The all-aluminum Ford F-150 trucks are set to roll off dealer lots next month—and you can bet that some will wind up in body shops before the new-car scent wears off.
Trucks crash—nothing new there.
But add aluminum to the mix, and the paradigm shifts—repairs require dedicated tools in a clean room to prevent cross-contamination with steel, which can lead to corrosion.
Assured Performance Network has made it easier for F-150 truck owners to find a collision shop qualified to perform the aluminum repairs.
The Laguna Hills-based nonprofit has about 40 workers and $12 million in annual revenue. It administers Ford Motor Co.’s National Body Shop Program, which has identified and certified Ford dealers and independent body shops that will be ready for the new trucks before year’s end. It’s a high bar—a seal of approval comes only after the shops have invested in tools and equipment, facility upgrades, and staff training (see chart, this page).
“Ford very much specified how to repair a vehicle, what tools to use, what equipment to use—and we make sure that the body shops have [those],” said Scott Biggs, Assured Performance’s president. “We send our inspectors on site to get physical proof of compliance.”
Enrollment in the program began in March, a couple of months after Ford unveiled the new F-150, which weighs 4,100 to 5,500 pounds depending on the engine. That’s about 700 pounds lighter than the steel model it supplants.
“We established a goal to enroll 750 independent shops and 750 dealers for a total of 1,500, and we’ve exceeded that,” said Ford Dealer Communications Manager Elizabeth Weigandt.
Hesford
Todd Hesford, owner of Mission Viejo Auto Collision, is one of them. He said he spent $80,000 on upgrades such as staff training, isolation curtains for a clean room, pulse welder and rivet guns, and an explosion-proof vacuum to collect aluminum dust.
“You can’t use (the) same tools on metal that you are going to use on aluminum because of the contamination,” he said. “If you have paint open on (an) aluminum panel and [repair it with a tool] that was used on metal, that’s it—bye, bye part—it’s now corroded, and you can’t get that out.”
Hesford said grinding or sanding steel components releases iron oxide particles into the air, which he can sometimes see floating in his shop as the sun sets late in the afternoons. The particles can land on aluminum parts and contaminate them, so he’s building a “clean room” in the corner of his shop for the F-150s. The area will be isolated with floor-to-ceiling heavy-duty plastic curtains, which when combined with proper ventilation, can also prevent combustible aluminum dust from escaping.
“That stuff is hazardous—you got to make sure you keep it separate,” Hesford said. “You got to have an exhaust system or a vacuum just for those aluminum particles.”
Some 250 to 300 vehicles pass through his body shop each month, about 20% of them made by Ford. The investment in the upgrades for F-150s is well worth it, he said.
“Ford sells one every 47 seconds worldwide—heck, I just ordered one in June,” he said. “They’ve really been doing things right for (the) last few years—you look at their growth, you look at what they are doing, and you look at how they are trying to stay competitive in the market—and for me it’s a no-brainer: Align yourself with them, stay current with them, and do whatever it takes to fix their cars.”
Hesford’s shop had to be sponsored by a Ford dealership to participate. It went into the program under the auspices of Jim Graham’s Santa Margarita Ford in Rancho Santa Margarita, which doesn’t have a body shop as part of its service department.
“I get a lot of their (collision) business, and they get all of my parts business, so it works out really well,” he said. “It’s been a great relationship for a long time.”
$2,950 a Year
Hesford and others pay $2,950 a year to Assured Performance for an annual audit, which amounts to an opportunity to stay on the roster of approved shops. They also get marketing support from the nonprofit’s staff, such as a listing on a Ford body shop locator website and a consumer smartphone app; a microsite for the shop; and in-store signage.
The organization has helped other automakers implement similar compliance programs, including Chrysler Group LLC, Nissan North America Inc., Infiniti and General Motors Corp.’s Cadillac brand.
Independent repair shops pay one annual fee, regardless of how many programs they are certifying for, Biggs said.
The fee covers roughly 40% of the cost of Assured Performance’s inspection and marketing, while manufacturers pick up the rest.
“That’s one benefit of being a nonprofit—we do as much as we can for as little as we can charge,” Biggs said. “Otherwise, it would be cost-prohibitive for a body shop to participate. For us, it’s about making sure the shop complies and provides that proper repair than somebody gouging somebody. This is about making sure consumers have (a) good, smart and safe choice.”
Consumer Protection
Consumer protection is what prompted Biggs to create the nonprofit in 2004.
“I had a personal experience, [and] everybody around me had a personal experience where they were directed by their insurance company to an inferior repair, somebody who didn’t have the proper tools, equipment, training and facilities, and I saw that as a major concern,” he said. “We decided we needed to do something to make sure the consumers weren’t going to be continuously taken advantage of. And you can only expect the government to do so much. At some point you really need an advocate for the consumer.”
Weigandt said Ford has met its enrollment objective, but for Biggs and his staff, aluminum repair certification will be an “ongoing process.”
“2,500 shops by the end of 2015 is our goal,” he said. “We want to make sure that there is a complete blanket of the United States and there is a light in every community that a consumer can reach out to should they ever need it.”
