For the final episode of the year, Cole Strandberg chats with a friend of the show: John Melendez, owner of JDM Collision. In this episode, they unpack a bold strategic move you don’t see every day in collision—John’s decision to pursue ASE mechanical certifications inside a collision-first operation. We’ll get into the trigger, the roadmap, the investment, and the results: keeping more of the repair in-house, speeding cycle time, and capturing more of the total repair bill without sacrificing quality.

Cole Strandberg: You’re a regular man. Everybody’s trying to speak with you. You’ve been on some amazing podcasts here and elsewhere. It feels like you’re featured in every other article in Auto Body News and beyond. So you’re doing a lot of the really right things and I know that for a fact. I’m proud to know you. I’m proud to consider you a friend in the industry. People are going to remember who you are because they see you and hear you all the time. But for those who somehow don’t, give us a refresher on yourself and on JDM Collision.

John Melendez: Sure. John Melendez with JDM Collision. I’ve owned this business now for over 20 years. It used to be a dealership body shop, which is in Thornton, Illinois, a south suburb of Chicago. And I recently rescaled and renovated the building and added on and looking forward to a new good year, hopefully.

Cole Strandberg: There we go, man. I know you have some crazy momentum heading into 2026, and it’s part of the reason why you are featured in the very first episode of the Collision Vision for this year. So happy New Year to everyone tuning in. Another big reason was sort of chance or fate or however you want to talk about it. I had the chance to meet with my friends at Auto Body News for a grand total of one hour out at SEMA this past November. And during that time, David Johnson walked up. For those who don’t know David, and I assume that’s many of you here in the collision repair industry. He’s the president and CEO at the National Institute for Automotive Service. Excellent excellence, more commonly known as ase. And he mentioned, man, there are some absolute innovators in collision repair that we are working with and mentioned you by name. So talk to me a little bit about ASE certifications and how you view that from a collision repairs perspective.

John Melendez: Well, Cole, I’ll tell you what’s really changed in our industry is that we’re short on technicians these days. So multitasking is probably one of the biggest issues that, or I should say the direction that we’re taking with our staff and including myself, simply because of that talent pool is being very low. And because of that, we also have a direction now with going with ase, which is acquiring the mechanical certification education. I’ve had that over the years with General Motors as a master technician, but come to find out that coupling additional education is helping us identify the damage with these. With the complexity of these newer cars today. And it was just a small candid conversation when David stopped by and he had asked. And then, of course, he was going into detail. I says, I’ve planned on doing this with the rest of our staff because it’s so hard to find new technicians these days. And then it got into the conversation as far as, well, are you able to deal with insurance companies or, you know, in general, to the mechanical side? And I said, oh, absolutely. I’m looking to get additional education with this. And it actually has paid off. And we’re going to go back a few episodes. Colin, we talked about a niche business incorporating that education with that niche business. The ROI is phenomenal. It’s fantastic. But at the same time, we want to make sure that we’re doing the cars right.

Cole Strandberg: I want to dive into that because there’s certainly a operational roi, but there’s also a financial roi. Literally. I mean, there’s some real benefits in this ASE certification in your business. At least that’s my understanding. So you mentioned having ASE certifications or at least being aware of ASE for many, many years in this most recent re or iteration, rather. When did this really get on your radar to say, all right, hold on, there might be something here as we’re fighting these fights to get paid properly and things of that nature. Talk to me about kind of the development of that whole thesis that started Colin.

John Melendez: General Motors decided to get into having the certified program, the certified network, which was back in 2018, which that was the pilot programs that were out. And then going into 2019, when you had the GM repair network, with that coupling with the dealership and continuing education there gave me the status as if I was a normal General Motors certified technician in which that gave me the MO as far as dealing with insurance companies. But take it back. One of the biggest reasons and this we stumbled across this in reference to how we’re getting a return on our investment was it was more the dealership taking advantage of somebody like myself that’s been in the industry for so long and has continued with the center of learning and acquiring all the certifications that are required as these new makes and models come out and incorporating it with iCar. And as we turned around and we went, you know, day after day and continuing and then as the years went on and as we rescaled the shop is when I found out that that certification has more teeth. Because now we’re the niche business. Being that niche business and then having the credentials to back it up, we’re compensated on a dealership level.

