Auburn, Wash.—Competition Specialties’ 2013 Mega Jobber Trade Show enthused and inspired customers and vendors alike during the two-day event, March 2-3, at its company headquarters in Auburn, Wash. For 41 consecutive years, the Mega Show has produced profitable benefits for participating customers and vendors, and affords the opportunity for face-to-face conversations between industry leaders and show attendees.  More than 2,500 customers representing individual jobber stores and dealers from 11 Western states and Canada conducted business with more than 100 vendors. Each and every hour of the show, CSI gave away a cash prize of $1,000 and, at the end of each show day, a $...

Memphis, Tenn.—Are you or your technicians trained on how to properly repair a flat tire?  A 2006 study by the Rubber Manufacturers Association (RMA) found that of the more than 14,000 scrap tires they examined, 17 percent had been repaired, and 88 percent of those repairs had been done improperly. The consequences of an improper repair can be dire, including fatal rollover accidents, said Dennis Flanery, national sales manager of the South Region for Bartec USA LLC, which provides tools and equipment for tire pressure monitoring systems (TPMS). Flanery spoke on “Modern Flat-Tire-Repair & TPMS Practices,” March 22, during the Showpower Transmission/Undercar Expo...

Overland Park, Kan.—For Mark Saxonberg, alternative fuel vehicles & environment manager for Toyota Motor Sales USA, the automotive repair industry has been a passion since he was a young kid involved in the family repair business. “I grew up in a small tire repair business environment and witnessed firsthand the difficulties consumers have in getting their cars fixed right,” he said, “so I decided a long time ago that my mission in life was to make life for an automotive consumer more friendly.” One of the major components in satisfying those needs, he said, is making sure that the technicians — dealer and independent — are equipped with the...

Naperville, Ill.–Most collision repairers in the U.S. probably most associate the Spanesi name with the Italian company’s unique Touch electronic measuring system. But step inside Spanesi’s new corporate center and training facility outside of Chicago, and you’ll essentially be walking into a complete body shop with Spanesi’s full line of equipment, including a paint booth, prep station, vacuum system and several of the company’s frame benches.  “The Spanesi Touch has been available in the U.S. for many years through an importer, but there was a disconnect with the rest of the products because that company already had a frame equipment line,...

Elmhurst, Ill.–As the first large market in which State Farm has rolled out mandated use of PartsTrader by its Select Service shops, Chicago is serving as a test of whether the program can scale up to meet the needs of hundreds of shops and vendors in a single market. Ninety days into the roll-out, few of those at an Alliance of Automotive Service Providers of Illinois (AASP-IL) meeting, held near Chicago, had positive remarks about their experiences with PartsTrader. Doug Fiala of Douglas Auto Body in Brookfield, Ill., a Chicago suburb, said the system, in concept, could help him locate new sources of parts. But in reality, he said, “we bounced back to the vendors we’ve...

Grand Junction, Colo.—Aaron Hightower, co-owner of Hightower Supply, a two-store PBE jobber with locations in Grand Junction and Montrose, said his 10-person staff conducts thorough research before providing new products for customers, whether it’s safety related, improved performance, price, or a combination. “We like to offer options if our shops want them, especially with their shrinking margins on paint and materials,” he said. “If we can save them 5 percent — or sometimes up to 20 percent — a month, it’ll add up quickly for them. We want them to make profits on materials.” Hightower said he can often enter a shop and immediately...

Golden, Colo.—Although collision repair shops rely heavily on franchise dealerships for OEM parts, they may not be forthcoming with feedback to suppliers, said Denise Wells, who built her business, Part of the Club, on that premise. “The intent is to get feedback from customers and trend what they’re saying,” said Wells, during an interview with Parts & People and her original customer Ken Kokoszka, parts manager of Christopher’s Dodgeworld and Christopher’s Mitsubishi. Wells, who spent more than a dozen years working as a parts and service representative for Chrysler LLC, worked with Chrysler dealers in Colorado for years to help them grow retail and...

Denver—Efficiency and flexibility stood at the forefront of the 2013 Denver Auto Show, March 20-24, at the Colorado Convention Center.  More than 500 new vehicles were on display at the 111th annual event, which included everything from the revised 2013 Nissan Leaf to a 2014 Toyota Tundra prototype.  Nissan Leaf Director Lisa Farrar said the 2013 Nissan Leaf brings a host of changes to the model line including a new 6.6 kW onboard charger, revised heater system, and a new “S” model with a starting MSRP of $28,800 — $6,400 less than last year’s entry-level Leaf model. Toyota Product Specialist Randy Hunt unveiled a 2014 Toyota Tundra “1794...