[Tom Piippo]

We once had a glass company replace a windshield in a fleet owned Transit Connect. The ADAS camera alignment fee was $200. It consisted of a road test with a scan tool. We don’t have any targets, so we cannot do that kind of stuff (usually needed after a crash) but we can do initializations and self calibrations (and camera alignments in Transit vans) and charge the same as our diagnostic fee per hour. In my opinion, target calibrations will be a thing of the past in future models.

[Tom Piippo]

July 2021 was down 4% as compared to July 2020, however we were open 17 days in 2020 (4 day work week) and only 15 days in 2021. Our daily sales in July 2021 were UP 8% over daily sales in July 2020. Both were above average!

So, that is a loaded question…

[Tom Piippo]

Right you are, Craig. as long as its stated in the employee policy manual, Michigan employers can have a zero tolerance policy with drug testing as it applys to Mary Jane. Still a schedule 1 on the Fed level.

[Tom Piippo]

I feel the combination of testing in the controlled environment, as they have always done, and proof of 2 years experience in the field, is a pretty good combination of showing someone ‘what you know’! Does this work for all technicians? Probably not. ASE has never been one to rest on their laurels, and are constantly changing tests and questions to stay relevant. The most recent change is the mobile device testing app. I’m not sure if it is released yet, if not it is coming soon. Soon techs will have the option of testing on their phone. After registering for the test, questions randomly pop up on their phone. Once they open the question, they will have a set amount of time to answer (say, 2 minutes) and they will have immediate feedback on the answer as well as the rationale of the answer. The idea is one of learning more than testing, sure they can cheat and quickly google the answer, but now they know the subject matter. This qualification/ certification will be good for one year and will be on-going for the tech on a subscription basis.

Perhaps this is what those techs need who feel the current tests are too difficult. I worked on this project for several months as an SME.

[Tom Piippo]

As my business grew, we had to start making new rules (as they came up) and writing them down. That turned into a handbook. I suggest you start one, there are many sources out there that will offer a template; fill in the blank.

I have a chapter on appearance, the techs will start each day with a clean uniform, will present a clean and tidy appearance, and will keep hair trimmed (hair on chin and on top). I don’t mandate hair styles, but I have sent a man home to shave after he came in looking like a bum with a 7 day beard. I told him if he wants to grow a beard, he has to keep the edges trimmed. He came back clean shaven.

I also have a chapter on cell phones… not allowed!   I have relaxed enforcement as the cell phone generation seems to have infiltrated my business and they don’t seem to be able to function without them. I monitor the use/ abuse and rule as needed. (It’s in the handbook!)

[Tom Piippo]

I usually don’t have a problem with local vendors with delivery service. We have a good face to face relationship and the return of defective parts and labor claims is not an issue. I have developed check charts of new and defective parts returned and the credit applied.

My problem in this field is getting the proper credit from out of town vendors. Because of our location, many parts need to be delivered via UPS. When a defective part is replaced and the old one returned, there are three shipping charges involved. Then there is the tracking and confirmation of getting credit on the ‘alleged’ defective part. Depending on the vendor/ dealership, this could take months and becomes a back office problem of tracking the defects. We try to make contact every week to be sure the right person takes care of the credit. I find all too often the guy checking in the parts does not know what to do with returns. That’s when the dealership staffing problem becomes my problem:-(

[Tom Piippo]

I pay my techs with a hybrid system. I got tired of techs belly-aching about not getting the ‘good’ jobs and then not being thorough so I started paying hourly. I soon realized that there was no incentive to be busy, so now I pay a base hourly rate that they can live with when times are slow, or when the techs are doing non-revenue generating jobs; plus I pay on hours billed every week. My office gal (wife) puts a note with the checks every week showing their effective hourly rate for that pay period. ($XX.xx/ hr x 40 hours plus $XX.xx/ hr for hours billed that week)

It works well for us!