Cole Strandberg: That’s one we’re definitely going to want to double click on. When you speak about niche and, and specialization, you’re speaking my language. But at the end of the day, we talked about this before we hit record. 2025 was a challenging year for collision repair. No ifs, ands or buts, claims volume, insurance battles, talent shortage. It was sort of a perfect storm. And obviously this industry is surviving it. Well, that’s what we do, right? We survive and then we thrive. But this is an interesting way of going about it. What issues specifically were you hoping to solve or unlock by pursuing ASE on the mechanical side of your collision repair business?

John Melendez: One, the identification, especially with the ADAS systems that are on these cars today and the complexity of the suspensions and drivability. That was one of the main focal points in which because of us having our own alignment center, I felt that it was important that we did have the credentials to back up the work that we’re performing. Number two is myself and another technician that’s under my belt. It is required to have this type of certification and of course, being able to deal with the insurance companies on that level, understanding that, look, we do have the right equipment in place, we have the credentials in place, but Our main focal point is to definitely identify the damage. Truly, as a certified technician, having the ASC coupled with the I car has given us the ability to say, hey, look, we are truly certified. There’s a big difference in that, Cole, because you’ll have adjusters come out and reevaluate damage. They have no clue, but yet they have a script they follow. I mean, and I’m not trying to be disrespectful in reference to anybody that comes out, but, you know, when you have an individual comes in and hands us a piece of paper and saying, hey, look, this is what we’re going to pay to fix this car, it’s unacceptable. But by having the identification, the credentials, and I emphasize it strongly as that education is giving us the right direction to identify this damage and be compensated accordingly.

Cole Strandberg: It’s a one, two punch. I car and ase, of course, some partnerships here have been announced of late, getting more and more ingratiated with each other. I think that’s a very healthy thing for our industry in the automotive aftermarket. In total. Now, you’ve taken some bold moves here over the past number of years, reinventing your business, essentially. I think ASE is a big part of that, as is your alignment with icar. I know collectively some close friends there. Was there a specific moment or a pattern over that time frame where you realized, wow, I’m. I’m leaving meaningful money on the table?

John Melendez: Absolutely there was, Cole. Especially when I started to look into the ASC modules and taking that into consideration and seeing exactly which ones I need to incorporate. Or for instance, the ones that I have through General Motors where I could test myself out. But just going through that, it provoked me to go ahead and write. I wrote a complete breakdown, taking my existing education and coupling it with ASCs and seeing where the shortfalls, shortfalls are. And then how can I achieve that next level master status? Because of the initial dealings with the dealership, I was like, wow, I am totally missing out by not incorporating the rest of this. And it is truly going to benefit us on a financial standpoint. But at the same time, it was stumbled across because we really wanted to get more involved in doing proper, safe repairs and didn’t realize that it was in front of me all this time. And knowing that, being that niche business, it gave us that ability to charge accordingly. So couple that all together over the past year, it really made a lot of sense. And I have been taking care of the way. The way the shop should be, Cole. Including myself, and taking in consideration the investment with all the tools that we have in place, the alignment racks, the tire machines, and having the education to back that up has made it so much easier. Easier for us to achieve a good return on this investment.

Cole Strandberg: And that return, I reiterate, is twofold.

John Melendez: Right.

Cole Strandberg: Number one, it’s ensuring that you’re repairing vehicles properly, which is truly life and death. It’s the number one most important thing and the reason we’re in business. Number two, is related to that, and that’s financial. And I do want to go deeper into the financial implications and some of the financial battles that you’re winning, at least in part due to these ASE certifications before we do, a little bit deeper of a dive into your business. Obviously, you, at some point or currently are or were a master tech, ASE certified. Were you subbing out mechanical work before that? You guys either didn’t feel comfortable working on, were not appropriately certified in doing, or has this just really given you some superpower to make sure you feel really, really good about it and charging for it?

