"If you're not happy with the outcome you're getting, if you're fighting with these insurance companies about labor rates and you don't do anything to change it, then don't complain about it," said Rogers, owner of Mr. Rogers Auto Body, an 18,000-square-foot shop near Palm Springs.

"You've got to be willing to go through the steps of filing Department of Insurance complaints to try to send the message to the DOI that we're tired of being stepped on," he said. "That's our only avenue in my opinion."

Rogers said he hasn't been shy about filing such complaints.

"I have more DOI complaints filed against insurance companies than probably anyone out there," he said. "I know I'm going to take the bullet. I'm going to get shot at by these insurance companies because I don't think it's right. I've watched my volume taper off a little bit because I'm making waves. That's the way business is. But luckily we're strong enough and have been around long enough that our customer base knows we write it the way we see it, and we fix it the way we write it."

Rogers said he sees his business in a rebuilding phase after dropping most of his company's direct repair agreements, which at their start he said he believed would equally benefit shops, insurers, and consumers.

"Honestly, all it really did was add more profit to insurers' bottom line, shifting costs from the insurance companies right to the body shops," he said. "They got rid of people, and we had to staff up to make those things work. And on top of that, they asked for discounts and concessions."

In recent years, Rogers said he has looked at his business and realized that most of it still came though referrals from his own customers. So although he has maintained his participation in State Farm's program--which he said he sees as very fair in his market--he dropped a half-dozen other insurer DRPs and is rebuilding relationships with dealerships and looking at other marketing methods using the resources he had been "giving away."

Rogers said he and his shop benefit from his long history in the area, where he grew up and took autobody classes in high school; he said he started out prepping cars in a body shop next door to his father's welding shop. After finishing school and working for some time in several shops, he said he opened his own business 27 years ago.

"I paid my first month's rent with a TV set," Rogers said with a laugh.

The business has been in its current facility--about a mile from its original location--for 17 years. Though Rogers said he currently has more space and equipment than his current 10 employees require, he foresees a future rebound.

That equipment includes two paint booths, two Chief frame machines, both Chief Genesis and Velocity measuring systems, two Bend-Pak lifts, and Lincoln Electric and Chief MIG, TIG, and resistance spot welders.

The shop has shot Akzo Nobel's Sikkens paint for 20 years, and has started the transition to Akzo's waterborne line, Rogers said, a change he foresees as fairly straight-forward.

Rogers cited a couple of dealers as among the best in parts service for his shop. Palm Springs Motors is the shop's choice for Ford, Lincoln-Mercury, and Mazda parts, Rogers said, and Crest Chevrolet provides excellent service despite being located 60 miles away in San Bernardino.

Mr. Rogers Auto Body has been a long-time member of the California Autobody Association, and though less active in the association now, Rogers said he has served in the past as president of his local CAA chapter. The association's work on the legislative and regulatory front are important, he said, and the association has also given him the opportunity to develop contacts in the industry outside his local market.

One such friendship actually began when a vehicle owner brought back a car that had been repaired by a Los Angeles-area shop, Rogers said.

"I don't throw anyone under the bus," he said. "Even when I have a chance to bury someone, I call them up and say, 'Hey, I've got one of your cars up here. You need to come over. Let me help you out. I'll talk the customer into taking it back to you, but do me a favor and don't let me down. Fix the thing right.'"

In that particular case, Rogers said, the other shop owner was receptive to his response, and the two now speak often about industry issues and efforts to improve things.

"It's definitely a fragmented industry," he said. "Collectively, we'd have a lot better chance of getting things done. But I'm afraid it's going to take a major catastrophe in this industry for some to wake up."

Rogers said he'd like to see other shop owners follow his lead of taking a new look at their business and realizing that bigger is not always better.

"I can't guarantee that you're not going to get backlash from it," he said he would tell other shop owners. "It's hurt us. We're not doing the volume. But my percentage per job is better. And I can guarantee you that the only way we're going to change things is by changing it, going after it. Draw a line in the sand about as far as you'll go. That's what we've done. Now we're kind of retooling, gearing back up, and ready to take another run at it."