[Tom Piippo]

We are a 3 to 4 man shop, we meet every Wednesday for lunch, shop meeting and training. I keep an off-site facility (training center) to keep the distractions of the shop environment away. I built a full kitchen in the training center and my wife supplies a tasty hot lunch to the guys. We break from work from 11:30 to 1:00. This gives ample time to discuss any business AND I have the guys attention for all the training material that I buy and they never watch on their own. We finally got through that AVI library of videos and most of the on-line stuff they supply. I attached a 60″ TV to the PC for a monitor so it’s really in their face along with a pretty good sound system. They look forward to it every week.

[Tom Piippo]

I have said for years, if the manufacturers are going to offer an incentive, make sure it an incentive that the purchasers want. For example, one supplier offered an expensive pair of designer sunglasses for buying X number of his product in one month. That means nothing for roughly 40% of his customers that wear prescription glasses. I see it again and again. It has gotten better now with gift cards to stores that I don’t go to. My message to parts suppliers is to offer technical training or lower parts prices as an incentive to buy more product. As an alternative to training, they could offer discounts or scholarships to national training events like MACS, CARS, NACE, VISIONS, ATE, etc…

This would be a win – win situation for the supplier. An educated customer is more likely to buy a quality product and less likely to use that product to “repair by trial” and return good product as defective when it didn’t fix the issue. This goes along with another message from suppliers on how to best reduce the return rate of ‘alleged’ defective parts.

[Tom Piippo]

My experiences are similar to Dave, who commented above. We have been sending out a printed newsletter quarterly for many years. Not all of my customers have access to or are willing to use Facebook or even email! Direct mail has the highest measurable impact for me. I use a commercially available, personalized newsletter, but I add my own personal message inside as an insert. It used to be about the benefits of maintenance, coupons, or other service related info. I have since changed the subject matter over to a personal blog sort of thing, random thoughts of the season such as gardening, camping, outdoor sports, etc… I have found that people like to know about the things that I like to do besides servicing their cars and cashing their checks.

In the days and weeks after a newsletter mailing I can expect to get calls about the best way to store carrots and potatoes for the winter, or the best way to waterproof a tent, or maybe a neat trail I haven’t been on yet. This fosters relationships other than the one you make between the car and the customer. I have found that many car/ customer relationships dissolve when the customer upgrades their ride. I found out that it wasn’t a technician/ customer relationship, it was a technician/ car relationship (in the customer’s eyes) This idea is further confirmed when I find that the 2 cars that I have been servicing for the Jones is only half of the fleet. While servicing the wife’s car and the son’s car, father prefers another shop. When I make the relationship personal, I start getting ALL of the family’s business. I hope this helps

[Tom Piippo]

If the customer wants his car on our “WALL” (He gets a picture posted on the wall at 200K) we suggest all fluids at 100K along with trans filter, plugs, wires, induction/ injector service. No all of my customers are visionaries and don’t plan beyond tomorrow so we make the following recommendations. 

We recommend transmission service at 100K unless towing, then every 24 months for RVers (low mileage tow vehicles) or 30 to 50K farm/ commercial. Most OEM’s recommend coolant at 120K or 5 years. We recommend as needed, some cars are good for 100K! Definitely flush at every cooling system component replacement and we test pH with a Milwaukee electronic tester every LOF. When the pH gets skewed (usually low, acidic) we warn of impending doom (leaky radiator, heater core, water pump, head gaskets, etc…). http://www.milwaukeeinstruments.com/site/products/products/standardportable-meters/80-products-g-standard-portable-meters-g-mw101  EG (green) coolants normally test good between 8.5 to 10.5, extended life (OAT, HOAT) is good between 7.5 to 8.5

All vehicles in this area get the brake fluid replaced every 5 years by attrition, as the salt eats the lines and leaks develop.

Power steering gets the ‘as needed’ recommendation. If fluid is turbid or the pump is noisy, we find that BG does a good job in cleaning and restoring acceptable level of service. True, more frequent service would keep the fluid clean and pumps quiet, I find P/S service a hard sell because it gets little press time, customers are not as aware of this service as other fluids. (Probably our fault!)

[Tom Piippo]

Just today I gave a gal an estimate for $$$$ on her PT Cruiser. Historically, she has had to borrow money or wait till the first of the month to pick up the car. Today, I demanded 50% down before I start work. This is how any suspected high risk job should be sold or any job that comes close to the value of the vehicle.

