State Farm – Parts Trader: It’s about losing profit, control, and your very survival.

Posted on 03. May, 2012 by biggs.

State Farms latest entry into the parts business is more threatening, robust and all consuming than anything attempted in the past. This program will destroy the OEM list price, funnel all of the shop and dealers confidential pricing, discount and profit information to the insurer, undermine the OEM parts distribution network, wipe out thousands of OEM wholesale parts dealers, give control of parts pricing to State Farm and other insurers, and eventually eliminate the shops profit on parts. And, that prediction is mild compared to my worst fears!

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A Matter of Life or Death: Do you really want to kill your customer?

Posted on 24. Aug, 2010 by biggs.

All hell broke lose in late January when a demonstration by Toby Chess at the CIC meeting illustrated clearly that at least some aftermarket structural parts are constructed with an inferior weight and grade of metal making them potentially life-threatening to use. Until now, I have refrained from commenting on the friction between [...]

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Op-Ed: THE LKQ SMOKING GUN

Posted on 28. Jul, 2010 by biggs.

EXCEPT FROM FULL ARTICLE (To read the full article, click on read more below:): “If you were on vacation or working double-duty to cover for those around you who were, you may have missed the biggest news story in the collision industry in years or perhaps decades. According to an article by industry freelance writer, John Yoswick, Robert Wagman, Senior Vice President for LKQ corporation told an audience of at least 150 people of their efforts to “get out in front of the guys who are coming after the industry” (aftermarket parts). This was in reference to stopping Toby Chess and others from demonstrating key differences between some non-OEM structural parts and the OEM parts they are intended to replace using a reciprocating saw as their proof. Apparently, in his failed campaign to be elected to the ABPA board, Wagman advocated that the board should take a more aggressive stance like LKQ has and said as much in the speech he gave at the Automotive Body Parts Association’s 30th annual meeting .

Yoswick’s article may have exposed the lengths some will go and want others to go in their mission to drive the sale of aftermarket parts. Some feel the push for profit disregards safety. Wagman aurgues otherwise and says they did numerous tests to ensure the safety of their parts and do not sell any of the parts in question. Regardless, the article was certainly prima-facie evidence* that LKQ did in fact manage to stop Toby’s presentation. The presentation was believed by many as revealing an alarming issue of the use of potentially life-threatening parts. On the other hand, perhaps their only real concern was that Toby was using a reciprocating saw to cut through multiple parts as the “test and proof.” If that was their concern, Ford later addressed it.”

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53 Reasons to Change the Way You Do Business

Posted on 24. Jun, 2010 by biggs.

53 shop employees, including 24 repair shop owners, were arrested and charged with insurance fraud. The five-month-long sting operation in Orange County was geared towards discovering automobile repair shops engaging in fraudulent insurance practices. Every arrested body shop worker and/or owner has been charged with one felony count of insurance fraud charged under CP [...]

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