Georgia Will Try a Region-by-Region Tax to Raise Money for Roads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Gerber Collision Acquires Evanston, Illinois Shop . . . . . 33 GM and Subaru Issue Recall for U.S. Autos Sold in Korea 33 GM Seeks Banks To Finance Subprime Buyers . . . . . . . 35 GM to End Year With 4,500 U.S. Dealers . . . . . . . . . . . 35 Gulfport, Mississippi, Mayor’s Hurricane Katrina Fraud Trial Starts July 8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Industry Pioneer Earl Scheib, Inc. Folds After 75 Years Painting Cars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Insurance Auto Auctions Moves to Macon, Georgia . . . . 6 Jay Leno ‘Not a Green Car Guy’, GM’s Volt Battery. . . . . 1 Lexus Responds to Engine Valve Spring Problem . . . . . 35 Mass. Senate Approves Right to Repair Act.. . . . . . . . . 32 McGee, Webster- Corvette Re-Initialization Procedures . 22 Mercedes-Benz USA Announces Major New Facility in Jacksonville . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Mississippi, Florida AGs Putting Pressure on BP. . . . . . . 7 Nationwide Study Shows Dangers of Driving While Distracted . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 NCOIL Takes No Final Action on Model Parts Bill . . . . . 33 NJ Bill Targets Vehicles Registered Out of State . . . . . . 34 Paul Davis Restoration Opens National Training Center in FL 7 PPG-Painted Chevelle Auctioned for Project American Heroes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 Schroeder - ECO-Friendly Auto Center in Oakland Park, FL, Walks the Talk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Schroeder, Matrix - Matrix System Automotive Finishes Adds Low VOC and Waterborne . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Smart fortwo Inventor Nicolas Hayek Dies at 82. . . . . . 32 Storm Shelter Funds Available to Mississippi Flood Victims 7 Suspicious Staged Accident Claims Surge 58% in Florida, Tampa Now Number One in Nation. . . . . . . . . 1 Tesla Shares Drop Below Initial Offering Price of $17 . . 29 Toyota Adding More Time to New Vehicle Development 33 Toyota and UAW Butt Heads Over NUMMI Plant Closure 34 Toyota President Apologizes to Shareholders . . . . . . . . 39 Toyota Recalls Lexus HS 250h Hybrid . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 Toyota Received Complaints About Lexus Defect in 2007 37 Toyota Will Launch Green-Car Barrage in 2012. . . . . . . 36 Toyota’s Chief Test Driver Dies In German Auto Crash . 10 TRW's Collision Mitigation Braking Delivers City Driving Safety 30 U.S. Auto Sales Slow in June, Progress in Question . . . 38 Vehicle Mix is Dramatically Changing Aftermarket, Strong June Sales . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 VW-Certified Collision Repair Facility Prog. Announced. 29 Weaver - Answering the Bell (‘I don’t got a gun’) and Remembering Old Sarge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Yoswick - Voices of IBIS—The Annual International Body Shop Conference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Florida Court Rejects Maine Couple’s $11 Million Lawsuit Against Mitsubishi A Maine couple shouldn’t receive $11 million from Mitsubishi Motors for the 2004 death of their son, the Fourth District Court of Appeals ruled June 16. In a 2-1 ruling, the appeals court threw out the 2008 jury verdict, saying Palm Beach County Circuit Judge Elizabeth Maass erred when she refused to let the car manufacturer show jurors charts, photos and video clips of the results of tests it conducted that disputed the theory that a faulty seat belt caused the death of 25-year-old Scott Laliberte. The experts were allowed to tell the jury that the seat belt wasn’t a factor in the rollover accident on I-95 in Brevard County. However, the appeals judges said, that without the visual aids, the testimony was “barren and unsubstantiated.’’ Appeals Court Judge Cory Ciklin disagreed with his colleagues -- Judges Dorian Damoorgian and Melanie May. He said circuit judges routinely are
forced to make such decisions and they shouldn’t be second-guessed. “The trial court sensitively balanced the relevance of Mitsubishi’s demonstrative aids against the danger of unfair prejudice and confusion and made the right calls -- or at least made the calls that were best performed by the person wearing the boots on the ground,’’ he said. West Palm Beach attorney Julie Littky-Rubin, who represented Laliberte’s parents, Donna and Peter, said she plans to ask all 12 appeals judges to consider the case. Based on Ciklin’s dissent, she said she has a good chance of persuading the full court to overturn Damoorgian and May’s decision. Wendy Lumish, who represented Mitsubishi, said she was pleased by the court ruling. Littky-Rubin said she is confident she could again win the case if forced to retry it. However, she said, it would be hard on the Laliberte’s who have already waited nearly six years for justice.