On another note, I once had a car come up missing, I called the customer to see if he had picked it up, but he said no. I then called the State Police to report a stolen car. A few hours later they called back to tell me the owner of record (a used car lot) took position of the car. It seems my customer was a few payments behind (buy here, pay here type of lot)  and a guy from the car lot recognized the car and repossessed it with the spare key. I was left with the bill and nothing I could do legally. I did some checking and discovered that if the car was in some way physically impounded, behind a locked gate, or even secured with a steering wheel lock (The Club) then I would be covered and anyone taking it would be stealing.

I don’t have a locked gate for storage, but any high risk cars left over 15 days get “Clubbed”.

[Tom Piippo]

I have used various models of Hunter equipment over the years. I bought the Hawk Eye system 4 years ago and is by far the easiest and most robust of all the previous models. The car is set up and angles acquired in 10 minutes or less from the time it rolled on the rack. Now, making the adjustments…?

[Tom Piippo]

This won’t work for everyone, but here is what I did. I partnered with the Red Cross and offered a free oil change coupon to everyone who came in to donate blood for one of our local blood drives.  This coupled with the right pre- and post- blood drive marketing makes you out to be a prince in the community, boosting blood donations while gathering new customers and rewarding existing customers. I knew my liability was limited to less than 50 free oil changes; the Red Cross goal was only 35 units for our little community. We had to offer the coupons to all who came in to donate, even if they were turned away for some reason (they have LOTS of reasons). I gave the coupons a 6 month expiration and it took all 6 months for the redemptions to filter in. There was no Monday morning barrage for the free oil change.

The last blood drive brought in 20 new customers, 8 converted to being regulars. Do the math, that’s chump change to get 8 new customers

[Tom Piippo]

The techs get reminded every morning and again every Wednesday during our ‘training lunch’ to review the parts delivered before digging into the job. The problem is minimal, but once is too often. Another bone of contention is the greasy ripped up box they expect me to return when the part is not correct. Again, they have gotten better about this but it still happens.

Just venting here, but FelPro used to list the make and model application on their packaging, but don’t anymore. But they still have the NOT RETURNABLE label. Yes, I have a small inventory of FelPro in tattered boxes on my shelf.

[Tom Piippo]

AutoEnginuity  8 A lot of nice features, steep learning curve,

CarDAQ  10, remember, this is not a scan tool, it has a different function.

Genisys / OTC 3 I used to own one of the first ones, very disappointing.

IDS – Ford  10, not much beats the OE tool

NGS – Ford 7 great for OE functions (body, abs, etc…) but not great for drivability

SnapOn 8 Pretty good 3rd party tool, intuitive, easy to use

Star Mobile – Chrysler  6 quirky when it worked, no longer supported

Tech2 – GM 10 not much beats the OE tool

VCDS / Ross-Tech – VW – Audi 10 I give it a 10 for what I use it for. I haven’t found a hole in the coverage yet.

VCM – Ford Vehicle Communication Module used with WDS/ IDS

WiTech – Chrysler 10 Not much beats the OE tool

DRB3  10 Not much beats the OE tool

I’ve collected quite a few scan tools over the years and have been fed-up with 3rd party tools and all the promises of 100% OE coverage. I started buying OE tools when I couldn’t fix the power door locks on a 2003 Caravan 🙁

[Tom Piippo]

We follow OE recommendations; only check it if you see a leak. (or as required at the 100K service :-)) There is no “universal” charge as each one is as different as its nameplate. Most require the use of a scan too to get an accurate reading (if only to read the fluid temperature) and any time the scan tool gets used there is another line item on the ticket. You have to embrace the technology! Loving it!

[Tom Piippo]

 I think testing is a good idea but ASEs way isn’t working.

I have always thought that anyone who was willing to take the time and spend their own money to take an ASE test is worth taking a second look at. As with any new hire, if things don’t look good during the ‘honeymoon period’ cut ’em loose and keep looking. Until someone comes up with a technician licensing procedure akin that of getting a commercial drivers license, the measure of skill level will always be subjective, and will be directly related to how much sleep the tech got the night before. (I don’t know about other states, but Michigan requires both written and performance exams for a drivers license, new drivers also get a probation period with limited functionality.)

