Pride universal gold?

[Dr.Dave]

Hey one of the antifreeze's I have been considering for my flush program is Pride Universal Gold.Has any one any thoughts on this brand?Its not one of the major brands I,m used to seeing

[TheTrustedMechanic]

In many sources of literature and online I've read there has been one consistent theme, THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS UNIVERSAL COOLANT! The old green stuff contained silicates. Dexcool is supposed to be silicate free and uses HOAT additives while Ford and some Japanese brand vehicles use OAT additives. HOAT is not compatible with OAT. So if you are trying to use a universal coolant you will not be meeting the requirements of some or all of the vehicles you squirt the cheap stuff into.

 

The best way to truly serve your customers' needs is to find out what chemistry the OE coolant is and use an equivalent either aftermarket or OE supplied. If your customers are too cheap to take care of their cars properly either you need better customers, or you need to be prepared for that dreaded customer, Everett Sinchu. IF you do not have the regard for your profession to do the job right, well we have discussion lamenting the hack shops every week.

 

But to answer your initial question, no I have never heard of Pride Universal Gold coolant. My fluid and chemical suppliers do not pitch stuff like that to me because they know I do my work one way, the best I can. And to do that I need to research and use the proper fluids for the vehicle. I lost an oil change on a Cadillac SRX once because I refused to use generic conventional oil in it when AllData listed the engine required oil meeting GM spec GM4718M and continued that oils meeting that spec were usually identified as synthetic. She refused the $70.00 price because, "Well, the quick lube will do it for $35.00." Then let them buy her a new engine.

 

Once you lower your standards it's really hard to return to excellence.

[Joe Marconi]

We don't use univeral fluids either, we use what the car is designed to use.

 

But, what we have done is to average cost our antifreeze/coolant prices and marked up the list to reflect one price. So all antifreeze is billed out with the same list price. It keeps our menu services consistent and it helps us acheive overall profitbalitiy. I price maintenance services to be competitive, but profitbale.

[Dr.Dave]

In many sources of literature and online I've read there has been one consistent theme, THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS UNIVERSAL COOLANT! The old green stuff contained silicates. Dexcool is supposed to be silicate free and uses HOAT additives while Ford and some Japanese brand vehicles use OAT additives. HOAT is not compatible with OAT. So if you are trying to use a universal coolant you will not be meeting the requirements of some or all of the vehicles you squirt the cheap stuff into.

 

The best way to truly serve your customers' needs is to find out what chemistry the OE coolant is and use an equivalent either aftermarket or OE supplied. If your customers are too cheap to take care of their cars properly either you need better customers, or you need to be prepared for that dreaded customer, Everett Sinchu. IF you do not have the regard for your profession to do the job right, well we have discussion lamenting the hack shops every week.

 

But to answer your initial question, no I have never heard of Pride Universal Gold coolant. My fluid and chemical suppliers do not pitch stuff like that to me because they know I do my work one way, the best I can. And to do that I need to research and use the proper fluids for the vehicle. I lost an oil change on a Cadillac SRX once because I refused to use generic conventional oil in it when AllData listed the engine required oil meeting GM spec GM4718M and continued that oils meeting that spec were usually identified as synthetic. She refused the $70.00 price because, "Well, the quick lube will do it for $35.00." Then let them buy her a new engine.

 

Once you lower your standards it's really hard to return to excellence.

Thanksfor that input,as I said I'm new to the game.I spent alot of time working at dealerships and w/ all the training I got I think the same way.I am a small shop I just opened and on a very limited buget.Flush does require keeping some stock.What I really need is some advise on what to keep on hand.What few flavors will cover most cars? What should I pay for it? Do you have a guide or source or somthing you have put together your self that that describes what vechile takes what? I have mitchell on demand but on antifreeze I see a part # but it may take some research to find out what it is, don't always have time to do that.If you read the back of the jugs they somtimes say what cars they recomend to be used in.Should we not pay attention to that?As an example when I worked for Suzuki just a few years ago we started using Zerox GO5 in most of the japanees made cars,But that was inside info and haven't seen it public beside the label on the container.So with all that being said I,m not trying to be a hack shop I just want to keep a managable effecient stock of coolant and I'd like your help please if possible. Thanks, Dave

[Joe Marconi]

Thanksfor that input,as I said I'm new to the game.I spent alot of time working at dealerships and w/ all the training I got I think the same way.I am a small shop I just opened and on a very limited buget.Flush does require keeping some stock.What I really need is some advise on what to keep on hand.What few flavors will cover most cars? What should I pay for it? Do you have a guide or source or somthing you have put together your self that that describes what vechile takes what? I have mitchell on demand but on antifreeze I see a part # but it may take some research to find out what it is, don't always have time to do that.If you read the back of the jugs they somtimes say what cars they recomend to be used in.Should we not pay attention to that?As an example when I worked for Suzuki just a few years ago we started using Zerox GO5 in most of the japanees made cars,But that was inside info and haven't seen it public beside the label on the container.So with all that being said I,m not trying to be a hack shop I just want to keep a managable effecient stock of coolant and I'd like your help please if possible. Thanks, Dave

 

You should reach out to your parts reps. They will have technical hot lines numbers of reps that can help you with understanding the different coolants. As far as what to stock and what to charge, you need to do a demograhpics study of your customer base. As far as pricing, it's always good to know what other shops are charging, but in the end, you need to charge what is profitable for you. Like I always say, " You need to find the balance between being competitive and being profitbale. Also, when you get a car in that you do not have the coolant, is it possible to purchase it, as needed, from a local parts house?

 

Hope this helps?