4 AUGUST 2010 AUTOBODY NEWS | www.autobodynews.com
Southeast
2011 Honda CR-Z Sport Hybrid Coupe Pricing Announced 34 4 in North Carolina Arrested on Auto Insurance Fraud Charges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 40% of Drivers Want Vehicles Internet Wired, But Restricted . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Adults in Pickup Trucks Must Now Wear Seat Belts in GA . 7 Amaradio - What Do We Do Now? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Amid Safety Concerns, Hybrid Autos May Be Made Noisier 38 ASA Tours Thatcham Facility in UK. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 Attanasio - 21st Century Collision in Oklahoma City Relies on Chief Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Attanasio - Auto Body Guru Helps Body Shops One Click at a Time. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Attanasio - Pacific Collision Centers Says Relationship with PPG a “Wise Move” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 BMW ActiveHybrid 7 Gets $900 Tax Credit . . . . . . . . . . 31 BMW May Invest $1 Billion in Mexican Auto Parts . . . . 37 Brown - A Brief History of Collision Repair Assoc. of CA. 36 Brown - A Brief History of Oklahoma Auto Body Assoc. 39 Brown - Specialty Paint & Body Repair in Athens GA— A Recycling Specialist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Center for Auto Safety Asks FTC to Look into Enterprise Recall Policy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Chrysler Plans Separate Fiat Dealer Network . . . . . . . . 32 Chrysler to Expand its Belvidere, IL Assembly Plant . . . 39 Department of Energy Gives $24 Million for Algal Biofuels Research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 Driving Laws Sent to Louisiana Governor Jindal . . . . . . . 8 Evans - Building a Pinewood Derby Race Car . . . . . . . . 25 Feds Investigating Mazda3, BMW Z4 for Steering Problems31 First 4,400 Volt Owners Eligible for Free Charging Stations 31 FL Gets First Natural Gas Vehicle Fueling Station. . . . . . . 7 Florida Court Rejects Maine Couple’s $11 Million Lawsuit Against Mitsubishi. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Florida Governor Signs Commercial, Professional Lines Deregulation Bill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Ford Improves SYNC, Drivers Get Alternatives to Hand-Held Texting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 Ford Introduces Curve Control Technology to Assist Drivers on Curves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Ford Motor to Repay $4Billion More in Debt . . . . . . . . . 34 Ford Pioneers Use of Eco-Friendly Soy Oil in Rubber Auto Parts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Ford Recalls Certain Model Year Transit Connect Vehicles 37 Ford to End Mercury Production in the Fourth Quarter . 37 Franklin- Using Fraud And Fear As Marketing Tools . . . . 16 Georgia Collision Industry Association Releases its Labor Rate Survey Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Georgia to Allow Failed Insurers' Clients to Buy Into Insolvency Pool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Indexof Advertisers
Contents
Publisher & Editor: Jeremy Hayhurst General Manager: Barbara Davies Editorial Assistant: Erica Schroeder Contributing Writers: Tom Franklin, Stefan Gesterkamp, John Yoswick, Lee Amaradio, Toby Chess, Mike Causey, Dan Espersen, Tom McGee, Jeff Webster, Rich Evans, Ed Attanasio Advertising Sales: Joe Momber, Christina Shubert (800) 699-8251 Art Director: Rodolfo Garcia Serving Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi and adjacent metro areas, Autobody News is a monthly publication for the auto body industry. Permission to reproduce in any form the material published in Autobody News must be obtained in writing from the publisher. ©2010 Adamantine Media LLC.
Autobody News
P.O. Box 1400, Oceanside, CA 92051-1400 (800) 699-8251 (760) 721-0253 Fax www.autobodynews.com Email: news@autobodynews.com
Aegis Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
I-CAR Education Foundation . . . . . . 38
Autoland Scientech . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Mazda Wholesale Parts . . . . . . . . . . 35
Chassis Liner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Mercedes-Benz of Naples . . . . . . . . . 9
Auto Body Guru . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
BMW Wholesale Parts Dealers. . . . . 35 City Hyundai . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Classifieds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Kia Motors Wholesale Parts Dealers 31
Mercedes-Benz of Gainesville . . . . . 10 Mercedes-Benz Wholesale Parts
Dealers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Crown Automobile Company. . . . . . . 8
Mitsubishi Wholesale Parts Dealers . 37
Ford Wholesale Parts Dealers
Nissan Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . 32
Garmat USA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Performance Radiator . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Edwards Chevrolet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 FL, GA, AL, MS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
GM Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . . . 36 Greenway Dodge-Chrysler-Jeep . . . . 3
Nalley BMW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Palmers Toyota . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Stivers Ford-Lincoln-Mercury . . . . . . . 7
Tameron Hyundai . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Greenway Ford . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Taylor BMW. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Honda Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . 34
VIM Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Gus Machado Ford . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Hyundai Wholesale Parts Dealers . . 30
Toyota Wholesale Parts Dealers. . . . 29
Gulfport, Mississippi, Mayor’s Hurricane Katrina Fraud Trial Starts July 8
Gulfport, Mississippi Mayor Brent Warr, the highest-ranking public official charged with Hurricane Katrina fraud, won’t be allowed to send questionnaires to potential jurors in his federal trial. Warr and his wife, Laura, have pleaded not guilty to charges in a 16count federal indictment accusing them of seeking a homeowners assistance grant for a house they owned but did not live in. They’re also accused of making false claims to their insurance company. Brent Warr’s lawyer has said the charges arose from a misunderstanding about the Warrs’ living arrangements and a beachfront home they were renovating when the storm hit on Aug. 29, 2005. Questionnaires are sometimes used to gauge potential jurors’ views, but judges don’t have to allow them. It’s not clear what Brent Warr’s attorney, Joe Sam Owen, wanted to ask people in the jury pool. Owen didn’t immediately return a phone call Thursday. U.S. District Judge Walter J. Gex III ruled Wednesday that the questionnaire is unnecessary. Attorneys will be
able to question potential jurors in person. Federal prosecutors had argued against using questionnaires, saying a copy of it could be leaked to the media because Warr’s case is so high-profile. “A juror questionnaire is just one more opportunity for the press to comment and try the issues outside of the courtroom, exactly the thing we hope to avoid,” the government said in a motion June 1. The government claims Brent Warr lied when he told FEMA that a home on Beach Drive was his family’s primary residence, and that it was “fully complete, furnished, and occupied at the time of Hurricane Katrina.” Prosecutors say the family wasn’t living in the home. Owen has said Warr bought the house in 2004 and was almost finished with renovations when the storm blew ashore. Brent Warr was already staying there some nights, Owen said. The Warrs face up to 210 years in prison and $4 million in fines if convicted on all counts, though maximum sentences are rarely imposed in such cases. The trial is scheduled to begin July 8.