Liability for body-shop owners is real. Nobody wants to see a judgment against them, especially if the problem is preventable.
But “preventable” can entail many things. If the shop owner and his/her employees do not know the most up-to-date body repair techniques, preventing problems immediately becomes more difficult.
KECO technology is all about avoiding problems, making jobs easier, helping establish great customer relationships, working with insurers for the best outcome, and above all, conducting great repairs.
Yesterday Vs. Today
Today’s vehicles are more complicated than ever. Electronics are everywhere, from standard electric windows and doors to keyless entry to anti-theft and anti-collision systems. This includes what used to be relatively simple items: body panels.
In the past, a body panel was simply a painted piece of sheet metal. Today’s panels may be constructed of a composite, plastic, steel, aluminum or a combination of these materials. Panels may be painted conventionally, and they may also have special coatings and insulation on the inside. Then there are the panel electronics. Newer cars and trucks have sensors that cover the perimeter of the vehicle and are used for parking assistance and blind-spot monitoring as well as lane-departure and pre-collision alerts. What used to be a simple piece of metal is now a sophisticated section of the vehicle that performs many functions in addition to serving as a body or wheel covering.
With so much new technology to consider, it’s easy to see how a technician can mess up the body pane,inviting problems like complaints, lawsuits and loss of customers.
The main reason for poor repairs and the loss associated with them is attempting to repair a contemporary body panel with outdated methods. Traditional body repair methods involve welding studs or attaching keys to the panel in order to pull out a dent. This worked great when body panels were simply a piece of sheet metal with nothing problematic behind and nothing on the surface except primer and paint to worry about. If a technician attempts a traditional stud/wiggle wire/weld key method on a contemporary body panel, he immediately raises concerns. You can’t just weld on studs—what if the rear of the panel has wires, insulation or sensors that could be affected, lights that could be damaged, or anti-corrosion material that could catch fire? Even if you were able to somehow use this traditional method on a contemporary panel, what about the e-coat on the surface?
Welcome to cold repairs.
