Gonzales Unlimited - Lamar, Colorado

Gonzales Unlimited Increases
Estimating Accuracy and
Profitability With Audatex
Gonzales Unlimited
Situated along the Arkansas River in the
southeastern corner of Colorado, the rural
town of Lamar is an agricultural center.
Gonzales Unlimited has serviced this rural
community since 2009 by providing topnotch support for everything from severe
weather-related auto accidents to unavoidable
collisions with deer. When the auto body shop
migrated to the Audatex Estimating platform
after working with another vendor, it found it
was able to reduce estimate supplements and
increase the profitability of each completed
job. Audatex has also enabled Gonzales
Unlimited to more accurately estimate labor
time and identify needed parts with precision
and speed.
Industry
Collision Repair
Products
Audatex Estimating™ with 3D Intelligent
Graphics and Color-Coded Substrate
Identification
Gonzales Unlimited
Challenge
Joe Gonzales had a strong desire to
return to his roots, which for him meant
being in the back of the shop painting
and fixing vehicles. With two decades
of collision repair experience under his
belt, most recently as general manager
at MAACO, Joe opened Gonzales
Unlimited in his hometown of Lamar,
Colo.
Lamar lies in a valley on the
southeastern plains of Colorado and has
a total area of 4.2 square miles. Being
the newest of three auto body shops
to cater to the small town, Joe made a
conscious decision to distinguish his
operation in every way possible from his
well-established competition. From the
diverse scope of collision repair, paint
and aftermarket products and services
offered, to the speed and quality of
workmanship, Gonzales Unlimited has
carved a successful business niche in
the midst of a challenging economy.
“We do quite a few insurance jobs
and Audatex has become the de facto
standard in the industry,” explains
Gonzales. “Before implementing
Audatex, every time I wrote an estimate
in a competing estimating solution,
and sent it off to an insurer such as
State Farm, it was being rewritten and
delivered back to me in Audatex.”
This disconnect prompted him to
consider Audatex as his primary
estimating software provider. And as
his business grew, he felt Audatex
would also give him a greater potential
to affect repair turnaround times, and
consequently, customer satisfaction
levels.
In addition, the varied materials now
being used in car parts manufacturing
posed an entirely new set of estimate
challenges for Gonzales Unlimited. In
a growing trend aimed at increasing
the fuel efficiency of motor vehicles,
“Audatex 3D graphics just goes
deeper and more granular,
providing the highest level of detail
so you are certain to select the
right part the first time,”
Joe Gonzales, Owner, Gonzales Unlimited
lightweight carbon fiber and plastics
have replaced heavier steel body
and chassis components. All of
these materials must be accurately
represented in the estimating process
to set the stage for proper repair, and
to maintain the structural integrity of
vehicles.
vehicles. Audatex’ color-coded substrate
identification within its Estimating
software helps him do just that. This
capability gives shops a way to more
accurately and easily identify substrate
materials, and ensure that the right parts,
equipment and procedures are used with
every repair.
To address these and other challenges,
Gonzales migrated to Audatex
Estimating with 3D Intelligent Graphics.
“Generating accurate estimates gets
more difficult with high-strength steel
and plastics, and we are definitely seeing
more cars with those different materials,”
says Gonzales. Now every material
type – from aluminum and carbon fiber
to boron, plastics and combinations of
these various substrates – is graphically
identified by its own color. The Audatex
3D Intelligent Graphics and color-coded
substrate identification have been critical
in helping the shop identify the correct
parts to suit those new materials. Audatex Solution: Fewer
Supplements, Greater
Accuracy
To meet the diverse automotive repair
needs of a farming and ranching
stronghold, Gonzales Unlimited requires
access to information on all types of
vehicles, regardless of size and age. The
Audatex Estimating platform provides
the shop with a powerful database
representing more than 99.5 percent of
the vehicles on the road today, dating
back to 1970, and with more than 2.4
million vehicle parts and over 8.5 million
labor-time values. This comprehensive
data coverage offers Gonzales Unlimited
the versatility to work on virtually any
vehicle type.
In addition to its historical data needs,
Gonzales Unlimited wanted to simplify
estimate and repair processes for
today’s luxury and/or lightweight
“Audatex 3D graphics just goes deeper
and more granular, providing the highest
level of detail so you are certain to select
the right part the first time,” explains
Gonzales. “It saves the hassle and
embarrassment of having to call the
insurance company because we based
an estimate on the wrong parts and now
need to submit a supplement. With 3D
graphics, we know we’ve chosen the
right parts, and that we’ve quoted the
customer the right price.”
Results: Making the Right
Move with Audatex
Gonzales recognizes the unforeseen
ways in which Audatex has helped
his business grow, both by increasing
the profitability of labor times and
minimizing potential time delays in
the repair process. Supplemental
estimates are now a rare occurrence,
with more accurate initial identification
of the exact parts needed and labor
time required to get a job done.
“I average about $1000 more per
estimate with Audatex because the
labor time averages are more accurate
than with our previous system,” says
Gonzales. “People see the quality
of our work and how quickly we can
get their vehicles out the door and
consequently, we get their business.”
Gonzales says the transition to Audatex
was made easier after completing the
online training, which he could do at his
own pace and when it was convenient
for him.
“The live support I’ve received from
Audatex has also been outstanding,”
says Gonzales. “With our previous
solution, I’d have to wait a week just
to get a response from the vendor. The
time savings and support from Audatex
translates into better CSI, and provides
yet another reason that switching to
Audatex has been an excellent move
for our shop.”
Gonzales says, “The time savings
and support from Audatex
translates into better CSI, and
provides yet another reason that
switching to Audatex has been an
excellent move for our shop.”
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