"The times listed in this manual should be used as a guide to fair and equitable estimates of collision damage. certain facts about the times shown should be understood in order to use them as intended."
This begins Mitchell's Procedure Pages from the early 1960s.
Those statements still ring true today, although many things have changed in the world of collision repair. Vehicles are more complicated, repairs are more high-tech and estimating negotiations seem much more contentious. It might appear that things were easier back then, without collision energy management systems, multi-stage paints and direct repair programs. Even hand-written estimates bring back memories of simple times, but remember: these estimates were vulnerable to all kinds of errors, including parts selection, overlap and math mistakes.
There also was little guidance to help write those manual estimates. In the early 1960s, Mitchell's Collision Estimating Guide had two procedure pages. Today it has 48, plus another set for recycled (salvage) parts. MOTORS has 39 procedure pages, plus 53 pages for salvage assemblies while the Audatex Reference manual is 189 pages long including additional system information.
Mitchell's 1960s "Not Included" list had eight points, and they are still valid. Today, access time, seized bolts, removal and replacement of underseal, plugging unneeded holes and glass cleanup are not included. Point number seven states, "All times for welded panels where filling is necessary are for filling with lead, and do not include cost of materials."
Our collision repair industry has come a long way. Along with that, our estimating information has become more expansive. Using computer processing helps apply the rules more consistently, but there are still many repair decisions to be made outside of automated information.
The first sentence from that early statement from Mitchell implies that the estimator is in charge with the estimating system serving only a guide, which is still true today. Indeed, each system does not have all of the answers to all of the variables involved in a collision repair environment. All of the procedure pages, labor amounts and part choices are still a guide toward the goal of all involved parties: "Fair and equitable estimates of collision damage."
The second sentence emphasizes the importance of understanding and using procedures as shown. Procedures for all estimating systems are continuously refined and expanded to help resolve issues that arise with new materials, new repair needs and old points of contention. Hence, procedure pages expand by growing more concise and detailed.
It would make sense when writing with one estimating system to use all of it "as intended." In today's repair environment, there seems to be a trend away from this. One example is partial panel refinishing, where full refinish labor for a repaired panel is arbitrarily reduced without procedure page support or statistically significant time studies to back up such a decision. (See "Repaired-panel blend: You can reduce labor and material dollars," Automotive Body Repair News, February 2007, pages 28-34.) Other examples include not allowing a reimbursement for a second bagging when needed and assuming material costs to be contained in labor amounts, both clearly in violation of procedure page information.
"We don't pay for that" is not a valid reason to bypass procedure page rules, but is a hard one to argue successfully against with first-line insurance personnel. Instead, we see a growing trend by repairers using small claims courts and state legislatures to apply "certain facts... as intended." Is this to be the way of the future?
As our industry continues to evolve, we sometimes need to look back at the basics. As a first step, you should review not only your system's procedure pages but also the importance of their full and proper use. After all, our basic mission hasn't changed. All segments of the industry must do their part to return each vehicle to its owner after safe, quality repairs with "fair and equitable" costs according to "certain facts" — "as intended".
Bruce Burrow, AAM started writing estimates more than 35 years ago, has worked for most of the information providers, and, as an independent instructor for the last 15 years, has trained estimators all across North America. He is ASE Master certified and an instructor for the Automotive Management Institute. Send questions, ideas, and comments that you would like to see addressed here to [email protected] and stay tuned.
