Patrick McElroy
Forum Replies Created
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Electric and Autonomous, Electric cars will become the norm, gasoline production will be phased down, and taxed like the tobacco industry to encourage the end of the ICE age. Kia/Hyundai have already sacked thier entire engineering department for ICE development. Ford and GM have announced goals for an all EV lineup by 2030. Eventually, I believe ALL vehicles will be fully autonomous with the only passenger input being the destination.
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I have tried to find a good source of spring type hose clamps other than the dealerships to no avail. Has anyone else had any luck finding them ??
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I was all set last summer to purchase a 2020 Chevrolet Bolt. BUT, my insurance agent informed me that it would cost $1500 more annually to insure than my wifes 2017 Subaru Outback. I would love to own an electric vehicle, I live one mile from work, but to pay $6000 more over 4 years for insurance quickly returned me to earth. I bought a 2016 Subaru Legacy instead from an elderly customer of mine.
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Our sales were up 8.6% which brought us back to a “normal” March.
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Hi Matt, tough situation. We go into business and once in a while we’re delt situations out of our normal daily routines.
You seem to be a caring person or you would have sent this customer packing a long time ago. Either write or call this customer and be politely blunt. ( easier said than done ) “Dear customer, I can no longer ask my employees to work in an unhealthy environment. I am asking that you take your car and get it professionally cleaned (inside and out) before we can start any service. We also will expect your personal hygean to conform with public expectations. Should you not comply with these requests, we ask that you seek for service elsewhere.”
Customers expect us to be honest, courteous, kind, knowledgeable, professional, prompt, and clean. In return, we ask that our customers vehicles are reasonably clean and sanitary. We expect vehicles picked up promptly when completed and paid in full. To most of us, we call this normal.
I have had one customer stomp off infuriated when confronted about their wretched smelling car. ( good riddance) Most are embarrassed and get the car cleaned up before their next visit. Only discuss this subject with such customers in private.
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Up 10% for January
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December 2020 was up 14% over 2019 but with one less technician.
Patrick McElroy
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8-10 hours is my experience. Rusted brake lines around here usually means the rest of the trucks fasteners are rusted as well. And, those complete kits don’t come with the rear axle lines. Those have to be custom bent and flared. Good chance the bleeder screws are rusted. It’s always easier to lower the bill if all goes well, but that is usually not the case on these jobs.
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Slippery Slope. “Hey Bob (tech), finish this job quickly and there’s a “joint” in it for you.” Where will this end ? I surely don’t want to participate in this debacle. Just imagine a customer finding out that the person working on their car gets Marijuana as a work incentive.
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In Michigan, and I assume in most states, the owner of the vehicle is the only person that can legally authorize any repairs. Warranty and Insurance companies can authorize payment, but they can not authorize repairs. We get the vehicle owners authorization to estimate what repairs are needed, then call their warranty company with an estimate to see what they may pay for, then report back to the vehicle owner what he/she will be on the hook for. The vehicle owner must then sign another authorization for the entire repair bill that they will be responsible for. The most important factor is to explain to the vehicle owner how most of these warranty companies operate before any work is started on their vehicle. Most of these companies pay by credit card over the phone or fax machine when the customer is picking up the vehicle. The vehicle does not leave until the balance is paid in full.
We advise our customers that the best warranty policies to buy are those offered by the “Manufacturer” of their vehicle, not the Dealers favorite “profit spiff” aftermarket company. Then we tell our customers they would be better off depositing their two to three thousand dollars in a separate bank in a separate account just for auto repairs. Nobody does it, but they should.
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If the car is salvage titled or been in a severe collision, I will not tackle an intermittent issue. All other vehicles with intermittent issues I request the driver of the vehicle to accompany me on a test drive to duplicate their issue. That doesn’t always happen but we try. More often than not, the driver will remember / reveal more information to me than they did to the service advisor during write up. I will usually do a four mile loop with most cars. Any drive longer than that, additional labor time is added to the first hour of testing. We also explain to customers that the first hour of testing is to take the “vital signs” of the vehicle so that we can determine a further course of action if the problem is not revealed. The key to getting paid is documenting everything performed during testing, and communicating along the way with the customer, so as to avoid confusion on their part.
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” There are 3 other techs but none of them are licensed.” Major Red Flag ! Jay, I would suggest you work in that shop for at least a month before you plop any of your money down. The other suggestions to seek help from training companies such as ATI is great advise. Don’t let anyone pressure you into buying before you are ready. This is such a big gamble in my opinion, automotive repair sounds really cool ( and it is ), but there is so much to learn. And the learning never stops if you want to keep up with the good shops.
