Southeast Edition Florida Georgia Alabama Mississippi
31
YEARS
www.autobodynews.com ww ww.autobodynews.com
PartsTrader Costs “$800 in Unseen Business a Month” Says Michigan Parts Wholesaler by Melanie Anderson
Tom Kellogg—the wholesale director for the Zeigler Automotive Group’s 13 franchises in Grandville, MI—has been using PartsTrader the past several months as one of the first test markets in State Farm’s PartsTrader program. Kellogg has been with Zeigler since 2003 and in the industry since 1975. He says he wishes programs like PartsTrader would just go away. “We all know that PartsTrader isn’t the greatest thing out there,” said Kellogg. “I don’t know what I am
going to do to stop it, because from what I understand, it’s pretty much here to stay. We’ve got to figure out how to work around it. Not enough writing was done on it. It’s just going to be the pathway of all things in the future to come. It’s PartsTrader today, and tomorrow it’s going to parts for you, parts for them, and pretty soon there’s a plethora of third-party people involved in our business,” he said. “The ‘beautiful part’ is they are going to allow me to do business with the same people I’ve been doing business with for the past 10 years and See PartsTrader Costs, Page 36
Greg Coccaro Settles with Progressive Insurance
You would have to go through the stress that I did to understand it. Once it was over, I still couldn’t stop thinking about it. It took me two to three weeks to get out of ‘legal mode.’ It never left me night or day for those eight years. It was very difficult for everyone involved, but we did what we did, stood up and didn’t cave. “I think a lot of good came out of the whole thing for the industry in a lot of ways. Anyone who has followed this can understand why. I’m very glad it’s over, and so is my family. It was a little difficult to live through some of the more stressful times, but I’m back and trying to get back to myself and how I was before.” Asked what advice he has to See Greg Coccaro, Page 30
Change Service Requested
P.O. BOX 1516, CARLSBAD, CA 92018
After eight years of battling each other in court, Progressive Insurance and Greg Coccaro, owner of North State Custom in Bedford Hills, NY, have reached a settlement ahead of a Jan. 28 trial date. Coccaro said he could not discuss the specifics of the settlement agreement, but he did express relief that he could finally put this behind him now. “After eight years, it’s pretty weird not having to think about this anymore,” said Coccaro. “I basically can now have my life back and Greg Coccaro spend a little more time working on my business.
VOL. 3 ISSUE 12 FEBRUARY 2013
PartsTrader Discussed at January 17 Georgia Collision Industry Association Meeting Dale Sailer, VP of Business Development for PartsTrader, was the guest speaker at the January meeting of the Georgia Collision Industry Association. The meeting was held Jan. 17 at the Wyndham Hotel in Marietta in Atlanta, GA. Sailer has extensive experience in the collision repair industry. He worked at CCC Information Services Inc. from 1990–1999. With CCC, Sailer was responsible for the rollout of EZNet, CCC’s proprietary Dale Sailer network that electronically connects insurers and repair facilities. He was an original member
of the CCC Autobody Services management team and served on CCC’s cross industry team that developed the first I-CAR training class for collision repair facility front office employees. Sailer gave a presentation to the GCIA on the Parts Trader program, explaining how they got to where they are and how they came to work with State Farm. He also explained the “core principals” that PartsTrader lives by. “He explained that repairers choose what OE’s to invite to quote on parts,” said GCIA executive director Howard Batchelor. “He also said that shops can choose who to order from and when to order. He went on to say that PartsTrader would not share the prices with inSee PartsTrader Discussed, Page 12
New Alabama Association ALARISE Discussed Federal Tax Law Changes, Other Industry Issues on Jan. 12
The new Alabama Automotive Repair Industry Society of Excellence (ALARISE) met January 12 with about 40 attendees to discuss possible concerns related to the recent federal tax law changes, as well as the possibility of working together with the Mississippi Collision Repair Association for a joint conference in the spring. The meeting hosted three guest speakers, I.H. McNeill, III, P.C., Tony Nethery, the current acting executive director of the Tennessee Collision Repair Association, and John Mosley, owner of Clinton Body Shops in Clinton and Richland, MS. McNeill spoke on the changing federal tax law and affects on businesses. Nethery spoke about an association and three things an association can do: • 1) Associations can educate the consumer • 2) association members can work together on common items to bring change; and • 3) association members can help educate each other. Mosley provided attendees an
update on actions being focused on by the Mississippi Collision Repair Association. Mr. Mosley discussed how proper P-page use in the preparation of the repair estimate has led to most insurance companies agreeing to pay for the items that had long been not included on repair estimates and thus not compensated for. The final items addressed in the meeting were the need for members to discuss the purpose of ALARISE to not only the consumer but to other repairers and collision industry vendors Steve Plier and the importance of becoming a part of the association. According to Steve Plier, acting executive director, it is important to ALARISE and the industry as a whole to step forward to support the technical schools and students to work to build more interest in the workforce of the future.
Presorted Standard US Postage PAID San Bernardino, CA Permit #2244