andrewtpoe
Forum Replies Created
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I know there are a wide variety of options for headlight aiming tools, and I’ve used a few of them with mixed results. Most of the time I opted for a tape measure and garage door. Did the trick just fine and I didn’t have any of the setup that many tools require.
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I have a thought, and I have no idea how practical/reasonable this is. My family uses an HSA purchased on an individual plan. We determined it provided a better quality of insurance at a lower rate. We also liked it because once we hit the high deductible the insurance company pays 100% instead of the typically 80/20 split. Not everyone likes having the high deductible, which I get, but I find it totally worth it. Our insurance premium is fully half of what an 80/20 PPO would run.
Might be worth running this option by your employees, and it may still be cheaper to go this route and your company help with the deductibles. I run my own business now, and although we are not ready to hire employees yet this is the route I will be most interested in taking when I get there.My families insurance is going up about 20% next year as well. Just got the notice yesterday… -
Yes, paying more is great and should be considered, but for me it comes down to treating your technicians well. Our hands get dirty, but good technicians are every bit as professional as your sales staff, hr, or management team and should be treated as such. It amazes me how much some shops demand from and/or mistreat technicians.
Patrick, you are absolutely right, shops get reputations for how they treat their techs. Those reputations will either help you get the best technicians available or keep them from you. -
My last shop was a Honda dealer in Charleston SC belonging to a large national franchise. They pay their technicians with a variable flat rate system that starts at $10 for a lot of common work like oil changes or tire replacement or repairs… The next level they pay is $12 for things like brake jobs, spark plugs, major services, system flushes, etc… The third level is $14 for work like timing belts. These three rates are standardized across the shop regardless of skill or experience and make up the bulk of the work we performed. They also have an $18 standard rate for diagnosis, but I can count on one hand the number of times I saw it used.
Additionally, each technician has a pay rate that is specific to them and based exclusively on training and ASE’s. This rate ranges from $12 to the mid $20’s. Technicians only get this rate for heavy repairs like major part replacements.
Yes, their pay system is as confusing as I’m sure it sounds. Nevertheless, we had senior technicians making $10-$14 per flat rate hour. It’s worth pointing out, this system is not why I left the shop. I am merely providing a case where it does exist. -
As a technician I worked on smaller cars, Honda specifically. My shop charged 0.6hrs for initial diagnosis time. I think 1hr is a little more fair to the technicians, especially since you can roll a little of that diagnosis time into the repair if you need to.
