many new cars

Two tones are not included in the time given to refinish a panel. Two-tone means when there are two different colors on the vehicle. Again, we use a simple formula to determine the time to estimate for this operation. Before we discuss two-tones I am going to touch on edging and painting the undersides of panels. In all of the examples that we have had, we only repaired the parts. Normally when you repair a part the jamb or inside of the panel does not need to be repainted. However, any time you replace the part it will be necessary to paint the inside. For example, if we replace a right front fender and it pays 3.0, that does not include the inside. All you need to do is look in the estimating guide and it will give you the time to for edging or to paint the inside of the panel. The right front fender may state to add .5 for edging. This would give you a total paint time of 3.5 to paint the right front fender.

Now back to two tone. The reason that I mention edging now is this. Many new cars have different color schemes for the insides of the panels. Therefore, you should be able to add for two tone. I don’t know if shops are adding two tone for this operation, but it may be something to consider. To add for two tone add 50% per refinish hour for your fist major panel and 30% for each additional panel. Basically, it is the same formula as clear coat, just different numbers to plug in. However, this does not add the clear coat as tri-coat does. It is possible to have a single stage two tone so clear is not figured into the two-tone time.

If the first panel gives 3.0 to refinish the panel, you would multiply 3.0 x 50% = 1.5. Then you would add for clear coat by multiplying 3.0 x 40% = 1.2. This would give you a total of 5.7 hours to paint, two-tone and clear coat the panel.

Let’s take a look at the same example that we’ve been working on and determine what the refinish time will be with two-tone added.

Body Labor Paint Labor

Repair Hood Panel                      2.5                3.0
Deduct for paint overlap                                    .0
  Add For Two-Tone                                          1.5
  Add For Clear                                                1.2
  Adjusted Paint Time                                      5.7

Repair Right Front Fender          2.0                3.0
Deduct for paint overlap                               -.4
Adjusted Paint Time                                     2.6
Add For Two-Tone                                         .8
Add For Clear                                              .5
Adjusted Paint Time                                  3.9

Repair Left Front Fender         1.0                3.0
  Deduct for paint overlap                              -.4
  Adjusted Paint Time                                 2.6
  Add For Two-Tone                                   .8
Add For Clear                                            .5
Adjusted Paint Time w/ tri-c                  3.9

Total Labor 5.5 13.5

When we hear GPS, we know that Global Positioning System is being discussed. This technology has brought car manufactures to a whole new level of engineering. Many new cars now have On-Star, which is cool. However, now we have the technology for cars to drive and park themselves. Let’s look into what GH technology has to offer.

Cars have come a log way in safety. Seatbelts, added crush zones, air bags, high strength steel, boron steel, and now GH technology. What is GH…..well, GH stands for grass hopper. That’s right; Volvo is studying grass hopers to take safety to the next level. Here is the theory behind this. If you were to walk to a crop filled with grass hoppers, you would notice that they are jumping and hopping everywhere. However, someone noticed that they never collide with each other. They want to take that technology and apply it to cars.

Sound crazy? Well, it does to me, but I have learned never say never. If, you would have told someone about the technology today’s vehicles have, 20 years ago, they may have thought you were crazy. Or here is one that gets me. When I was a kid, I would have never thought someone could take a bottle of water and sell it for the same price or more than other drinks. I would have thought they were crazy. However, you know how that story ends.

Here is a YouTube video about it.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKKvMtcFgaU[/youtube]

Let me know what you think.

Auto Repair Estimates – Part 16 – Adding For Two Tone

Volvo Discovers New GH Technology