Automotive Repair News Today

Braxton Critcher [00:00:05]:
Thanks for listening to this episode covering the latest industry news across the automotive repair industry. Appreciate you being here. I'm Braxton. Have you seen the latest campaign from Midas? If you haven't, you will. It's on tv, streaming services, social media, billboards. It's called don't put up with B's, aka bad service in their definition. That's what it means, right? Bad service in the industry is a hot topic right now, though. Based on a recent survey, 2000 North Americans were polled and half experienced poor service in auto care in the last year.

Braxton Critcher [00:00:42]:
Two thirds have felt pressured into unnecessary services, not good numbers. So Midas is trying to take advantage. Their CEO, Lenny Valentino, is doubling down on their commitment to transparency and a pressure free environment in their shops. They've even launched a new AV training program to help their franchises and their employees better partner with customers to offer a clear and straightforward advice program. This focus is, of course, not new to many repair shops across the country, as the industry has been working on the perception of the industry for years, but wanted to highlight that recent survey and what Midas is doing to hit the issues head on and work to provide what customers need. Have you noticed that keeping up with ADAs advancements is a challenge? Moving forward with technology in cars is outpacing industry standards for repairs and legal action from the government and insurance policies. And list goes on too. Good things and good improvements for vehicles.

Braxton Critcher [00:01:54]:
But the industry is having a hard time keeping up. So where does that leave us? Not in a good spot, right? Right now, Mima aftermarket suppliers is working towards needed information on Ados for the industry in a new white paper coming out soon. Here's Chris Gardner and Ryan Koyman with more from Mima.

Chris Gardner [00:02:15]:
We need one source of how things are called, how things are described, and what do you do? What do you look for all these things? And so that's one of the things that our whitepaper is calling for, is a industry wide effort to develop a single source.

Ryan Kooiman [00:02:28]:
And so that's really what this group has worked on, is identifying some of that stuff, coming up with some recommendations of not only the pains, but really some solutions here and some recommendations and make a standardized process so the whole industry can get behind.

Braxton Critcher [00:02:42]:
SEMA plans to publish the white paper in September. There are new lemon laws in Colorado. They're set up to strengthen protections when purchasing a defective vehicle. A couple of the updates to point out are expanded coverage that now includes vehicles used by small businesses for both personal and business purposes. It also extends protections, the lemon law protections now last for two years or 24,000 miles, whichever comes first. A vehicle is presumed lemon after three failed repair attempts or 24 plus business stays out of service. Now, it's key to point out here that safety related defects require only two attempts, not three. Also, customers now have 30 months to file a lemon law claim, and there's a clear formula detailed in providing for calculating the deductions from refunds.

Braxton Critcher [00:03:47]:
All of these apply to new vehicles purchased in Colorado. By the way, states like California, Texas and New York have lemon laws for used cars. But most states are like Colorado, where it's on new vehicles for what your state covers. For a lemon, look it up on Kelley Blue Book. The automotive aftermarket charitable foundation has appointed John Carys as new executive director. Caries, with nearly four decades of experience in the automotive aftermarket, was previously vice president of the parts and service group at TBC Corporation. His career includes executive roles at Cooper Tire, Napa and leadership positions within TBC's Big O tires and NTW tire divisions. The automotive aftermarket charitable foundation supports individuals in the automotive aftermarket industry and their families during difficult times.

Braxton Critcher [00:04:44]:
Toledo, Ohio, has launched a $5 million electric vehicle training facility. It's a 11,000 square foot facility equipped with six lifts, rooftop solar panels and one of only six Tesla model three trainer vehicles in the world. It's available to students at Toledo Technology Academy, start high school's auto technology program, as well as current industry technicians in the state of Ohio. Each class can handle 25 students who will earn multiple certifications like ASC XeV electrical safety awareness levels, one and two snap on tool certifications and three M PPE certifications. Many 2016 to 2022 Ford Ecosport and Focus vehicle owners have faced issues getting their cars repaired from a recent recall. The recalls were released due to faulty oil drive belt arms that sometimes would cause loss of power and loss of braking. In fact, the issue left one Atlanta driver waiting months for parts despite her car breaking down in the road. The dealership declined to loaner, forcing her to rely on other costly alternatives after a news organization called Atlanta News first contacted Ford, though she received a loaner car and her vehicle was fixed within three weeks.

Braxton Critcher [00:06:13]:
Ford allegedly has tried to postpone repairs from recalls until warranties expire, but now that they've been called out a time or two, they've updated recalls and they allow now dealers to replace engines as interim fixes. There's also a class action lawsuit in North Carolina on this, where a car owner is accusing Ford of delaying repairs until his warranty expires. Well that's the top news stories from around the automotive repair industry this week. If you know of news though that should be covered on this podcast, the YouTube channel or social media, let me know@braxtonautomotiverepairnews.com. 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.

Braxton Critcher [00:07:19]:
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