These 2011 gasoline-engine vehicles get 40 mpg highway: ²
Ford Fiesta SE sedan; city 29; hwy 40; cost $16,785
Ford Fiesta SE hatchback; city 29; hwy 40; cost $17,285
Chevrolet Cruze Eco; city 28; hwy 42; cost $18,995
Hyundai Elantra; city 29; hwy 40; cost $15,695
Smart ForTwo; city 33; hwy 41; cost $15,440

Look for these in 2012:
     Ford Focus SE sedan; city 28; hwy 40; cost $19,585
Honda Civic HF; city –; hwy 41; debuts spring
Hyundai Accent; city –; hwy 40; spring
Hyundai Veloster; city –; hwy 40; summer
Kia Rio; city –; hwy 40; fall
Mazda3; city –; hwy 40; fall

So…if it sounds too good to be true, beware, it probably is. And if you are buying a used car, most certainly include a auto body repair shop, like Capitol Collision, in your list of pre-purchase inspection. It takes a short time and if you are one of our customers, there is no charge for this service.

For more information, please visit Capitol Collision Repair’s website or call us today at 602-253-1630.

As the owner of the vehicle you will need to report the claim. If the insurance company would allow us, we would do this for you but there is specific information about the accident, which they need to speak to you directly about.  It is important to report the claim as soon as possible to avoid needless delays.

When you report the claim, you will be provided a claim number.  Advise the insurance company that you have chosen Capitol Collision as the auto body shop you want to repair your car. Do not allow the insurance representative to direct you to another repair facility. BY LAW you can choose any repair facility. To read more about your rights click the following link:

Call Capitol and give us the claim number and we will handle the entire claim process for you. We’ll even set up the rental car or if you do not have any rental coverage, we’ll provide you with a free loaner car.

Call us today and our experienced staff will make this part of the auto repair process easy for you.  Let us handle it all for you. It’s like having your cake and eating it too!

We make dealing with your insurance company a piece of cake

Working with the insurance company after an accident can be time consuming, confusing and intimidating…and stressful to say the least!

Learn more by reviewing the Motorist Bill of Rights provided by the ASA

Capitol Collision has been a proud member of the ASA since 1987

Step 1. Vehicle drop off & Estimating
Step 2: Disassembly of Damaged Parts
Step 3: Body, Frame & Mechanical Repairs
Step 4: Color Matching and Painting

Our counselors will provide a free visual inspection within minutes and will offer professional advice on helping you with your insurance claim, rental car, and
towing. Digital photos and a full damage report is then sent electronically to your insurance company for they’re processing and approval. Once the approval is in place we are ready to begin the actual repair

This step may be the most important to providing you will a fast repair. During this process the damaged parts are removed from your vehicle that will reveal “hidden
damage” . By identifying all the additional parts and repair procedures required at this initial state, we can order all parts at once which is a great time saving so
parts are not ordered and received piece by piece.

Parts are ordered and our I-CAR trained technicians carefully repair your car to its original manufacturer’s specifications. Our highly-skilled technicians work one
on one and in teams to ensure a fast, quality repair. The frame, welding, and mechanical equipment we use are all state-of-the-art to ensure that each car is perfect.

We use only BASF paint products that are mixed at our site to assure an accurate color match on your car. Our BASF Trained paint teams work together to carefully prepare your car, which will be refinished in one of our two state-of-the-art
downdraft paint and cure booths.

Reassembling your car is just as important as the repair process itself. At this stage we have the opportunity to guarantee the quality of our work from the inside out.
We precisely replace every part, bolt and accessory on he vehicle to exactly the same way it was when it came off the showroom floor, to your complete satisfaction.
Expert buffing enhances the luster of the new finish and provides for a factory product, which looks and feels just like it did when it was factory new. A full detailing is performed so that your car is presented looking like it came off the showroom floor.

Our unique quality control inspection checklists are ONLY available at Capitol Collision Repair. Every technician, body, paint and mechanical, checks for quality throughout the repair process and at the final stage they put there personal
signature of approval of the repairs they performed. The final inspection is the most unique part of the repair where we not only perform a final check on the repairs, but we are final checking our mechanical items and detail of the car. If required your vehicle is test-driven which assures your vehicle will drive like it did when it was new.

To ensure your happiness and we employ CSI Complete, an independent customer satisfaction company who will call you and ask you a couple of brief questions to ensure your complete satisfaction. We take your satisfaction very seriously and for the month end of May 2010 our CSI rating is 99.8% customer satisfied.

Click Here to See The Capitol Collision Customer Service Index Report

Nowadays, every bit helps. We recognize the value of the almighty dollar and have designed this program which will allow you to add a little more green to your pocketbook or wallet.

The way the Capitol Collision Repair Referral Rewards program works is simple. All you need to do is tell your friends, neighbors, relatives or co-workers about Capitol Collision Reair when they are in need of collision repairs. When your referral becomes a Capitol Collision Repair client, we will send you a reward check for $50.00. See, you really can get something for nothing.