John Melendez: No, sir. We actually did sublet it out. I had a lot more networking with the dealerships and of course, you know, outside services, alignment centers for tire mounting and balancing. And Cole, what provoked it is I got tired of getting a car back that wasn’t properly aligned or at the same time, it went to the dealership, and they didn’t bother to check anything else. And if we weren’t specific as far as what we needed in reference to finish off our job, anything else over and above that, there’s blinders on. So when you start looking at that and then your exposure, your liability exposure when you sublet out is still the responsibility of that shop. So with that in mind, that’s what took us to the level which I need to rescale. I need to get this thing in a position in which now, with how advanced ADAS is, I need to get an alignment center in place. I need to get the tires mounting and balancing in place. And then at the same time, I need to have the education to couple that. And that took this business to a whole new level. And when you look at. There’s. I’m sure there’s shops out there, they’re in the same predicament, or I should say, the same status that we are today. And they’re finding out, subletting that work out was like, wow, now you’re looking at it, and it’s like, you still are responsible on the liability side, so why not make the investment and make it work for ourselves?

Cole Strandberg: Now, financially ROI on that. I’m not going to ask how much more money you’re making by keeping this in house or anything like that, but I imagine there’s some significant margin recapture. I mean, alignments, famously, are one of the most profitable things that a dealership does to bring that in house. If you have the car account, I imagine that’s a great thing. Can you do your best to quantify by how this has impacted your business financially?

John Melendez: We have not opened it up to the general public yet. We’ve been just doing it for ourselves, just trying to. Because I want to make sure all our certifications are in order. Not saying that we don’t have the ability or we don’t have the credentials, which we do on my side of defense, but as I have my apprentices working underneath me, I’m bringing them up to play. To give an example, just from what the sales were previous years before we rescaled and retooled this entire shop, the pace that this month in January, we came running out of the gate, the business is going to double.

Cole Strandberg: Wow, man. Hot start.

John Melendez: And I didn’t. Yes, extremely hot start. So. And it was like, holy cow. And I just started breaking down and seeing where we’re at because we did acquire some new employees for the first of the year, which were very fortunate. But when I looked at this, and it’s still, and I’m going to be repetitive, we still have not opened up the calibration and alignment center yet. And we’re sitting on this level of a. Of a return.

Cole Strandberg: You know, I, I speak with private equity groups all the time speaking about ancillary services for collision. The idea of bringing alignments and calibrations in the fold of collision repair. And a question always comes up with, how does the upside outweigh distraction or risk from adding services and potentially taking the eye off the ball from your collision repair core? Were you worried about any distractions or kind of your focus going elsewhere when these services were brought into the fold?

John Melendez: Yeah, I mean, just from the past experience, and then at the same time not having the right type of people in place to make this work and getting into trenches myself. And, and I’ll emphasize this like I did when I was talking with Jay. I’m not getting any younger. I want to pass this torch. Cole and I just got to make sure that we have the right nucleus and the right people in place to do this. But having it in house and seeing it firsthand and what is required and making sure it’s done right, it really reassures us that we are doing a proper, safe repair. And that’s what I’m going to sell it on is it’s right there in front of us. And being an owner that’s not absentee and is in the trenches, or at least evaluating and making sure your cars are done properly is going to make your business that much more profitable.

Cole Strandberg: Put good things out there, put good product, good service out there, Good things are typically going to happen financially. Big believer in that now. Want to go back and double click on the ASC side of things? You know, on occasion you’ll go to a shop and you’ll see I car plastered everywhere. Right. Hopefully across the industry. You’ll occasionally see an ASE seal there as well. But for those not familiar with ase, the whole process, how it compares and contrasts with what you’re learning with icar, talk to me. Kind of break it down for me. Are there different certifications for ASE like there are for icar? Do you get one ASE stamp of approval? How do things work mechanically there?