I have worked with the folks at ASE and no, they will not respond to questions about particular test questions, however the questions will be looked into to see if your comment has any merit. If you really need an answer just give them a phone call. Great effort is put into the task list from which the test questions are formed. New questions are inserted into tests but not scored, just to see how it ‘fits’ and to test it’s validity among test takers. Lets face it, if 80% of the techs taking the test get the question wrong, but score highly on the rest of the test, maybe it’s a bad question. It could be one of those questions that you were responding to.

After seeing all the work and professionalism that ASE puts into their craft, I cannot fault them for wanting to protect their intellectual property. I really don’t think it’s a big thing to under go a little security scrutiny to be sure they keep the bar high. If you don’t like metal detectors and video surveillance, stay away from Wal-Mart, Banks, Libraries, Schools, Hospitals, Casinos… Lets face it, its now a way of life.

Tom Piippo

Tri-County Motors 

[Tom Piippo]

We subscribe to both, you can never have too much information; I find no one source is 100% reliable. That’s why I also pay for AllData, Mitchell, MotoLogic and a couple of OEM sites. Pricy, but worth it!

Tom Piippo

Tri-County Motors

Rudyard MI

[Tom Piippo]

I have the drug test requirement listed on the job posting. I got the idea from a radio ad I heard in North Dakota. “If you can read and write English, drive a truck and pass a drug test, then we have a job for YOU!” 

[Tom Piippo]

For us, this is a no-brainer. we are never open Fridays anyway.  We will give all day Christmas Eve and Christmas day with pay. It hasn’t been discussed, but we usually knock off a couple of hours early on New Years eve, with pay. My policy is all major holidays are paid, if they fall on a work day, but we are flexible and often give an alternative day off.

[Tom Piippo]

Steve,

NAPA is my primary supplier and they pay labor without batting an eye. Anytime I do a price comparison, NAPA still has better prices than Auto-Value and Advance (the only other suppliers in our area) who do NOT pay labor.

[Tom Piippo]

We used a ‘canned’ front brake job that includes packing wheel bearings, we don’t discount if it’s a ‘slap-on’ rotor. The work order reads… “REPLACE FRONT BRAKE PADS, RESURFACE / REPLACE ROTORS AS NEEDED, SERVICE CALIPERS, CLEAN & REPACK WHEEL BEARINGS (WHERE APPLICABLE)” We always wash our rotors in the hot water jet spray cabnet, if wheel bearings are involved, they get jet washed too. I figure it just takes a couple of tenths to pack & adjust both sides on a 1/2 ton or smaller using this technique.

I reserve the right to adjust prices up or down as the job dictates, it seems that the less worthy the car, the tougher the job. (I didn’t break it nor neglect/ abuse it, I’m just trying to fix it!)

You might think that cars that need new rotors are really a ‘gravy’ ticket with this pricing, but there is usually a lot of rust to clean up on those cars. (Rust is usually the reason we replace rotors.)

[Tom Piippo]

Just our SOP, anything more than 1/2 unit (quart, gallon, pint, whatever) gets billed on the invoice. We bill washer fluid by the quart, this is a consumable commodity, just like fuel in the fuel tank. This also shows the customer that we did indeed check and refill the fluids. In 35 years only one customer complained about this, so he pre-fills his washer jug before coming in for an LOF and we all get along.

[Tom Piippo]

A great question with any tool purchase would be “What WON’T it do?” But no one will tell you that until after you’ve made the purchase. I just pulled the trigger on a Bartech Tech 400SD, the latest and greatest; will program “universal” sensors to fit virtually any car on the road, has programming instructions on-screen for anything you are likely to have come in the door.

Unfortunately, I seem to work on non-virtual cars. The first one was a 2012 Mitsubishi Lancer; the guys at Bartech say that yes, I can program a universal sensor for the car, but only the “factory” scan tool can pair the sensor to the car. The next one was a 2013 Hyundai Elantra, the gal wanted snow tires & wheels. Well, the TECH 400SD can program new sensors to the car, but the universal sensors won’t work here! Dealer items only.

