The Database Enhancement Gateway on Thursday announced it and Toyota would give one of the DEG’s March users or donors a chance to win a free subscription to the official Toyota repair procedure website.

Each inquiry submitted to the DEG between March 1-31 meeting certain criteria would earn the user a ticket in the drawing to win an annual Technical Information System (TIS) standard subscription, which ordinarily costs $480. Users submitting multiple entries can earn multiple tickets.

Repairers and insurers also can enter the drawing by donating to the DEG. A donation of $20 yields two tickets, while a $50 donation provides 10 tickets. There is no limit on entries.

The drawing will be held April 1 at 10 a.m. Mountain Time. Toyota graciously donated the grand prize, the DEG said.

The monthlong March promotion honors DEG inspiration March Taylor, a Hall of Eagles member and the late owner of Auto Body Hawaii. Taylor’s work with the estimating services laid the foundation for the DEG, and the free industry resource is dedicated to him.

The DEG allows repairers and insurers to submit online inquiries and suggestions regarding Audatex, CCC and Mitchell methodology and labor times at no cost. The inquiries can help catch inaccuracies or omissions in the times and refine the information used to generate estimates. They also can help clarify who’s right when repairers and insurers dispute what’s included and what’s a manual entry. (Such answers often can be found through a closer reading of the P-pages as well.)

More than 13,000 inquiries have been submitted to date, with a mere handful yet to be resolved by the IPs or DEG. Inquiries and answers remain in the database, providing a great educational resource to other parties besides the user.

To be eligible for a raffle ticket, an inquiry must meet these terms, according to the DEG:

Correct spelling of First and Last Name

Contact information: Phone Number/ Email Address

Inquiry submitted for any of the three IP’s (CCC, Audatex, Mitchell) to help improve the quality and accuracy of collision repair estimate data. Inquiries will need to meet the following guidelines: Omissions, errors, inaccuracies found in the databases. This would include Labor Issues, Parts database issues, vehicle specific inquiries.

Inquiries not meeting the criteria above, will not be eligible for raffle submission, but will still be responded too. If an inquiry is questionable, the DEG Joint operating committee will review for final decision.

The DEG also pointed out Thursday that nothing was preventing contestants who failed to win the raffle from subscribing to TIS.

“Just because you didn’t win the prize, should not stop you from using the invaluable information available,” it wrote.

Industry professionals also shouldn’t miss the chance to meet DEG Administrator Danny Gredinberg at NORTHEAST March 15-17. He’ll be in the Alliance of Automotive Service Providers booth, and all are welcome to visit, learn more about the DEG and participate in the March Taylor Challenge.

More information:

“2019 March Taylor DEG Challenge”

Database Enhancement Gateway, Feb. 28, 2019

Database Enhancement Gateway database

Toyota “TIS” OEM repair procedure website

Toyota TIS tutorial video (no subscription required)

Images:

Collision industry icon March Taylor. (Provided by SCRS)

Database Enhancement Gateway inquiries.(Screenshot from www.degweb.org)

This Database Enhancement Gateway inquiry resulted in a change within CCC. (Screenshot from www.degweb.org)