L Is for Laws - and Lawsuits

INSIGHT this month is packed with news from courts of law and legislative assemblies. This is heavy stuff. I think I can safely say that our July issue will not appear on Top Ten lists of light, entertaining summer reading.

Our news stories may not be light, but they are very interesting, ranging from Diminished Value in Florida, to a future Sterling in Blue Island, to California’s take on insurer-owned repair facilities and to our nation’s capital for a senate look at "Right to Repair."

Yet another breaking legal story, right here in Cleveland, hometown of INSIGHT and of Progressive Insurance, has been receiving some air time at a local television station. The Number Ten auto insurer is being scrutinized for possible policy pricing differences based on allegations of some unpleasant profiling procedures. INSIGHT is hopeful that the situation can be quickly straightened out. Progressive has been an innovative leader in openly discussing and comparing auto insurance quotes. We will be following the story closely.

Our thanks to Sheila Loftus for a special report from Hammer and Dolly, detailing the settlement by Liberty Mutual of what may very well be a landmark case in the use of non-OEM parts arena.

With the I-CAR national meeting coming up soon, our TrendLine looks at I-CAR from our reader-shops’ perspective. As expected, a large majority of respondents to our survey are pleased that I-CAR Gold Class points can be obtained from other excellent training sources. However, overall shop satisfaction with I-CAR has slipped a bit more for the second consecutive year.

The most troubling figure in our TrendLine is this: Over half of respondents feel that seasoned technicians (employees with over two years of experience) do not have an acceptable level of training.

Speaking of acceptable levels, our feature focuses on Quality Control, with some straightforward advice for shop owners.

Quality is important at Gus’s Garage every month, and Happy Second Anniversary to Gus and to Jake Snyder, his creator/mentor.