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Tempe Body Shop Discusses General Motors’ New Pricing Plan

Right Choice Collision Repair is generally quite excited about new methods and techniques that come up in the collision repair industry. Why? Typically, it means that our jobs become much less challenging, less time-consuming, and less expensive. All of these can have a positive impact for our Tempe body shop customers, resulting in reasonable prices and receiving your vehicle back in pre-collision condition in a timely manner.

Earlier this month, General Motors announced their own addition to the collision repair industry to add efficiency to the repair process that will soon be available to shops. However, this is actually causing some mixed feelings among repair shops and parts distributors about just how efficient their new pricing system, MyPriceLink.com, will be for real world situations. Read on to find out more about the chatter this is causing.

ABOUT MYPRICELINK.COM
In August, this Tempe body shop learned that General Motors will introduce a new pricing system for collision repair shops called MyPriceLink.com. According to the automaker, MyPriceLink was created to reduce the amount of time repair shop technicians typically use to price out parts and create estimates by creating a master list of parts available online. Since their parts and prices will already be available online with competitive pricing, estimators will spend less time looking up prices before ordering.The automaker claims that eliminating steps in the estimate process would result in greater savings and better customer service for Tempe body shop customers.

Presently, MyPriceLink is available to select shops as part of a pilot program to work out efficiency standards with the website and is expected to become available to shops nationwide by the end of the year.

AFTERMARKET PARTS
Part of the concern over the new program is that it was designed to avoid having body shops use aftermarket parts for repair jobs, which has these makers concerned that General Motors plans to price out their competitors. In fact, the automaker is not exactly denying this. When they initially announced their intention to begin testing the program, General Motors mentioned it would be an “aggressive and game-changing initiative” in how repair shops obtain parts and ensuring they use GM brand parts. One member of the aftermarket supply industry claimed it was a direct attack by the automaker and may eventually drive them out of business.

REPAIR SHOP CONCERNS
However, plenty of shops and parts distributors are voicing their concerns about the process and the less-than-positive impact it may actually have for customers. Presently, many Tempe body shop estimators write estimates based on the prices of aftermarket parts, then attempt to get brand name parts at similar prices. While the online pricing system may reduce the amount of time, it also reduces the agency collision repair shops have to determine the best prices for their customers. Some shop owners say this change would force estimators to actually do more work as they are learning the new system and the lack of static prices would decrease the ability to get better deals on GM parts.

For now, at least, we will have to wait to see how this affects the repair industry.