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Six Questions About Dealing with Intermittent Symptoms at Your Shop
Please reply to as many questions as you would like – all input is appreciated.
1: How much time must the customer generally pre-authorize for you to keep a car and monitor it for an intermittent issue?
2: How long do you typically keep a car to monitor for an intermittent issue?
3: Who usually pays for the fuel used or added when extensive test driving is required to monitor for an intermittent issue?
4: What is your normal policy regarding technicians commuting with customer cars while monitoring for an intermittent issue?
5: What is your typical policy for use of your loaner cars when a customer’s car is being left at your shop to monitor for an intermittent issue?
6: Do you usually contact the customer and repeat the complaint interview from scratch to see if something was missed in the original write-up?
#autorepairintermittents -
2 Replies
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1. Normally 1 hour = 80.00. If they tell me that it only happens once a week I tell them that we can do a basic check and take a test ride but can not guarantee we will find the problem until it happens more frequently. At this point some customers understand and some don’t.
2. I ask them how long they can leave it for. If they can leave it longer we can test it multiple times.3. The customer does4. I ask the customer if they would like a tech to drive their vehicle home to test it. I let them know that this is a very cost effective way of testing.5. We don’t have loaner vehicles6. I always call and ask additional questions after we cant duplicate the problem in the initial checkup. What happens, When does it happen, Where does it happen, Who’s driving it. I ask them what do I have to do to feel the problem. If they come to pick it up and we haven’t found anything I ask them to really pay attention to when it happens and if so try to duplicate it so they can tell us. I also tell them that we will recheck the vehicle for free within 30 days if the problem continues.Note: I work for a Honda/Suzuki/Polaris dealer. On Motorcycles we can not go on a test ride with them but with Polaris RZR’S we can. I always jump in the RZR and tell them to drive it and point out what its doing. It really helps out when I can show the tech what the customer was feeling / hearing. -
1. I charge a diag fee of $119.99… if it takes 30 seconds or an hour – same price. If it goes beyond an hour, I will have the customer authorize additional time – usually trying to get at least 50% of what book time is for a particular job.
2. Depends on the situation and what the customer wants. I have no problem keeping a car for weeks trying to duplicate a concern.
3. Customer pays for the fuel.
4. I prefer this is not done. Heard too many horror stories about customers calling wondering why their car is outside a bar at 11pm or something equally awful.
5. I would only offer a loaner if the intermit issue could relate to a concern that we have worked on.
6. I train my advisors to get the correct information.
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