Messages from David Cardella, CIADA CEO
Working Together To Help Each Other
April 6, 2022
There are times when working in this industry you feel alone on an island fighting battles by yourself. I can assure you as a CIADA member that will never be the case. Can we help you solve every problem that arises in the course of doing business? Nope but I can guarantee you we will try and find a solution.
Last year CIADA received numerous calls from members asking why all of a sudden you needed a certified weight slip for vehicles with an out of state title weighing in excess of 4500 lbs. We were as confused as you, but further research found the statue. At your request we instructed our lobbyists to work on finding a legislative fix to stop this unnecessary time-consuming expense. Let me be straight with you Aponte/Busam is the best lobbying firm in Denver. Due to their outstanding efforts explaining to the legislators on why this burden needed to be eliminated our bill SB22-108 passed both the Senate and House 96 yes votes 4 absent 0 no! Governor Polis has signed the bill which will become enacted into law 90 days after this year’s legislative session ends on May 10th. I will send an email in August letting you know when you no longer need to provide the weight slip at your county.
Were we finished trying to solve problems for our members? Nope! We are working hard to fix the aftermarket catalytic converter problem. Our lobbyists have arranged numerous meetings with Colorado Legislators, the Governor’s office, Congressmen and Senators to find a solution. Is it a heavy lift? Yes except CIADA is committed to being there for our members and alleviate this problem. Watch your incoming emails your assistance may be needed on this one.
It is important we work together to reduce everyone’s cost. Fighting and enacting legislation is an ongoing expense that starts with building relationships with the State Legislators. We ask each member to contribute seventy-five dollars to our Pac fund to enable us to build relationships. If you contributed thank you if you have not please contact us and contribute today. The weight bill is proof your money will not be wasted, and we still have more to accomplish.
Have a great spring selling vehicles and remember CIADA is your member owned association!
Auto Theft & Sharing Solutions
March 20, 2022
It is hard to find a phrase that worries a dealer more than auto theft. Okay maybe hail or investigation or embezzlement or bounced check. I think you get my point. There are a multitude of issues we face every day in this industry, but auto theft is one that makes all of us cringe. Each day we work hard to find inventory and separate ourselves from the competition. When we arrive at work to open up in the morning and find our businesses broken in to immediately thoughts come to us on how we would like to deal with the thieves. As business people we have to take a deep breath call the authorities and help them any way we can. We have to take extra steps now to protect ourselves. Cameras, alarms on buildings and vehicles, security patrols, safes bolted to the floors and anything else we can do to protect our business and investment.
CIADA is aware of these hardships. Dealers have contacted us about being unable to acquire theft coverage through their insurance company. We are looking to alleviate this problem, but several factors play a part in the coverage costs and denial. Theft coverage deductibles may become so expensive in the future we may have to look for alternatives to protect ourselves. CIADA is looking for alternatives to these higher costs now so if you have an idea let us know and we will pass it along to your fellow dealers. Helping each other is what has always separated us from other industries and associations.
Pay attention to your operational procedures, stay safe and thank you for being a member of the oldest and strongest state association in the country!
Making Changes
March 15, 2022
One thing we can count on in the automobile business is change, and CIADA is working on making positive changes for our industry. Recently we met with the Motor Vehicle Dealer Board to change the advertising rule. You now need to honor the advertised price for three days instead of five if there is no expiration date included in the ad.
Certified weight slip
Obtaining a certified weight slip for vehicles exceeding 4500 lbs. with an out of state title, as required by statute, has caused needless time-consuming expense. CIADA recognized this and introduced Senate bill 22-108 to remove this requirement. It has passed in the Senate on a 32-0 vote and now goes to the House for debate and consideration. Having received no pushback in the Senate, we anticipate no resistance in the House…but then again… in legislation anything can happen.
Catalytic converters
When Colorado adopted Rule 20, which requires that carb certified catalytic converters can only be used as a replacement part, no one could have predicted it would create so many problems. We knew it would increase costs which we would have to pass along to consumers, but now -with the five thousand percent increase in thefts- the lack of supply has created new problems. Dealers who have been victimized have seen replacement costs quadruple and many have vehicles sitting because of the inability to find a carb-certified replacement catalytic converter. To alleviate the problem, CIADA had our lobbyists garner support from both sides of the aisle and introduced Senate bill 22-009 to allow the use of an aftermarket non-carb certified catalytic converter. Eighteen members showed up, on short notice, to testify in the Senate committee which passed the bill 7-0. Sounds good right?
Unfortunately, the two Senators, Democrat Senator Ginal and Republican Senator Hisey, had to attach amendments removing the use of aftermarket converters. This was because of a twenty million dollar fiscal note the Colorado Department of Health said it would cost to test aftermarket converters to be used. I am telling you this because CIADA called an emergency board meeting to discuss going to the media to fight for the ability of consumers and you the dealer to use an aftermarket catalytic converter. Our dues are the lowest in the country and we want to keep them that way. If we come together to fight as one voice we can spread the cost. Some members can afford to contribute more than others, but in the end all of us will benefit.
Please call me at 303-239-8000 ext. 302 or send me an email at dcardella@CIADA.org to let me know if you can help. We can no longer remain silent as our businesses are attacked or burdened by needless regulation. Thank you for being a member of CIADA.