John Melendez: You know, Cole, we’ll go back to the 90s. I acquired the ASE certification in reference to the body segment. You had all the different modules. I think there’s six of them. Okay. Each individual body, two, three, four, five and six. I was able to acquire that back then knowing that that blue seal was important at the dealership that I worked for. And then of course, I incorporated going through with the mechanical site take into consideration I carve for structural and everything else that’s there. But ASC has always been at that top level for any mechanic that was in. Now, remember, I came from the dealership world. My body shop that I purchased was from a dealer. So I’ve always had that mindset that ASC was the direction for education, let alone what the manufacturer, I should say, the brand had available for us to move forward. So, and. And I’ve seen things change over the years for asc and I really love the direction they’re going now with the modules that they have and how that’s going to help incorporate and enhance my business as I continue in this direction with other manufacturers. But it is, it is pertinent in that body shop. If they had that right technician in place, they will be compensated accordingly. But what we found out, where we get a lot of feedback, or I should say resistance in this is that they’re not that niche business. And when you could show that you specialize, there’s no. They will compensate you accordingly. And let me tell you something. And I got that off you many years ago and it really struck a chord and it’s, it’s really truly these businesses and these single shop operators, they can concentrate in that area. You don’t have to be big. You get the right people in there that are going to multitask. They really can get a return. They truly can.

Cole Strandberg: It’s one of a few amazing options. I big believer. I’ll be a broken record on this one, but such a big believer in that specialization. Be really, really good at what you’re doing. It’s a great thing.

John Melendez: Now you mentioned that blue seal is really needed though Cole. I got off the subject there because I get excited because like I said it was something that we were just coming down that road and next thing I was like whoa, wait a minute. It’s right here in front of us. It always has been and it’s just a matter of applying yourself and that does take time and it is an investment. But the direction that ASC is going today and coupling it with an additional education, it’s going to be very healthy for that business.

Cole Strandberg: Talk to me about this additional education. How do you decide with different tracks or modules which ones to pursue based on the needs of your business today and then where you think the needs are going to go tomorrow?

John Melendez: Well, it’s funny you mentioned it. What I’ve done is I’ve taken consideration. The most important part is going to be the alignments. You have a complete breakdown with ASC and they have all the different areas and segments that is referencing what is required in that area. And then of course with the drivability and there is like four or five and I should have printed this up and I’m bad. I wrote a program like I was telling you earlier and what I’ve done is I’ve taken my existing credentials and I’ve coupled it and matched it with ASC and then found out where I’m lacking and acquiring these type what that’s going to do for me as far as being in an advanced ASC Master technician. That’s our goal. So there’s things that will couple that I’ve had already through icar but I don’t have that blue seal. That blue seal makes a big difference. It really does. And I’ve emphasized that where these guys that are out at these shops, if you could truly get your technicians involved in this and on a smaller scale I’ve broken down in different areas in which is pertinent to just start off so therefore a technician that is well, that’s certified and well rounded on the collision site. He could take these different segments and work his way through. And I’ve even broken down in time frames that if you incorporate this within a given time, then that that technician is going to be compensated accordingly and the same with that business to make that investment.

Cole Strandberg: And I want to talk about that investment here momentarily. But first a bit of a compare and contrast, if you will. We’ve spoken about I car together at length. We’ve been together at different I car functions and events. I know you know them very well. Obviously a lot of their conversation around what they’re doing is keeping up with innovation and change within collision repair. How does ASE view a lot of this innovation and change, whether that’s adas calibration or what have you, these guys seem to be on on the same path, albeit maybe from different angles. How do you view how ASE views innovation relative to icar, for example?

