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How do you feel about CARFAX?

Joe Marconi
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  • 1 year later...
EhtRob Rookie

EhtRob

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We use RO Writer with carfax VIN integration. All we have to do is punch in a license plate number and the VIN comes up which then fills out all of the details about the vehicle. it's free but the trade-off is our service history is uploaded to Carfax which in turn ends up on those reports. We DID have one customer come in and say the we ruined his sale for his vehicle because we got the mileage wrong. Because we scan EVERY repair order the technician fills out including the mileage which was hand written by the tech I saw the mileage was the same as our invoice. Based on the way this guy was acting I truly think he rolled back the mileage on the car. BTW, the car had a "salvaged title" sticker on the door that was issued by the state. So I wasnt too worried that he was upset.

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EhtRob Rookie

EhtRob

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Your shop name ends up with the service history on their report. No Customer names are on the report, just service history and where it was done. It can work in your favor. The theory goes that if they buy the car then they will continue to take the car to your shop since you have serviced it before. The vin decoder is the single biggest time saver for us. We used to have to go to every car, write the vin, hope I can read my own writing and put it in the computer.

Now, punch in the plate, Vin, year, make, model, engine, all come up and fill themselves in the RO. May not be needed for some but if your a high volume shop doing repairs & service, tires and oil changes it's great. Now when you look up parts and labor using Epicor or whoever's catalog parts are correct (most of the time) and labor. SO much easier than the manual route.

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FROGFINDER Rising Star

FROGFINDER

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Information that leaves your shop not controlled by you is being paid for by someone at no cash flow to you. Vehicle's will soon be recording and videotaping all repairs to "Increase safety and reduce incompetence during. We had a son of a customer can send a drone helicopter with camera into our shop to check out the progress.

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nmikmik Enthusiast

nmikmik

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The Carfax integration into our management system is a nice perk, but we pay for the management systems. Why should we pay for the second time with our customer's information?

Good bad of indifferent, this information should stay with the customer, not with Carfax and be available only through a court order imo. It shouldn't be our choice or responsibility to police who does what with their cars. If opting out from sending the info to Carfax is not an option, I'd say we should have a check-box on the repair order (maybe with place for initials next to it) to allow the customer to choose what to do with HIS information.

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  • 7 months later...
GeeZ Enthusiast

GeeZ

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After recent ads from Carfax, I searched and found this thread. My question is: How can a shop release this information to anyone

without authorization from the customer? I also found that auto dealers have software (ADP) that mines this information and sends

it to Carfax. Apparently, there were lawsuits from this action as the dealers had no knowledge of the release of information.

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alfredauto Experienced

alfredauto

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they called me a while back and had me hook up the integration. The issue is I do all the work for them, plus pay Mitchell $4000 a year or whatever it is, and I still have to pay to see a carfax on a car I want to buy at auction or on trade in, so they take and don't give back.

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GeeZ Enthusiast

GeeZ

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they called me a while back and had me hook up the integration. The issue is I do all the work for them, plus pay Mitchell $4000 a year or whatever it is, and I still have to pay to see a carfax on a car I want to buy at auction or on trade in, so they take and don't give back.

It would be less expensive to just pay for each Carfax as you needed it. If you integrated the carfax, would you need to get customer authorization to release any info? What is the advantage for a customer to release any info? What does the shop get out of this arrangement? It seems to be that all the advantage is to Carfax to sell your info.

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  • Have you checked out Joe's Latest Blog?

    • Joe Marconi
      The Toolbox is Last to Leave, First is the Heart
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         0 comments
      It always amazes me when I hear about a technician who quits one repair shop to go work at another shop for less money. I know you have heard of this too, and you’ve probably asked yourself, “Can this be true? And Why?” The answer rests within the culture of the company. More specifically, the boss, manager, or a toxic work environment literally pushed the technician out the door.
      While money and benefits tend to attract people to a company, it won’t keep them there. When a technician begins to look over the fence for greener grass, that is usually a sign that something is wrong within the workplace. It also means that his or her heart is probably already gone. If the issue is not resolved, no amount of money will keep that technician for the long term. The heart is always the first to leave. The last thing that leaves is the technician’s toolbox.
      Shop owners: Focus more on employee retention than acquisition. This is not to say that you should not be constantly recruiting. You should. What it does means is that once you hire someone, your job isn’t over, that’s when it begins. Get to know your technicians. Build strong relationships. Have frequent one-on-ones. Engage in meaningful conversation. Find what truly motivates your technicians. You may be surprised that while money is a motivator, it’s usually not the prime motivator.
      One last thing; the cost of technician turnover can be financially devastating. It also affects shop morale. Do all you can to create a workplace where technicians feel they are respected, recognized, and know that their work contributes to the overall success of the company. This will lead to improved morale and team spirit. Remember, when you see a technician’s toolbox rolling out of the bay on its way to another shop, the heart was most likely gone long before that.

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