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I agree with gkeyes, I pay for the lights on the ceiling of the shop and the techs buy their own work lights. When I had drop lights they were abused because they did not pay for them. All of a sudden their own lights last forever. My experience with hose reals is that they last much longer if the techs don’t YANK on the hose trying to get it to unwind all at once. That drives me mad. I have HTHR-50FT hose reals and they’re ten years old. Google Greg Smith Equipment. I have to change out a hose once in a blue moon, but the reals are still going strong and don’t leak air. They don’t look “top of the line” but I have no complaints.
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I also agree with the last few writers. If you still feel strongly about this, you might want to make a sign for your showroom explaining your policies and procedures. I like to keep my invoice simple. And, when I have a vehicle that gives me any reason for suspicion, out comes my cell phone camera to explain my issues.
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I agree with Ollie , we use our experience to recommend certain maintenance on cars with pattern failures. Otherwise, we stick to factory recommendations. Educating our customers as to what is best for their vehicle ( and their wallet, in the long run ) is what we as professionals do.
Car owners that want to go 10k between oil changes, we stress the importance of level checks frequently. We only sell p/s fluid flushes if there is a repair of a major p/s component or if the p/s is noisy. Tranmission flushes are 100k, or sooner, if trailering is involved or heavy hauling. We also educate customers that gasoline is NOT the same and that using a top tier premium fuel will eliminate the need for a fuel system cleaning on most vehicles. We usually sell fuel system cleanings if the throttle body is dirty more than usual.
After attending a class on anti-freeze we retired our BG cooling flush machine and bought the Gates Coolant Flush Gun kit. Now we separatly flush the radiator, then the engine, then the heater core. The thermostat has to come out to do a good job and we know we’re getting ALL the old coolant out and WAY more debris than using a flush machine hooked up to a radiator hose. Yes, it takes more time, and yes it’s more expensive, but it’s a thorough job. If you can, attend Dan Risleys coolant class, I highly recommend it.
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I just ordered one online. Thanks for the post
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We have been using torque sticks for fifteen years at my shop and I have been using them longer than that. The only loose wheels we have come across are the ones with corrosion around the hub surfaces. We make sure that both the hub and wheel are clean before tightening . Any worn lug nuts are replaced. We don’t use torque sticks on wheels that the lugs nuts have small clearances with the finish of the wheel. We hand tighten them and finish with a torque wrench.
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As a shop owner, I have given the State of Michigan $7+grand for license fees over the past 15 years. That does’nt include another thousand for personal mechanical license fees over the last thirty years. I have nothing to show for that money invested. Virtually all of the licensing monies have been diverted to the general fund to fill holes in deficit spending. Our “repair act” is on of the stringest in the country. Problem is, it’s outdated, not enforced, and a joke. You will have better luck steering the Titanic than to get legislators and regulators to “fix” this industry. OSHA and the EPA are the only government oversite that may be necessary. The civil courts can handle the “hacks” of our industry if a customer needs them.
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I pretty much agree with Scotts view. I also believe scenarios 1 & 2 border on the fringe of unethical and thievery. In scenario #1, I’ll suggest that when someone is selling a $100 brake rotor that costs only $10, that rotor is not even close to the quality of OE. I’ll bet that rotor comes in a white box with a far east countries name on it. But, if the rotor is the same quality of OE, then I won’t have a problem selling it at an OE price. In scenario #2, three times the cost of an OE part would attract the attention of most Attorney Generals in this country for price gouging. I believe its every shops private business on how to price parts and labor. I also believe its every customers business to make sure they’re not paying far above market value for what they’re buying.
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Hi Lee,
What you call an expediter, I call a service manager. ( same difference ). This persons job is to manage the work flow in the shop. He / She will make sure that jobs are assigned to techs best able to perform repairs on a timely basis. He will make sure the techs recommendations are proper, ethical, & legal. He needs to monitor and intervene on the techs when they are wasting too much time on a diagnosis, or getting “bogged down” on a repair and killing shop productivity. He needs to keep the service writers updated on the work flow throughout the day. He needs to track the flow of parts into the shop and make sure a vehicle is not tying up lift space because parts are hours away. On more complicated repairs, he may need to communicate with the customer directly. His goal is to keep the techs productivity at the highest possible level.
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If you just want the vehicle(s) off your property, it may be cheaper in the long run to just tow the vehicle back to their house and “write it off”. Make sure they have a driveway and block the garage door if possible. A fellow shop owner has done this several times. Sometimes he will take off the steering wheel and keep it at his shop. If the customer wants the steering wheel back, they are welcome to come pay the bill and get it.