John Melendez: They are. ICAR is a little bit more advanced when you take the integrity of the vehicle and how it’s constructed. That’s some of the areas that are lacking in asc, which I car is definitely on top of their game when it comes to that. Identifying the different type of metals, the different type of damage, what it’s going to be required to identify, let alone to repair. That’s where the coupling with ASE technician can acquire. This side of the I car, which I’ve broken that down, which is it’s so important because the integrity and the complexity of these cars is changing. Technician of tomorrow. And a lot of people don’t realize this because now once again, adas. How many times have we talked about when efforts came back in the inception of 2015 on up and scanning cars, a lot of guys didn’t realize, oh hey, we didn’t have this car straight or this alignment wasn’t right, that adas cannot take place. But you got to look at the integrity. These vehicles today, they’re made to collapse when they’re involved in a collision. And the 3D measuring is another thing that I hit on so hard that AOC technician having the right type of equipment can identify direct or indirect damage which is going to affect their ability to align that car properly or replace that suspension. Do you see where the collaboration starts to come in?

Cole Strandberg: No question. And excited to see it. Excited to continue these conversations. We have plenty of mutual friends involved in those conversations and facilitating those conversations. So I think all of our collective industries that make up the automotive service industry is a lot better for it. When organizations like that work together. Now, I want to get into the nitty gritty, John. Slap me around when I start asking questions that are too financially specific. But I want to start you with an easy one. From the decision to pursue an ASE certification or ASE certifications, how long did it take from spending money to do that versus beginning to make more money as a result of that?

John Melendez: The spending. The money at the beginning was to acquire the OE certification approval. That’s where it stems from. Okay. Then you look at overall as a business decision, what other makes and models or modules that we’re going to have to acquire. I’m a little bit different, Cole. I’m not going to come back and I’m not just going to get the basics. What I want to do is incorporate as much as I can so we could be that better of a, you know, be that much better of a technician and how I can at least share that with my staff. So on that point, on the financial standpoint, I don’t think you can never spend enough on education, if that helps answer that question.

Cole Strandberg: Sort of. But I’m gonna. I’m gonna. I’m gonna hold your feet to the fire. We’ll get a little bit more specific here.

John Melendez: Okay.

Cole Strandberg: Momentarily. No, and. And it is super helpful in terms of new talent. Congratulations on adding some fantastic new talent. Presumably, are you upskilling collision technicians or are you at a spot at some point in time where you’re hiring experienced mech for some of this new work? How do you view the marriage of these two pieces of your business?

John Melendez: Definitely upscaling on mechanical side. I took a technician, or I should say an individual that started with me eight years ago, started driving a tow truck, and now he has his master status. Wow. So. And that’s within the last eight years. And once again, I. If I actually added up what I’ve spent on this individual, I could probably retire. Okay. And the same goes with the rest of the staff there. We. We don’t look at that because I feel that education is so important today. Right. Regardless of the cost, if it’s going to benefit the business. Number two, with young talent coming in, I. I’ve. That it’s been a struggle. And I’ll tell you, some of these kids today, I’ve put high expectations and I’ve been let down in multi areas, but I just don’t quit. I do have two young individuals that are on the shop and are doing fantastic right now. And. And that’s for local schools that I support or the colleges in Reference to, you know, if I do some seminars or some individual stuff that at least, hey, John, we found a diamond in the rough. If you’re interested, give them a call. And I’ve had two different instructors do that in which Dem employees are still with us till today.

Cole Strandberg: Dude, you’ve been so good about that. I’m going to interrupt you right there. You’ve been amazing at supporting local schools, supporting a lot of these talent initiatives across the industry, and you’re putting your money where your mouth is. These are not immediate ROI type investments. These take time to train these new technicians. They’re a burden on payroll up front. But as you mentioned, that investment, ultimately, hopefully, you know, you could have taken that money and, and retired. Now, hopefully they make you a bunch more where you can retire at a, on a yacht instead of whatever you were going to do previously. So really, really cool to see and it’s, it’s fun to share those stories. I know you and Adan, we talked about here late last year about exactly that topic. So I’ll link that show in the show notes as well. For folks who want to listen on that front, I want to get to brass tacks here. I’ve been dancing around it for a little bit. Okay, how, how did keeping mechanical in house or taking more of that in house change cycle time compared to coordinating with outside shops? Because there’s really two components of this that are financial. Number one is cycle time being more efficient internally. Number two is, well, there’s really three, capturing that additional margin. Number three is capturing additional revenue per billable hour based on your newfound status as this niche expert. So talk to me, Cycle time, how’d.

