Brighton, Colo.--Many collision repairers have no option but to sublet mechanical work to other shops. This practice can put a serious dent in profitability, quality control, and cycle time. Five years ago, Darrell Taylor, owner of Brighton Auto Body, took matters into his own hands when he opened a repair shop, A-1 Auto Service, a move that's greatly enhanced the shop his father Keith Taylor founded 40 years ago.
"The body shop definitely feeds the mechanical shop," Darrell Taylor said. "It was started because we couldn't find decent mechanics around town to get the work done in the time we needed."
"It's beneficial to have mechanics working with bodymen, especially with suspension repair and alignments," said Matt Taylor, the collision repair shop manager, who added that his brother, Todd Taylor, is the lead technician for the mechanical repair shop. "Being able to do the work all in the same building is the biggest benefit."
"It's been great," Darrell Taylor said. "I wish I had done it years ago. Very few of the smaller bodyshops will put the money into starting that business." The upfront investment included alignment equipment, scanners, and a tire changer and balancer. At the onset, he said he expected the shop to become profitable after five years, which proved to be true.
"Insurance companies control bodyshops, but not mechanical," Darrell Taylor said, adding that he can maintain healthy profit margins on mechanical repair work fed to it from the collision facility. However, he said, collision repair as a whole is more profitable.
"The bodyshop is much more profitable because of labor," Taylor said. This is possible through knowledgeable body technicians that can beat labor times.
"The crew is not large, but we do produce a lot of work," Taylor said, adding that he has many longtime employees. The crew includes two painters, two bodymen, two mechanics, and a detailer.
One bodyman maximizes his time by exceeding 80 billed hours in an 80-hour period, Taylor said. "When you have guys like that, you don't have to have a ton of 40-hour techs."
"Our bodymen never stand around waiting for supplement approvals," Matt Taylor said. Each technician has five to six bays to work in, and can alternate work between vehicles if needed. "If you're working a little job and a big one and you're delayed because of parts availability, what do you do?" Taylor said.
After 10 years of working with insurance companies, Matt Taylor said he's honed his supplement negotiation skills.
Getting angry with insurers only leads to frustration, Taylor said, who added that he prefers to freely communicate with them to find common ground to get the vehicle repaired properly.
When it comes to choosing which parts vendors to use, Matt Taylor said he's loyal to the ones that take care of him. For OE parts, he said he relies on Burt Chevrolet, Burt Toyota, Phil Long Ford, and Medved Chrysler Jeep Suzuki.
"I'm not a huge fan of aftermarket parts, period," Matt Taylor said. "Owners used to be able to request OE, but now aftermarket and used parts are written into insurance policies." Taylor said his first call on aftermarket parts is Collins Collision Products, then Keystone Automotive Industries.
The shops' painters spray ICI Autocolor, a brand Darrell Taylor said he switched to in 1996 because of its ease of use and color matching capability.
"When I know that it works, warranties are good, and service providers are good, there's no reason to switch," he said. Randy Hoffman from Single Source Inc. has been the shop's paint rep for many years, he said.
Before opening the mechanical repair shop, Matt Taylor said they had to sublet work on vehicles with check engine lights on, mostly eating the cost because it wasn't covered by the insurance company. Now, the shop can do it as a courtesy to the customer at no charge, he said, increasing customer loyalty.
"On a little scratch or something we'll do it at no charge," Matt Taylor said. "They'll always come back. That's something my Dad taught me."
When measuring the collision shop's performance, Matt Taylor said he gains insight to several key performance indicators through his CCC Pathways management system.
An item he said he pays close attention to each body tech's weekly billed labor hours. The minimum is 125 percent and the maximum is 150 percent. The more techs produce, the more they get paid, he said, because they're on full commission. "Without having a bunch of people down here they don't fight over work."
The CCC software also has the ability to electronically merge estimates, eliminating the need to re-key data, Matt Taylor said, saving a lot of time and frustration.
