Fixed Ops Journal - June 2018 - F25

FIXED OPS JOURNAL

DENTS AND DINGS,
OUTSOURCED

Dealers Pro Choice
collision center does niche
repair work sent by
dealerships, even those
who run their own body
shops. Owner Rick
Burgess (bottom, right)
says his shop thrives on
"low-hanging fruit."

 Independent operation relies on work
from dealers with their own body shops

MARK ELIAS

foj@autonews.com

ELRAY BEACH, Fla. - Even dealerships that operate their own body
shops sometimes turn to independent repair centers for help
when their collision work gets backed up or
overbooked. Such outsourcing enables them
to maintain their workflow.
Rick Burgess is such an outside vendor. He
attributes the success of his shop, Dealers Pro
Choice in Delray Beach, to his decision to specialize in niche work for dealerships rather
than take on big jobs that involve engine removal or similar heavy lifting. The shop also
takes walk-in customers.
"There's always dealer lot damage, transport
damage and lease return damage," Burgess
told Fixed Ops Journal. "There's money in
low-hanging fruit. My model was dealership
work, and thirteen dealers later, here I am."
The 13 nearby dealerships that Burgess'
shop serves either lack a body shop or prioritize extensive collision work over the smaller

jobs in which Dealers Pro
Choice specializes. He says
economies of scale and the cost
limits imposed by auto insurers
on some types of repairs make
the numbers work for him.
"With the insurance companies, I charge the standard labor
PHOTOS BY MARK ELIAS
rate" of $42 to $45 an hour, Burgess says, compared with a postin the field," he says. "The large independents
ed hourly labor rate of $125 to $200 at area luxwill get [the most experienced] technicians
ury-brand dealerships. "When they see you
and guys like me are at the bottom of the ladare doing the right thing, they send you the
der. Since I am not a large-scale shop, I can afwork."
ford to take on the younger techs who don't
Burgess' shop employs five collision technihave the big toolbox yet, and help them get
cians, including himself, and fixes 20 to 25
their [industry] certification."
cars each week, he says. "The big shops don't
Schumacher Chevrolet-Buick-GMC-Volkslike doing the work I do," he adds. "If I was a
wagen of North Palm Beach, Fla., is among the
painter, I would rather do 10 bumpers a day
area dealerships that regularly send work to
rather than a single big job."
outside body shops, even though it has its
Burgess says the chronic shortage of autoown collision repair center. Jim Liantonio, the
motive technicians, including collision techs,
dealership's service manager, says the outkeeps demand high for his shop's services.
sourcing serves its customers.
"There are just not enough technicians left
"We want to inconvenience the customer as
little as possible," he says. "So if our body shop
can't handle [a job] in a timely fashion, we
send it to one of our outside shops that are authorized by General Motors. It's a win-win for
the customer, and for me as the service manager."
Liantonio concedes that GM authorizes him
to pay outside collision shops less for some
warranty repair work than it would permit the
dealership to charge. But he adds: "Oatmeal is
better than no meal."
Burgess says he doesn't mind such discrepancies, as long as his shop continues to get as
much work as it can handle and customers'
word of mouth remains generally positive.
"They talk when you do a good job and they
talk when you do a bad one," he says. "We follow up with them, asking for reviews, good or
bad, about their experience. I try to make every customer a marketer for me. We have
some great reviews." 

JUNE 2018

PAGE 25

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Fixed Ops Journal - June 2018