John Melendez: You see the impact drastically increased? Because now you don’t take, you don’t take these technicians out or I should say even hourlies.

Cole Strandberg: So I hope you mean decreased, right? Cycle time decreased.

John Melendez: Oh yes, the cycle time did decrease. My bad. Thank you.

Cole Strandberg: There we go. Just, just to be clear, yeah, it did decrease.

John Melendez: But one of the advantages too, Cole, is identifying when you’re doing your repair plan, being able to have the equipment in place to identify how much damage is on that car, which includes the alignment, includes the suspension, etc. So that that has actually excelled identification with identifying the damage on the car for one. But two, not having to take people to drive down the street to that alignment center, which is typical till today with your body shops. Okay. Or call up, hey, I need a tire mounted and balance you. The tire and the wheel has been delivered to the shop. Now they have to take somebody Throw it back in a TR truck, take it down the street, then get it back, then take the car, which they shouldn’t be driving the car, considering that the ADAS systems are not turned on, the steering angle sensors have not been set. You know, you could possibly put more damage in the car. And I look at it as a safety standpoint. But the return, by far best investment I’ve made just on having in house, the mechanical, the tires and the calibration, it really coupled well with the collision side of it. And it did. It did decrease that cycle time, but also it did increase our roi. Boom.

Cole Strandberg: So cycle time and efficiency. Box number one checked. You started talking about number two, which is retention of that margin, keeping a lot of that margin in house. Talk to me about what percentage of the total repair bill you’re now retaining versus previously when you were shipping out a lot of this to sublet vendors.

John Melendez: Oh, my God. Honestly, Cole, I say it was knocking on 30% and right now it’s down to 5 just for glass. Wow. That’s how much I’ve been able to. And I. I just looked at that at the end of this year to see where I’m at. Because I came out of the gate, I’m like, I haven’t even turned sound completely. And just based upon my previous sales from the shop being smaller, I’m looking at the pace that I’m going on, it should double and it hopefully I.

Cole Strandberg: Can continue this pace big time, man. Now to the third box. Getting paid more for your hours. Being this expert, can you share any revenue or margin impact and feel free to give ranges or percentages if you’re not comfortable kind of sharing hourly rates or anything like that?

John Melendez: No, you know what? I’d rather do that. Because being that niche business, your average shop that’s out there is probably getting paid the average of $125 an hour or, you know, whatever the insurance companies are telling them. Okay. One advantage we have in the state of Illinois under the Illinois Repair act, that it is the responsibility of the shop to provide the consumer a complete damage report on what it’s going to take to repair that. And not an insurance estimate. Not at all. And that’s the advantage that state that we have. That’s one good thing I should say for that state that they had construed many years ago. But that is a very helpful tool in reference to how we settle our claims. Second, being the niche on the C8, that’s our specialty. There is no room for error. Now, your normal cars that come in they’re not going to pay John at214.99 an hour that John gets to do Corvettes. They’re only going to do that in reference to that specific model. Anything else? I got to sit there and be Monty Hall. But we still stand our ground because we have everything in house. So anything that comes up from the tire mounting, balancing the alignments, it is built on an hourly basis and not a flat rate like they’re used to having. Beautiful. Where the advantage comes from, Cole?

Cole Strandberg: No question. And I mean, do you get a sense of how you then compare to dealership rates? Are we getting closer to there? I would assume than 100%.

John Melendez: Same wow. Credentials that I have are no different than that technician they have there. And by the way, with this new certification I’m going after, I’ve got the dealers asking me to be on their additional roster as their certified master tech since I am involved with them directly.

Cole Strandberg: Now begs the question, John, how the heck do insurance companies take getting those estimates and those invoices?

John Melendez: You know, for those who know that we’re trying to do it right, they respect what we’re doing. And those who don’t, they go to school. Because I will not back down.

