Digital Camera for Warranty

[Michael White]

Our body shop uses a digital camera daily for sending info to insurance companies. I am thinking of getting one and using it for "verification" purposes for warranty items when you have "that feeling" they will never believe you.
We just purchased 2 Gateway Pentium III 450 Mhz computers to replace the 6 and T65 we used for ESI and Techline. Also has a nice high speed laser printer for it as well. Thinking about hooking it up to this computer. If I was GM and worried about warranty expense, I would probably require dealers to use the camera for proof.
It would also be interesting coming up wuth a list of items to use it for
Any thoughts from all of you about this? I have used the body Shop's camera probably once a month for special situations to protect ourselves. Looking forward to hearing from all of you

Mike White

[This message has been edited by Michael White (edited 05-28-99).]

[sallen1]

Back when we had a Pontiac franchise (1993) we found that there were many paint claims due to delamination. According to the P&P book, we were required to have PHOTOS of the damage prior to repair. Fortunatly, we were told of this issue prior to one of those 'friendly' audits and the auditors were impressed that we actually had the pics.

Ever since, we have taken pictures of everything that seemed appropriate, including body AND mechanical. We started using a digital camera a while back for insurance company requirements and have tried to use it for warranty stuff too, but sometimes it doesn't show the detail and film is easier to store. You will find, unless you have a high res camera, that a 35MM photo shows more detail and that the prints hold up better over time.

My suggestion to everyone: Get a cheap 35mm camera and lots of film. Use it for EVERYTHING you think might lead to questions by your DSM/audit team as to your repair decisions. Remember, a picture is worth a thousand words.

scott

[This message has been edited by sallen1 (edited 05-28-99).]

[robc]

Ford is actually still rumored to get their digital camera use off the ground for warranty repairs. They were mainly interested in trim and soft repairs (in other words, was that a stress crack or really broken).

My suggestion, we have bought two Sony Mavica FD-81 camera for give-aways and I got the chance to play with them a bit. They are wonderful cameras for the price ($750-$800). Extremely great resolution, but best of all they use regular floppies to save the pictures. One floppy can hold 25 (high res.) to 45 (low res.) pictures. That way, you can just get a floppy case, and store the pictures. I could see have a floppy a week (or maybe even a day) labeled and stored. Then on the hard copy just write photo taken 5/26/99 or something like that so you know what disk the picture is on. Of course the RO was opened and closed the same day you'd know.

As Scott said, unless you go higher end the quality will suffer compared to a cheap 35mm. However, at least with a digital camera you know what you got before the pictures are developed.

I would probably go over board and drive everyone nuts, but definitely trim, glass, add-ons (to prove it was needed), excessive assembly jobs, water leaks (with the carpet out and all), etc. etc. etc. I guess I would drive everyone crazy



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** Rob, Editor WD&S **
Help is only a message post away!
robc@dealersedge.com

[jrcal]

I agree that a camera is a great tool for presenting your case to your DSM or an auditor. We used to use a cheap 35mm but since our Body Shop has a nice digital, we now use it to take pictures of everything. The best use so far has been taking pictures of transportation damaged vehicles and sending copies to the transport company ( along with the other paperwork ) and making copies for our files. It is hard to argue with a picture that clearly shows the damage! The advantage of a digital is you can print as many pics as you need and if needed, store the pics on your computer or floppies. I suggest you shop around before you purchase a new camera because the camera you buy today will be outdated tomorrow. ( just like with computers ) Many companies ( like Kodak ) are coming out with better resolution cameras for a cheaper price so shop around.

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JC

[This message has been edited by jrcal (edited 05-28-99).]

[DShipp]

Our dealership was the first in the country to pilot the use of a digital camera for the purpose of recording certain warranty concerns for Ford in the service department. We still have the system in place and have no plans to change. We are required to photograph glass, paint and most hard and soft trim items for authorization prior to repairs. The system works great for us and eliminates the presures of the sales dept. mgrs. asking you to "take care" of certain "damaged" parts, to paint scratched used cars, etc..... The system allows us to deny warranty via declined authorizations for scratched customer trim( seats, etc) and other customer abuse items. As important, we can document and store records of our high dollar warranty claims for future reference if ever questioned...they are approving the work ! We have been on the system for about 1 1\2 years and Ford has just relaunched "Digital Imageing" with new equipment and more dealers. It will be the way of the future as manufactures are cutting back on "real people".

[GreggT67]

Another category to take photo's of is wiring repairs especially when you are looking for a few hours of straight time. It's tough to deny a straight time claim when you have a picture of the dash torn apart.

[Michael White]

Thanks to everyone! Your ideas are great and will be purchasing one this week.

Mike White

[This message has been edited by Michael White (edited 05-31-99).]