechanika shows worldwide, confirming a positive outlook for the future of the industry.

Automechanika Canada will cover the entire spectrum of the aftermarket:

Featured product groups will include parts & systems, accessories & tuning, repair & maintenance, service station & car wash and tires & wheels. Additional programs will include conference sessions featuring product innovation and technical training, career opportunities for apprentices and students, product demonstrations, and industry displays. The three-day event will offer exhibitors the opportunity to showcase their products to thousands of service and repair shop owners, technicians, installers, jobbers, media, and industry professionals.

Discussions are underway with the Ontario affiliates of NATA - the National Automotive Trades Association to again manage the 'Career Day' student activities at the show. AARO and HARA, the Hamilton District Autobody Repair Association, are the current Ontario-based members of NATA, a national affiliation of 'grassroots' service provider organizations.

For further information, visit www.AutomechanikaCanada.ca

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