Ensuring sustainability in motor body repairs

The South African Motor body Repairers’ Association (SAMBRA), a constituent association of the Retail Motor Industry Organisation, is concerned about the dilution of business sustainability as a result of the slow erosion of margins and transfer of costs to repairers from certain short term motor insurer business partners, particularly when it comes to paint prices.

Juan Hanekom, national director of SAMBRA says this is one critical area which has the potential to not only impact the end quality of the repair for the consumer, but also place the repairer who carries ultimate responsibility for the repair quality, in a compromising position.

Modern automotive refinishing is highly specialised. Advanced technology todayrequires using cutting-edge paint systems, following strict manufacturerspecifications, and ensuring expert application for a finish that’s durable, precise and safe. “We cannot compromise the quality of the repair with cheaper paints which potentially can result in poor colour matching, faster fading or peeling and offer a lower resistance to weather and chemicals,” says Hanekom.

Accredited repairers pride themselves on quality workmanship and at the end of the day the onus rests on the motor body repairer to provide the client with only thehighest standard of finished product. “Utilising substandard paint may lead to clientdissatisfaction, comebacks, or warranty claims - all of which also hurt both theRepairer’s reputation and bottom line. The situation is simply not financiallysustainable.”

Hanekom says for newer vehicles, using non-approved paint may invalidate paint orcorrosion warranties for the customer and Motor Body Repairers working undermanufacturer approvals are obliged to stick to specified products.

“At present our members are being forced to absorb the cost shortfall to ensure they never compromise on quality levels. For many smaller businesses this is not sustainable.

“The bottom line,” says Hanekom, “is that cutting back on paint allocation in theapproved repair cost, creates a misalignment between cost-saving goals of insurers and the quality standards of MBRs - with clients potentially caught in the middle. It raises ethical, legal, and safety concerns, especially if the insurer’s choicecompromises quality without proper disclosure to the customer. This issue is anongoing discussion with certain insurers.