Analysis of automotive undercover procedures
Auto accident reconstruction
Lemon law
Breach of manufacturer’s warranty diminished value
Statistical analysis of automotive repair data
HAVE A LEGAL CASE INVOLVING A VEHICLE?
Inspection Services of America (ISA) President and Founder Jim Hetherington has been in the business for over 32 years. He is frequently called upon to give testimony in a broad range of situations including those involving nonconformity to automotive Lemon Laws, wrongful death, breach of manufacturer’s warranty diminished value, franchise issues, and other complex disputes. He always backs his expert testimony with thorough written and photographic documentation.
Jim has been qualified as an expert witness in U.S. Federal Court in the area of automotive repair, and undercover inspection and investigative techniques. He continues to serve as active President and General Manager of ISA, regularly bringing innovation to its inspection and reporting systems, staying current with industry standards and trends, and maintaining professional relationships with clients and repair facility personnel.
ISA has provided expert reports and served as a expert witness on cases including:
Harvey and Erdos v. Sears
ISA, along with National Business Systems (“NBS”), developed a proprietary system to capture data from old repair invoices. The specific data captured was incorporated into a database, and the information was used to provide an expert report in the case of the State of New Jersey vs. Sears. The evaluation process involved the analysis of over eight hundred thousand (800,000) Automotive Service Repair documents. ISA was then able to make a final determination of instances where consumers were overcharged. This work was performed for the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs.
AAMCO v. Mark Baker
ISA analyzed the procedures outlined by AAMCO Transmissions Inc. (ATI) for its investigators to use when performing modified and full scale shopping visits of their franchises. ISA compared these procedures against industry standards to determine if the procedures utilized by ATI were consistent with these standards.
ISA’s review included the analysis of the following types of documents: Modified and full scale shopping reports; and Images of vehicle repair documents from the repair facility including: Customer Invoices, Quotation Sheets, External Diagnostic Service (EDS) sheets, corporate forms, and Customer Service Manager notes pertaining to transmission service and/or repairs.
Once the documents were reviewed, ISA compared specific repair recommendations against industry standards established by the Motorist Assurance Program (MAP) to determine if a proper repair recommendation was made to the consumer. ISA analyzed data based on the “Year,” “Make,” and “Model” of the individual vehicles as indicated on the documents. This information was compared against automotive industry standards whereby repair facility personnel follow appropriate diagnostic flow charts as outlined in MOTOR/ALLDATA (ALLDATA). ALLDATA is an information system that provides automotive technical information obtained from the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) and is considered a standard in the aftermarket automotive industry for such services.
Laura L. Venable v. Pete’s Auto Service of Denbigh Inc.
ISA was retained by Bennett & Zydron PC to provide a remote on-site inspection of a motor vehicle involved in a farm accident and an Expert Report on their findings. Mr. Hetherington, along with the Defendant’s accident reconstruction team, inspected the victim’s vehicle at the location of the accident in rural Hillsville, VA. ISA arranged for the vehicle to then to be removed and transported to a local repair shop so a more thorough and detailed inspection could be performed. The transmission was subsequently removed and disassembled. Mr. Hetherington determined the cause of the failure was the result of the omission of a $5.14 grommet and the insertion of a cotter pin. This allowed a change in the geometry of the linkage of the parking mechanism of the automatic transmission. The parking rod failed to fully engage the parking pawl into the park gear. This omission caused the park gear to move when the vehicle was rocked and the vehicle rolled backward down a hill on which it was parked. While rolling backward out of control it hit the victim knocking him to the ground and rolled over him causing fatal injuries.
Among many others.
ISA has developed an exclusive proprietary system for
creating reports which minimizes attorney’s (and their clients)
from exposure during the discovery process.
Ask Jim about this!
Jim’s Background
In addition to his formal college education in Business Administration as well as Auto Repair and Auto Body Repair and Estimating, Jim is certified as an Automotive Master Technician from the National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence (ASE) in all eight of its required categories. He has also earned separate certifications from Union Oil of California in the same eight categories:
1
Engine Repair2
Manual Drivetrain and Axles3
Suspension and Steering (including wheel alignment)4
Electrical Systems5
Engine Performance6
Brakes7
Automatic Transmission & Transaxles8
Heating and Air Conditioning
Jim is also ASE certified in light diesel cars and trucks.
In 1988, Jim founded his own mechanical inspection and consulting company, Midwest Inspection Service Inc., providing service throughout the upper Midwestern states. In 1992, he expanded nationally and started doing business as Inspection Services of America (“ISA”).
About Inspection Services of America
Featuring expertise in:
- Automotive system operation in accident reconstruction
- Statistical analysis of automotive repair data, and
- Analysis of automotive undercover procedures
- Lemon law
- Breach of manufacturer’s warranty diminished value
ISA provides initial consultation at no cost or obligation
ISA has a national network of Automotive Field Inspectors that have performed over one hundred thousand (100,000) mechanical vehicle inspections to date. Inspectors provide clients with detailed inspection reports by performing on-site, mechanical vehicle inspections and evaluations.
For 11 years, ISA has provided the State of New Jersey Division of Law, Office of Consumer Protection, with technical expertise and provided independent analysis regarding automotive repair.
ISA is an active member of the Motorist Assurance Program/ Automotive Maintenance and Repair Association (MAP). In addition to legal professionals, ISA inspection experts are used by the nation’s leading insurance underwriters, providing necessary detailed information to assist them in determining liability regarding pending claims.