When it comes to safety items such as bumper reinforcements, brackets and energy absorbers that can play an important role in the crash management characteristics of vehicles, GEICO insurance has taken the proactive step of no longer specifying aftermarket replacement parts for these components when repairing their customers’ vehicles.

GEICO informed its staff of the companywide policy change this week citing the recent industry dialog surrounding the quality of aftermarket bumper reinforcements.

The company communication states: “As of today, and until further notice, companywide procedure will be to specify only new OEM or recycled OEM bumper reinforcements, absorbers and brackets. It is important that this message be clearly communicated to everyone on your staff.”

As an added measure, to avoid even inadvertent use of these parts on GEICO estimates, the company has modified its claims management software to raise an electronic flag informing the adjuster of the new policy. According to the GEICO notice, if an adjuster inappropriately selects an aftermarket replacement for a safety related part, the adjuster will see a prompt that states “Company Policy is OEM or Recycled.”

The company communication offered the following explanation, “While we are not aware of any issues relative to reinforcements, absorbers or brackets that appear in the CCC database, we are suspending our current policy on aftermarket bumper reinforcements, absorbers and brackets effective immediately until we can gather additional information.”

GEICO also noted that, “Our company continues to support the use of aftermarket parts as competitive, safe part choices in collision damage estimating and repair.”

Mounting Industry Concern

The consumer safety implications of using untested aftermarket parts has taken center stage in industry dialog recently after shocking live demonstrations before industry leaders attending recent meetings of the Collision Industry Conference (CIC) focused a spotlight on the issue.

Leaders saw the stark differences between the collision performance of untested aftermarket parts and their OEM equivalents during live demonstrations given in November 2009 and January 2010 by recognized industry repair expert Toby Chess.

Chess gave presentations including video and live demonstrations that clearly illustrated the inferior construction techniques and materials in some aftermarket crash parts that could seriously compromise the crash management characteristics of a vehicle repaired with these parts.

The Auto Body Parts Association (ABPA), who represents more than 150 manufacturers, distributors and suppliers of aftermarket crash parts, was quick to respond. Earlier this week, the ABPA took the unprecedented step of recommending to its members that they discontinue the production and sale of aftermarket safety related parts unless they have sufficient test evidence indicating that the parts will perform equal to the original OEM part in a subsequent vehicle collision. Specifically, the ABPA suggested a review of five categories of parts including bumper reinforcements, bumper brackets, energy absorbers, radiator supports and steel bumpers.

American Honda is urging all collision shops, independent repair shops, used car dealers, or any non-Honda or non-Acura auto repair facility to check for any applicable safety recalls each time a Honda, or Acura vehicle is serviced, repaired, or inventoried.

To that end, the company has issued a position statement in which it states, “Although American Honda notifies the current registered owner (as identified through state vehicle registration data) each time it conducts a safety recall, not all owners receive such notices (due to change of address or ownership or lack of current registration) and even when notices are received not all owners respond to such notices. If all sales and service facilities were to check for applicable safety recalls for all vehicles that come into their facilities together we can ensure that necessary safety repairs are made to all vehicles owned by our joint customers.

Honda suggest that customers will view this effort as a value-added service and says that finding an applicable recall is easily done by visiting www.recalls.honda.com and entering the vehicle VIN. Any recall for that VIN will be noted, including the status of the repair, open or fixed.

In the event that a recall operation is required, Honda asks that the shop not attempt to service the vehicle but refer the owner to a local authorized Honda or Acura dealer where the service will be performed free of charge.

Customers with additional questions may be referred to Honda Customer Service at 1-800-999-1009, select option 4, or Acura Client Services at 1-800-382-2238, select option 4.

The recalls, to begin by June 14, will affect 18 models of 2006-2009 Buicks, Cadillacs, Chevrolets, GMCs, Hummers and Saturns, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said on its Web site today.

In August 2008, GM recalled about 858,000 cars and trucks following reports of fires resulting from shorts in the system that heats windshield-washer fluid. Dealers installed a wire harness that contained a fuse.

However, the module’s internal thermal-protection device, or solder cup, “did not function as designed,” GM said in a June 4 letter to NHTSA that was posted today.

No injuries

GM said it has learned of five fires, including several that occurred while the vehicle was unattended. The company is not aware of any injuries or crashes.

“While our analysis shows the number of incidents is very small compared with the number of vehicles on the road, we want our customers to have complete peace of mind,” said Jeff Boyer, GM’s executive director of safety.

The models of cars, trucks and crossovers included in the recall are the 2006-09 Buick Lucerne, Cadillac DTS and Hummer H2; the 2008-09 Buick Enclave and Cadillac CTS; and the 2009 Chevrolet Traverse.

Also included are the 2007-09 Cadillac Escalade, Escalade ESV and EXT; Chevrolet Avalanche, Silverado, Suburban, and Tahoe; GMC Acadia, Sierra, Yukon and Yukon XL; and Saturn Outlook.

While 1.4 million of the vehicles to be recalled are in the United States, there are others in Canada, Mexico and other countries, GM said in a statement.

Once the heated-washer fluid system is removed, the vehicles will no longer have the winter convenience of warm fluid to clean the frozen windshield, GM spokesman Greg Martin said.

