Vehicle Repair

A coalition of automobile trade groups has sued the California Air Resources Board over a new regulation that extends warranties on some vehicle emissions equipment, claiming it could cost its members billions of dollars. The suit was filed last week in Los Angeles Superior Court by 11 organizations that represent the aftermarket car parts and service industry. At issue is a rule, approved Jan.

Dozens of military vehicles plucked from the battlefields of Iraq stand idle and partly dismantled outside a rural Pennsylvania plant, awaiting mechanics, welders and painters who will prepare them for another tour of duty.

State regulators said they would propose measures today that would help motorists fully recover their repair costs when their vehicles are damaged in accidents. Consumer groups have long complained that insurance companies won't pay labor costs that exceed limits set by the insurers themselves. The proposed regulation would set a new formula for determining the limits, which would be based on surveys of auto collision repair shops in the same geographic area.

A 45-year-old man was crushed to death when a catering truck he was working under fell on him after the jack holding it collapsed, authorities said Sunday. His name was not released. "Despite our efforts, he sustained massive crushing trauma" and was declared dead at the scene, said Brian Humphrey, a spokesman for the Los Angeles Fire Department.

The "Mighty Mo," the World War II battleship best known as the site of the formal surrender of Japan in 1945, is heading to the shipyard for repairs. The Missouri, now a decommissioned vessel called the Battleship Missouri Memorial, will leave its historic spot at Pearl Harbor's Battleship Row in October. The 65-year-old Missouri is in good shape, but rust is protruding from peeling paint and the deck is warped and bent. Its exterior is to be sanded down and repainted at the Pearl Harbor shipyard in a $15-million overhaul paid for by memorial reserve funds and a Defense Department grant.

An insurance industry-backed bill that would make it easier for auto insurers to persuade motorists to fix their dents only at company-selected garages won a key vote Friday in the state Senate and should be on the governor's desk next week. Insurers say the bill is needed so that they can give policyholders full information about the benefits of having work done at select auto body shops. Those advantages include lifetime guarantees, fast turnarounds and quality repairs, the insurers say. But opponents -- an unlikely coalition of car dealers, auto body shops, trial attorneys and consumer activists -- contend the bill would weaken safeguards against "steering," an illegal practice in which motorists are pushed with a combination of economic incentives and penalties into taking their cars to certain body shops.

Given recent news about declining car and truck sales, one might assume that selling cars and trucks is a dismal business with few openings for bright people in search of meaningful careers. But like many assumptions, that one is wrong. According to a report just released in Orlando, Fla., at the 89th annual meeting of the National Automobile Dealers Assn.

In the universe of auto accidents, there are high-speed crashes and rollovers at one end of the scale. And at the other end, you have the slow-motion bump. Bumps of anywhere from 0.5 to 3 mph happen with remarkable frequency. Often, there is no visible damage to either car, and then the question becomes: Was it even an accident? Is it worth checking for hidden damage? Should you demand repairs for paint smudges? And how much slack should you cut a total stranger?

Alan Mulally, who became Ford Motor Co. chief executive six months ago, says the company's products are the best in its history. Mulally is probably right, given how much the quality of Ford products has improved over the years. But that doesn't mean every Ford product is flawless or even adequate. Take the case of Belinda Bullock, whose 2002 Ford Mustang GT has only 33,000 miles on the odometer but has needed its rack-and-pinion steering system replaced three times.

The Automobile Club of Southern California fired a manager in its collision repair section and began an internal investigation into the matter three weeks ago, another sign of the controversy that has enveloped the insurance industry's directed repair programs.