[lortech]

Mechanical troubleshooting is the easy part. OBD and electrical more difficult. Do what a shop did and hire a consumer electronics technician. He thought just like me. HE must be like me, a Rare Myers Briggs personality type INTJ personality. We are 3% of the general population “technicians and Scientist” who can think analytically based on theory. I cannot tell you how many times I have come behind a auto mechanic to find the real reason why the car could not start and get it running.

Having  good theory how the vehicles systems works is also important.

The employee needs to have long terms of employment if he is to stick around your shop.

Have a clean shop, clean mechanics suits, and make the mechanic feel welcome. Get to know the mechanics kids by name. Empower the mechanic with A SENSE of ownership of the garage.

A tech with a cheerful, positive, communicative attitude is some one you want to hire.

[lortech]

How about finacing with a down payment? I would, but only with a credit check. If they have paid on time with all the other debtors then would be sound judgment to except it. I think also that the population is to engrossed in the “It wont happen to me syndrom” meaning, I do not except break downs. I do not expect to loose my job. I do not expect to have a expected roof repair. Customers do not save for emergencies anymore and also, go into debt using credit cards. Did you know the nations savings rate at the height of the crash was at -1 %?. That is stark contrast to the average savings rate of 10% in 1984. A healthy savings is a shock to unexpected emergencies including layoff.

[lortech]

Hi everyone. I think that it is not that people dont want to work hard, it is how to earn more, so they can buy that house. I may be wrong but that is where I want to be.

About 12 years ago I lived in the Seattle to Bellingham part of the Puget sound. I had worked in the automotive field for a number of years. I prided my self in being able to diagnose almost all problems on cars, without a scanner. All I had was a dmm or a vom. The shops were to cheap “except one” in buying a scanner, or other special tools. I had done lots of engine,head,timming belt changes in that time. But could never manage a meager wage. It was frustrating to say the least. The shops never wanted to spend money training me further then what I learned on the job, car repair articles, magazines, Alldata, Mitchel and learning from other mechanics..which to often, I knew more then they did.

But what really killed my carreer back then “I still do lightly duty repairs and diagnostics today” was the fact that the shop had a bad reputation when I walked into it. The shop manager was a back yard mechanic. He was misdiagnosing and releasing cars as fixed. At one point, he fed a wire strait from the starter to the ignition switch because he could not figure why it had intermittent start problems, only to have the wire insinerate “smoke” when the customer went to start it. Same shop manager got in a argument with me, believing the customer the differential in a jeep was bad and the argument was loud, because I discover the splines on the drive shaft were stripped.

He kept on misdiagnosing and eventually told me to put the oil pan back on a toyota engine, when I told him, one of the con rod bearings is seized up “I was hanging free air on the beaker bar to prove it to him” He still told me to put everything back on. Eventually the customer drove the car smoked like crazy, he removed the engine, it was sent to a machine shop. The manager lied about what happened to the machine shop, and got fired by the owner.

If I had the idea all of this was going to happen, I would have never excepted a job at that place. Good shops are shops that find good mechanics who can diagnose and REWARD them, which to often here in Vancouver BC, They do not. The wages here are not high enough to offset the cost of tools unless you work in a rich part of town where customers pay more, to offset the higher mechanics wages.

Parents also need to do more. I am thankful I belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day saints, where we adults, give teenagers responsibilities, in the church, and teach everyone the every day responsibilities of what what a good parent is. The kids and parents who stay, turn out to be outstanding people. I have seen many examples become police officers, Fire Fighters, Cia and FBI agents and every day conservative people with good Character and moral values.

The United states used to look like this model. The shaming of students who get bad grades by adults and peers. The respect of students with there adults “please stand up and shake my hand as a way of greeting” Dressing appropriately. Spend more time on school, then the internet, the social chat sites and asking for a peer “mom or dad” on some questions on home work, which my parents NEVER helped me. Selfishness plays a really really big role in today’s kids. Its all about the me generations and now about “how can I help you or, how can we as a team, help the customer”

Anyway, those are my two cents. I have not been able to buy a house on my automotive wages and only rented. Kind of a real shame.