Automotive Repair News Today

Braxton Critcher [00:00:05]:
This is automotive repair news today. Thanks for being here. I'm Braxton Kricher. In the video released last week, the Auto Care Association CEO Bill Hanvey urged the industry to push Congress to advance the Repair Act. Hanvey highlighted that despite the Repair act gaining 56 bipartisan supporters and passing the House Energy and Commerce Committee unanimously, it stuck with about 2000 other bills. The ACA is encouraging all right to repair advocates to contact the representatives using a QR code provided in the video. That same QR code is posted in the show notes. Please use it, share it, and let's work together to get the Repair act moving again.

Braxton Critcher [00:00:52]:
Covered in a podcast released a few days ago on automotive repair news today, Carshield, a company offering repair cost coverage contracts, has reached a $10 million settlement with the Federal Trade Commission over misleading advertising allegations. The company aired a tv ad 18,000 times claiming to protect drivers from unexpected repair expenses with endorsements from Ice T and Chris Berman. However, many drivers found their repairs uncovered despite paying up to dollar 120 a month. What will Karshield do now? They disagree with the FTCS views on its marketing but have made improvements, providing clear information on covered repairs and making full plans more accessible before purchase. Samuel Levine, director of the FTCS Bureau of Consumer Protection, said Carshields ads promised peace of mind but left many consumers with financial headaches. The FTC will hold advertisers accountable for deceptive claims. Jay Kirkendahl, an automotive instructor at Portland Community College in Portland, Oregon, has been named the 2024 Mitchell one Educator of the year. This award was presented at the North American Council of Automotive Teachers Awards luncheon on July 24 in Indianapolis.

Braxton Critcher [00:02:13]:
The annual award honors top educators in the automotive repair industry, and Kirkendall received a one year subscription to Michelin one pro demand software, a Nacato membership and an all expenses paid trip to the Nacat conference at Portland Community College. Kuykendall oversees the auto repair shop lab and teaches engine performance, Subaru U electrified vehicles and light duty diesel courses. He is an ASe master technician, owns green flag auto repair in Oregon, and co founded the Northwest Automotive Technicians Society. Congrats to Jay for his hard work in improving the next generation of automotive professionals. Advance Auto Parts has announced that its motovisual service and repair animations tool is now available in steers, CRM and techmetrics shop management service system. Motovisuals offers over 500 animations covering ADOS technologies, engine management, suspension, brake systems, hybrid and EV systems. Shop owners using motovisuals with steer or Techmektrik can send repair animations and automated communications through steer or integrate them into the DVI workflow in Techmetric. With motovisuals in steer, shops can add repair videos to maintenance reminders sent to customers, providing clear visuals of recommended repairs.

Braxton Critcher [00:03:44]:
In techmetric, technicians can integrate repair animations into DVI, helping customers understand the recommended services. The national average for a gallon of gas has dropped $0.04 since last week, now at 348. This decrease comes as a tropical wave with storm potential approaches the Caribbean Sea. If it enters the Gulf of Mexico, though, expect oil prices to rise despite lower demand, higher oil costs and potential atlantic storms could lead to stable or slowly rising pump prices. Today's gas price of 348 is a penny lower than a month ago and $0.30 less than a year ago. To date, Valvolines non compete agreements have come to an end Colorado attorney general Phil Weiser and six other attorneys announced an agreement to end unfair labor practices at Valvoline. Valvoline has required hourly employees to sign a non compete agreement prohibiting them from working at any oil change store within 100 miles for a year after leaving Valvoline. Additionally, employees would sign non solicitation agreements forbidding them from soliciting valvoline employees or customers for a year after leaving.

Braxton Critcher [00:05:05]:
Under the new agreement, Valvoline will notify all current employees and those who left within the past year that these agreements are no longer in effect within 15 days. This settlement affects 440 current employees and 500 former employees in the coalition states, including Colorado. If valvoline violates the agreement, the state attorney general can seek a $500,000 penalty. Well, it's another week, and there's more bad news for Stellantis. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is expanding its investigation into Stellantis Dodge SUV's due to reports of faulty door locks and windows linked to one death. Initially, a preliminary evaluation of more than 82,000 2009 Dodge Journey suv's began in May 2023 after a passenger was trapped and died in a vehicle fire in December of 2022. The probe has now escalated to an engineering analysis of more than 992,000 journey vehicles from model years 2009 through 2020, which is a necessary step before a recall occurs. The NHTSA has reported 19 incidents related to the issue.

Braxton Critcher [00:06:26]:
One driver in Oklahoma experienced random electrical problems, including doors unlocking and getting stuck locked inside. Another driver in Nashville had to crawl out through the window of her 2018 Dodge Journey when her key fob and window panel failed. A Stellantis spokesperson had this to we extend our sincerest sympathies to the family and friends of the customer who lost their life, and we are providing the NHTSA with our full cooperation. There's a new nonprofit to benefit the automotive repair industry. Announced at the North American Council of Automotive Teachers Conference, the nonprofit will be the International Advanced Vehicle Technology Education and Credentialing Coalition. It comes from doctoral research by Dave McColtz, an automotive instructor at Old Dominion University. His research began during his PhD studies in workforce and organizational development. In his keynote at the 2024 NAcat conference, McCult stated that the nonprofit aims to develop innovative training strategies for technicians, particularly for emerging technologies like EV's and ados.

Braxton Critcher [00:07:39]:
He plans to introduce a skills based certification model for technicians next year. This fall, though, the organization will release industry and program standards for teaching EV repair, targeting various skill levels, from secondary and post secondary programs to Oem and aftermarket training providers. Despite many automakers objections, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is standing by its condemnation of airbag inflators from Arc automotive and Delphi Automotive, saying that they'll soon enforce the second largest recall in us history. At an October 2023 hearing, the NHTSA argued that all 51 million airbag inflators used in 49 million us vehicles by 13 automakers should be recalled. Although the NHTSA called for a voluntary recall in 2013, Arc did not comply. The inflators are prone to rupturing and shooting metal fragments, with an eight year investigation revealing that one fatality occurred and seven injuries due to the airbags. The NHTSA has not finalized its recall decision, but informed automakers last week that they have 30 days to respond before a formal recall demand is pursued. The inflators used in vehicles from 2000 to early 2018 are opposed for recall by General Motors, Toyota, Volkswagen, Ford, Mercedes Benz, BMW, Hyundai, Kia, and Porsche, who argue that the risk is too minimal.

Braxton Critcher [00:09:23]:
Well, that's the top news stories from around the industry this week. If you know of more news that you think should be included soon, email me@braxtonautomotiveriphernews.com. dot that's braxton@automotiverepairnews.com. thanks for listening. Hey, if you're still here, thank you so much for listening to this episode of Automotive Repair news today. If you enjoyed the show, please take a moment like Share subscribe to the podcast that'll help us out a big deal and help grow the show. And you know what? While you're at it, slap on a review, too. If you feel like this content is helpful for the industry.

Braxton Critcher [00:10:00]:
Don't forget to follow us on all your favorite social media platforms. We're on Facebook, TikTok, YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn. Stay connected and be the first to know about new episodes, behind the scene content and more. And until next time, let's make the industry better together.