Cole Strandberg: Sure.

John Melendez: And you want to. You know, Cole, it’s just a matter of. Especially like for instance, in our industry, when an appraiser would come out to the shop, they would come in, they’ll evaluate the damage, they’ll give you a sheet. It’s like, okay, well, I gave you three hours frame time, or I gave you four hours frame time. How did you arrive at that? This is one of my pet peeves that I’ve had for years. And I always reference that 3D measuring. We pre measure every single car to identify the damage, whether it’s direct or indirect. And then we know how we’re going to have our repair plan reference the charges. That’s the advantage. When your shop is properly equipped that you could truly identify and charge for that accordingly, because there is no other way that they can achieve this as we can. So do you see where. How important it is is with when you do scale, look at how well you scale and then couple that with what direction or brand that you want to represent that you can be that niche business. That’s where the return is going to be huge.

Cole Strandberg: We’ve tiptoed all around it. We’ve really even addressed it. But I want to. I want to put it in as plain English as possible. How do you feel that blue ASE seal impacts Your communication with insurance providers when it comes time to negotiate these estimates or, or negotiate these bills, does that give you leverage and feel like you got more of a leg to stand on?

John Melendez: Yes, 100%, Cole. Because when you do have the credentials and you do couple yourself with that dealership, and I want to emphasize this, when you’re that niche business and for instance, let’s just, we’ll change it over to Ford, in which that’s what I’m working on right now with the local dealer. And also I’m trying to get involved with jlr, but on the Ford side, I’m looking to get involved, get all the ASC modules that are required to be that certified Ford master technician, as I have with General Motors already. That gives you the advantage. That’s where, you know, and honestly, Cole, the way that these cars are changing the shops demographically, they should really look into their area. What’s predominantly driven. We’ve had these discussions in the past, and then, then you know, where you can get yourself and specialize or network with these dealers that do not have their own collision centers, but truly provide them with a certified technician that could stand aground. And that’s where it’s at.

Cole Strandberg: You know, it’s interesting, we’re marrying auto repair and collision repair. Historically, very different things. Historically very different margins. And to that point, I mean, I speak with auto repair organizations and private equity groups who hold those, and I always recommend, if they’re in need of executive level talent, look to the collision repair industry. I believe we have the best operators in the automotive industry working in collision repair because the job is really hard and they find a way to make good money in these compressed labor rates. In auto repair, you don’t have those. In the dealership service department world, you don’t have those. So to combine these two, from my perspective, there’s some Magic Brewing.

John Melendez: Absolutely. 100%, Cole. And take that into consideration, you know, the dealership itself, when an insurance company goes in there, the dealership gives them the invoice. This is what we’re charging, and that’s it. And the dealership doesn’t have that problem because they specialize in that make a model they sell. That’s how they’re compensated, and that rate is set. And then of course, you have your warranty rate, which is different because that’s from the manufacturer on fixing any incidentals that happen to come up. But overall, though, their door rate is fixed, which the insurance companies pay. And now it’s another area which really burned me over the years is that here I’ve been working, I have the same certifications, but because I didn’t have that dealership brand on my sign, we’re not going to pay you this well. Now I’ve got the credentials of 100% and now they are, man.

Cole Strandberg: Amazing to hear it. What other piece of the equation that sort of goes back to cycle time, have you noticed a change in customer satisfaction or customer experience from this one stop experience? And has that led into referrals and repeat customers or any. Any way you can quantify that?

John Melendez: It’s so much easier to upsell now. You see a customer comes in, they had one tire that was bad. We could sell three others if it’s required or two. Or you come back when time you had an alignment, they haven’t. That upsell alone, just from having the equipment in place has been a positive. And that’s where I’ve been seeing the growth in the business. So normally they would go in and they would say, oh, you know, I normally take this to my dealer. Now we’re not doing oil changes or anything like that. But as far as the alignment, the tires, we give the customer a break because we’ve already had them or we’re doing some service work. Would you like to take advantage of that? That’s what’s nice, Colt. We didn’t have that before and it makes a big difference. For instance, if you had your vehicle serviced, you know you were in need of some tires, you haven’t had an alignment in a while, insurance company’s paying for the rental, which is great because now it’s not going to cost you. Let’s get it all done at once. Very easy to upsell when you have the equipment in place with the right technicians.

