Are aluminum body cars inherently a problem?

Highlights from the USA Today article:

Growing use of aluminum for car and truck body panels, even whole bodies, means owners could face longer waits and uneven quality for crash repairs because the number of trained shop technicians isn't keeping up with the rising use of the lightweight material.

Aluminum's growth ''will be a challenge,'' says Tom McGee, CEO of the Inter-industry Conference on Auto Collision Repair, a not-for-profit training organization. I-CAR began aluminum-repair classes five years ago.

The 2004 Audi A8L, which went on sale last month, is the third generation with an aluminum body. ''If it weren't aluminum, with all the equipment on there, we'd be the heaviest car in that class,'' says Audi spokesman Steve Keyes. Instead, it weighs about the same as other big luxury cars but is larger than rivals, has more interior room and has quattro all-wheel-drive standard.

There's some disagreement over aluminum's safety. The A8 has been widely considered among the safest cars in a crash, largely because of how its aluminum skeleton is designed. But Mercedes-Benz prefers high-strength steel in roof pillars and other critical areas on its otherwise aluminum-bodied high-end cars. ''It's far more important for those areas to be strong than light,'' spokesman Jim Resnick says.

It is so different, however, that only a few shops tackle serious aluminum repairs.

Just 11 in the USA and Canada are certified to fix heavy structural damage on the A8L and its A8 predecessor; an additional 14 fix less-serious damage, Keyes says.