I’m a little bit discouraged, but like any “universal” tool, there are limitations and I seem to have found a couple in a hurry. I still think it will be a great tool, but I havn’t used it yet.

[Tom Piippo]

As with any equipment, there is great wisdom in buying locally. Sometimes the only option is to buy a new one when it comes time for equipment repairs, if there is no service center nearby. However, these flush machines are not too complex and I’ve had good service from my Viper AF2350. Ocassionally the plastic quick connects need to be replaced, and if I get into a real nasty system, the check valve will hang-up, but I can get the parts direct from the factory, shipped overnight if needed.

[Tom Piippo]

I use a service desk I picked up at the auction when Penske left K-Mart. Paid $25.00 for it and it’s a good looking unit. Its red and gray laminate cannot be changed so I painted the reception area to match. It’s 10ft wide with room for two writers. The customer side is 48″ tall with a 1′ wide desk top which hides all my clutter at the 36″ level with a 2′ desk top. It wraps back 2′ at each end to give a defined user space (a big ‘bubble’) It tends to be a little tall for some people, but I just have them stem around to one of the ends at the 36″ level to take care of business.

I’d post a picture, but then I’d have to clean it first

[Tom Piippo]

We purchased a Hunter Hawkeye aligner just more than a year ago. It came with the data link connector and the ability to reset steering angle sensors. The first SAS reset we came across was a VW Passat and the machine lacked the ability to reset that car (wouldn’t you know it!) I sent Hunter a nasty-gram and the service guy came right out (2 weeks) and did a program ‘update’ to fix the issue. I don’t know it it worked because we havn’t had another Passat to align yet.

We have a Challenger 10K 2 post lift from NAPA. at 6 months old the lift arms buckled under a 4 door diesel. I would have thought that the arms would have been stronger than the hydraulics. It was fixed under warranty, but not without some grousing from the servicing dealer, who is different from the selling dealer. (he reminded me that he did not sell me the lift, nor did he install it!)

Just like our customers, I tend to remember the problems, not the good ones.

[Tom Piippo]

I was once overwhelmed by NAPA’s AutoCare warranty. Customer had a GM diesel truck and a 5 month old NAPA starter failed. It was installed by another shop 30 miles away (less that 25 miles requires towing back to original shop) After a relatively painless call to 1-800-LET NAPA I was told to submit a bill for the full retail price of the starter, paid my rate according to Mitchell time (.9hr, sweet) and oh yeah, add .5 for diagnosis (super sweet, how hard is it to diagnose a failed starter… IT DON”T WORK!) The check came in 10 days

Now on the other hand, I recently ordered a diesel injection pump for a TDI Jetta from a retail supplier in Pontiac MI (had the best price for an aging car) The car ran after we installed the pump, but the MIL was on, the cold start injector was open circuited. I asked to have another pump sent out, charge it on my card, and I’ll send this one back for warranty coverage and my customer will get back on the road, but one day late.

But Noooo, they will not sell me another injector pump; yes they have 2 more on the shelf, but policy states that the defective pump must be sent back, inspected, then repaired or replaced at the management’s discretion (10 to 14 days). I can see the point of keeping the angry customer from reversing the CC charge, but this was not acceptable.

Long story short, I robbed the needed parts from my “core” before I returned it and re-rebuilt the rebuilt pump. Yes, I know… deal with reputable suppliers and they WILL take care of you.

I wish WE had an AC Delco supplier…

[Tom Piippo]

I’m not sure what PA’s requirements for technician licensing are, but in Michigan, no. At least not without some sort of state investigation and proof of criminal activity. Sorry Wayne but there is no law against ignorance and complacency. Unless he is your brother in law (even if he is!) maybe it’s time he moves on.

Really, 3 weeks?

Wayne Fleishman wrote:

> Hired a master tech shouldn’t he know which bank is 1 on 05 maximum

> Put bank 2 cam sensor in to correct a common problem with these cars and tells me Alldata had the picture wrong. I checked, did not. Had car for 3 weeks for the same codes 340 I finally had to fix it. Master Tech can we revoke his license

> just letting off steam