Cole Strandberg: Love it, man. And upselling in general is such a great thing in this industry because it’s stuff they need. It’s stuff that actually impacts safety. Those tires that’s important, man. Love to hear it. So rubber meets road stuff for folks listening to this conversation and they’re intrigued. Are there specific shop profiles whether that be size, volume, DRP versus OE mixes where ASE certifications make more sense than others.

John Melendez: Now, you know what, by having the right technicians in place, no matter what the size of the shop is, is not going to have any, any bearing, but it is going to have bearing is that they are truly certified. We’re a smaller shop, you know, we’re 13,000 square feet and right now we’re going to have two inside of our alignment area, one with a calibration with three body technicians and three inside a paint with a parts person, that’s it. But when you add it up on my square footage, trust me, it’s so much more manageable to maintain that business. So even that to me is a smaller scale based in the past where I used to work with other of MSOs back when I was younger is that that’s great to have their volume but they’re not specializing Cole, they’re not able to do all the rest of that work. And believe it or not, I’m looking into possibly doing some work for some of them in my local area. In reference to the alignments and the tires, the pickup and delivery service, we have our own tow trucks which we will actually pick up that car and deliver it back. We do that service for the dealers. But now we’re finding out we could open this up and gain even that much more business with other shops in our surrounding area.

Cole Strandberg: Man, I, I love it and I so appreciate your perspective. You are among the most forward looking operators in our industry. It’s always awesome to talk to you at the same time. You move at the speed of light, man. You have completely overhauled your business in the last what, 12 to 24 months. What other changes or additional capabilities are you looking to add here for 20, 26 and beyond?

John Melendez: Just being able to scale with the right technicians, the right employees. What I’m, I have had quite a few come in after they hear or they see a lot of the postings online. Wow, that shop’s really something else. You have people come in, they look at this, wow, what a great environment to work in. That’s great. What we’re trying to do is just create a team that they truly work together and, and that to me is so more important to have that type of atmosphere because then we’re just focused on quality and not volume. And, and I’ve emphasized this, that the quality, having that as a priority, the volume will follow. And I really finally am going to be at that point this month to show that to our technicians and as it increases, so will their pay. And I’m going to be more than glad to share that with them. And I’m hoping to be able to draw more people that want to get involved with a business that has a different perspective and not just wants to, that doesn’t want to toss the car out and look forward to the next one.

Cole Strandberg: Well man, as, as JDM’s continued success increases, so too will the opportunities for your employees and their careers and their growth. Not even just pay which is obviously of major importance. Really exciting stuff. When we talk again. I’m sure we’ll talk before this, but 12 months from now, if we were to kind of revisit this conversation, we’re talking about ase, we’re talking about all these different changes happening inside your organization. What does success look like 12 months from now?

John Melendez: Possibly having another one under my belt. Not that I want to do that. I used to have three. But now, looking at what a niche business could do for you, and you scale it the right way, there’s a possibility that this growth can continue. And that’s one thing that I have on my radar.

Cole Strandberg: Love it, John. Man, every time we talk, I leave Fired up is the perfect conversation to kick off what is going to no doubt be a wonderful 2026 for folks who want to follow along with your story and your journey and get in touch with you. How can they do that?

John Melendez: They can get a hold of me through [email protected] I’m also on LinkedIn. I do a lot of posting there and updates on different cars and makes and models that we work with. And of course, I do a lot of stuff with icar and every now and then I manage to get a article with Auto Body News.

Cole Strandberg: Yeah, go figure. You’re all over the place. One of my favorite follows and connections on LinkedIn. Keep up the great work. John, thank you so much for joining us here on the Collision Vision.