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I too, like Joe’s response. You can never know when someone might be having a bad day ( or week ) and take out their frustrations on you. A few months ago, customer Y was given a written estimate for a coolant flush for X amount of dollars. Parts and labor, taxes, and a full description for the service was included in the estimate. Two weeks later, customer Y made an appointment, was given a ride to and from work while the service was performed, paid, and went about his way. Two days later, customer Y mails me a letter with an estimate for a coolant flush at 1/2 of what we charged him and wants an explanation as to why I’m so expensive. His estimate has no description or detail other than the words ” coolant flush ” for X dollars. He wanted me to refund the difference in money since in his eyes, it was the same service. Customer Y has been a loyal customer for five years now and I consider him a good customer. I waited two days to respond to his letter so that I would be more calm and thoughtful with my response. I gave him the ol “apples and oranges” response and detailed the differences of my estimate with his bargain estimate. At the end of my letter, I thanked him for his past loyalty and welcomed him for any future services. However, I would NOT be refunding any money. His response to me was quote, “Have a nice life.”. Well, two months later, in walks customer Y with and electrical problem and spends $800 for the repair. He tells me it was his own fault for not getting a comparison price two months earlier and that he was having problems with his medications at the time. He has since been back five other times with two cars over the past year for repairs and routine services. Similar to Joe’s response, the key is to be professional, “stick to your guns”, and hopefully, most resonable people will understand.
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Yes Gabriel,
If you follow that guidline it will work for any reasonalble person.
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Hi Gabiel,
Satisfying an unhappy customer is very important 99% of the time.
The 1% are folks, that no matter what you do for them, will never be
happy. Those 1% customers you may have to fire.
The other 99%, you have to let them express their concern to you
without interruption. Even if they are angry, let them ‘get it all
out’. Always show them that they have your full attention and don’t
argue back. When most people realize that you want to fix their
concern, their blood pressure settles down, they lower their voice,
and now they are receptive to you speaking.
I will offer a sollution and it usually involves immediate action on
my part. Sometimes, my sollution may not be acceptable, so I will
ask the customer what they would like me to do. Most times, I can
live with their sollution. Sometimes, I may not like their
sollution, but I will go along with it anyway just to resolve it.
The key here is to pick your battles. The bottom line is that I
need customers to make a living, and keeping them happy and
satisfied is all part of the job. It is very satisfying when you can
take a bad situation and make it good for a customer. Like the last
post said, it cost much more to get a new customer than to keep one.
I hope this helps.
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Hi Lee,
I do the same thing with Quickbooks. Once a week I input all
receipts under each vendor. At the end of the month, I click on Pay
Bills, and reconcile the statement to all the invoices. Thanks to
Tom Ham’s suggestion, I now scan and attach every invoice receipt to
Quickbooks and throw the original copy away. No more paper files
!!! The IRS is good with a digital copy and so are my vendors.
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Hi Dale,
Three years ago I bought the Bartech 300. This tool is great for
activating existing sensors and quickly checking their operation. We
have found quite a few sensors with dead batteries and sold EZ
sensors for replacements. I have run into the same problem as Tom
Piippo with some imports but overall Bartech makes a good tool. And
they are a Michigan company with great tech support. Two of our
vendors at the Michigan ASA EVENT this past October sell TPMS tools
including the Bartech lineup. Capital Tire and CAS of New England.
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Phil,
Call Steve Betts from Premaco Michigan. Ask him for a demo of their
coolant flush machine at your location. They sell BG Products and if
you use their chemicals I believe they loan you the machine at no
charge. I have used both their coolant flush and trans fluid
exchanger machines for eight years now with great satisfaction. The
coolant flush machine taps into the upper radiator hose and flushes
the system by forcing the t-stat open and reverse flushes the
cooling system. There are some cars that you just can’t power flush
due to access, but I think this is one of the best machines out
there. Premaco’s office # is 770-425-1844
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I used to be open on Saturdays and we did O.K.. But to recruit the counterman and techs that I currantly have, I had to close on Saturday. That was seven years ago and I have no regrets. The pleasant results have been that my sales did not decrease but have been increasing almost every year since then. I am now in my fifties and I have no intention of ever working another Saturday if I can help it. I may have lost some customers, but the rest have arranged to get their cars in during the week. If you treat people right, they will want you to work on their car(s), even if your not open on Saturday.
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Hi Joe,
You might consider displaying a poster at your meetings that says something to the fact that it is illegal to talk about specific prices and shop labor rates. Pointing this out before your meeting starts should be a formality.
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I don’t think Metro Detroit can get any worse than it was a few years ago. There is no Public Mass Transit here so you have to have a car. Service sales have been steadily increasing and I don’t forsee any change no matter which Bozo is running the show. Lets hope for a cold and snowy winter.
