Mitchell Industry Trends Report examines refinish data

Jan. 1, 2020

2 min read

Mitchell International's first quarter 2011 Industry Trends Report (ITR) features "Paint by Numbers: A Deep Dive Into Refinish Data," by Mitchell's Vice President of Industry Relations, Greg Horn. The article explores whether all vehicles are treated equally in the refinish process by comprehensively examining refinish data for one year of appraisals, comparing vehicle age, type and origin.

The aim of this analysis of paint refinish data is to identify significant differences in average paint blend and masking for overspray hours in estimates, rather than to advocate or refute any OEM refinish procedure or recommendation. Every damaged vehicle is unique, and the proper repair procedure must be done on an individual basis.

"Contrary to what you might think, recent Mitchell data shows that older vehicles - surprisingly including larger trucks and SUVs - tend to receive lower hourly additional paint operations compared to newer cars, newer being one-year-old or less in this case. In contrast, these new vehicles, again those one-year-old and less, may require more blend time than a two-year-old vehicle," said Horn.

Horn added, "There is a good reason behind these differences in paint refinish estimate hours. Larger vehicles like SUVs and trucks feature ample panels with enough area to allow shops to effectively blend the base color within the damaged panel.”

"Our study also took country of origin vehicle mix into account to determine paint refinish hours. In estimates where blending was specified, we found that when we compared blend times by vehicle country of origin, age and type, we saw higher blend hours for European and Asian nameplates compared to U.S. manufactured vehicles - including estimates where masking for overspray was specified."

PAGE 2 Other points of interest in the current issue of the ITR include:

Mitchell’s Q4-2010 data reflect an average gross initial collision appraisal value of $2,864—$137 less than this same period last year. Applying the indicated development factor suggests a final Q4-2010 average gross collision appraisal value of $2,935—a value $66 less than the same quarter in 2009. At $13,567, the average actual cash value (ACV) of vehicles appraised for collision losses during Q4-2010 reflects strong recovery in used car values.

In Q4-2010, the initial comprehensive average severity was $2,536—$22 less than the same quarter in the previous year. Applying the prescribed development factor for this data sets an anticipated final value of $2,591—$33 higher than the Q4-2009 performance. Complete content is available in the latest ITR, which may be downloaded in PDF format at www.mitchell.com.