GM said it plans to pay $100 to vehicle owners as compensation for permanently disabling and removing the heated washer fluid system. If all 1.5 million vehicles recalled are brought in, GM would pay out roughly $150 million, plus the cost of the actual fixes. GM, in court documents, projected the cost of the first recall was between $20 million and $25 million.

The heat is off

The original units, called HotShot, were manufactured by a suburban Detroit supplier called Microheat Inc.

Microheat’s technology gained praise. In 2006, the company was a finalist for an Automotive News PACE Award given annually for supplier product and process innovation. PACE stands for Premier Automotive Suppliers’ Contribution to Excellence.

But after GM’s problems with HotShot began to emerge in 2008, Microheat ceased production of the units and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Microheat’s Web site is no longer active.

For the first time since the recession began, monthly driving exceeds 2007 levels.

The latest government figures show that U.S. road traffic continued to increase in April bringing the number of total vehicle miles traveled (VMT) to within 98 percent of the record highs reached prior to the beginning of the recession, based on a 12 month moving average.

But the real story is that the total number of miles driven in the US during the month of April 2010 rose 3.1 billion miles, or 1.2 percent compared to April 2009, and that puts the April 2010 total well above the pre-recession levels reached in 2007 during the month of April.

Total VMT for April 2010 is estimated to be 255.9 billion miles according to the Federal Highway Administration, and that’s 3.5 billion miles more than the 252.4 billion vehicle miles travelled in April 2007. Since the driving recession began, a few individual months have come close to their pre-recession levels (including April 2009), but none have surpassed it until now.

The cumulative total driving for the year now totals 945.8 billion vehicle miles travelled (VMT), still trailing last year by 1.6 billion VMT or 0.2 percent. This is a positive result, and builds on the gains we saw in March. Considering the February drop of 2.9 percent, likely caused by “snowmageddon,” there were quite a few miles to make up in order to once again overtake the 2009 year to date levels.

On a regional basis, driving increased in every sector across the country, with the North Central region leading the way with a gain of 2.2 percent over the same month last year. The South Gulf region was up 1.7 percent and the Northeast dove 1.1 percent more.

The South Atlantic and West each saw modest improvements of 0.8 and 0.3 percent respectively. The West region was hurt by a 0.5 percent drop in California. The state was one of only seven states that saw a year over year driving decline in April. The other decliners were Nevada (-1.7%) Oregon (-1.2%) Massachusetts (-0.7%) New Hampshire (-0.6%) Georgia (-0.4%) and Michigan (-0.1%).

According to the Energy Information Administration (EIA), the retail price of regular unleaded gasoline rose during the recording period from $2.77 in March to an average price of $2.85 per gallon in April, a 2.74 percent increase. In the coming months, moderating gasoline prices should only help driving gains during the summer driving season.

By Sharon Silke Carty, USA TODAY

DETROIT — A comparison of aftermarket replacement parts for critical safety components such as bumpers and vehicle supports found they often are inferior to parts made by automakers, Ford Motor reported Wednesday.

Ford says consumers are often pressured by insurance companies to use cheaper aftermarket parts for insured repairs. The company said it will push for some sort of review and standardization of aftermarket parts, as well as for consumer warnings when the cheaper, non-standard pieces have been used to repair their vehicles.

The automaker compared copy bumper beams, bumper isolators, bumper brackets and radiator supports made for 2005 to 2009 Mustangs and 2004 to 2007 F-150 trucks and found some of the replacement parts were made from plastic instead of steel or magnesium.

“These are structural parts of the vehicle, and that makes the concern elevated,” said Paul Massie, powertrain and collision product marketing manager for Ford. Air bag sensors are attached to many of these parts, and differences in materials could lead to air bags that respond too slowly or explode unnecessarily, he said.

The automaker decided to take a look at the difference in quality after seeing a presentation by Toby Chess, a repair expert who has been traveling to various collision conferences to demonstrate the difference between aftermarket and automaker parts. He attempts to — and can’t — cut through a high-strength steel bumper beam, the bar that is behind the plastic bumper covers consumers see on the outside of their car. But he easily cuts through an aftermarket bumper beam.

“We were surprised at the gap between original manufacturer equipment and aftermarket parts,” said Mike Warwood, parts marketing manager for Ford. “It’s bigger than we anticipated.”

Consumers often don’t know now when aftermarket parts have been used on their vehicles, says Richard Steffen, district director for Rep. Jackie Speier, D-Calif., who’s been looking at the issue for 10 years.

“People need to know,” he says. “When it comes to safety-oriented parts, we believe they should be told they’ve got non-factory parts.”

That doesn’t mean only automaker parts should be used in repairs, he says, but standards need to be set.

Of course, it’s in Ford’s interest to promote their parts — they sell more than 24,000 replacement parts for car repairs. But the automaker says its primary concern is driver safety.

David Snyder, vice president and associate general counsel of the American Insurance Association, says not all insurers ask customers to take aftermarket parts, and those that do often offer long-term warranties on the parts.

Said Snyder, “The principal motive is to have safe parts, but also to avoid monopoly pricing by the automakers and to offer lower repair costs to the consumer.”