phynny

West Virginia was the same way and here in Indiana the rates are pretty equal.

West Virginia was the same way and here in Indiana the rates are pretty equal.

Welcome! The repair side is the easy part as you dad found out. That part seems like it's mainly learned the hard way, certainly was for me .

Welcome aboard

Hey Steve, go take your garbage and cry to someone that cares. It's obvious that you have failed in the game of life looking at all the jobs you couldn't succeed at. I always find it funny when someone fails at a business and then has the nerve to tell the world how they should run one lol.

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IMHO it's not worth the extra 15k and there is such a thing as too fast. How many times have you seen guys leave something under the car or too close and the car touches it. Right now the speeds are slow enough you can normally stop and correct the issue with zero damage.

I appreciate everyone's advice! I am actually have a very good knowledge on how the station that I work at runs I was always very friendly with the owners and got to know the ins and outs of the business, until the station was sold to people who are just worried about money and not the business. I am looking to open a business so I can better my life, and have some kind of nest egg for retiring. I am not sure If a branded station or a repair shop is the way to go. I know with a station you can have a little back up with gas and store for the slow times. I really feel and have been told by many that I will have no problem doing it, I guess my main concern was failure. I think that is a normal concern though. I have lots of people that want to back me but of course I feel that those people really want to invest money sit back while I do all the work and collect off of the business, which I am not willing to do. I have seen to many "partners" fail. I hope this thread will continue to grow with all the great advice that can be shared. once again thanks for all the solid advice so far !!!

 

SKM

It can't really grow since we don't know what type of shop you are wanting. Location, number of employees, type of work are all huge factors in what advice we can give you.

Where are you located?

So like Joe said, the plan will be extremely important and here's how you do it. How much do you want to make/year? The average you the business will take home is 25% of whatever your business brings in. Now do the math and divide it all up and see how many hours you need to bill/week.

Are you planning on having employees right off the bat? Renting or buying a shop? We need to know more of your plans to give you any real startup costs.

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One more reason not to by Autozone parts... We all already know they are attempting to destroy repair shops. It started with the "free scan" then the "loaner tool" program and now "Openbay". Okay autozone, we hear what you're saying, now go peddle your parts elsewhere.

We've all been down that road Alfrado, no good deed goes unpunished and even if you are 100% correct the yelp and google reviews will not reflect that.

Isn't it more of a case by case basis really? By now, we can all tell if a customer is interested in a repair or price shopping and has no money. Service writers and owners make a living off of interacting with people and understanding individual personalities. Sometimes giving a quote to a "price shopper" works out to your advange. How many times have you given a quote or even just a quote for diagnosis and you don't hear from them until a month down the road when the repair didn't work or failed. When this happens you have earned yourself a customer for life which is our ultimate goal.

Most important IMHO is listening to that inner voice when it's sounding the "AVOID THIS PERSON AND THIS JOB" alarm.

What is MB?

 

First, I think you meant "moron.", not "maroon".

 

Second, to stimulate conversation, I sometimes post things TO BE controversial, It's the purpose of the forums. Do you think I really fall on one side in this debate? Just look at the amazing posts that were made. Proves my point.

 

So, am I really a maroon....sorry....moron?

Trust me, I know the difference between moron and maroon, why don't you read it for what it was instead of getting butt hurt. I liked the topic and was joking around, did you not see the face with the tongue out?

Have designated areas for them to clean at the end of the day and they will start ensuring it stays clean if it begins to affect what time they get to leave.

Joe you're such a maroon . It's a very tough subject and as already stated by others there are many good points on both sides. I always say price shoppers are people that I don't want as customers but aren't we all price shoppers? We price shop for everything we purchase so why would we expect anything different from out customers? I think it's rude not to give them a quote over the phone when they ask for it but then again how can we really give them a competitive quote? What quality part do they want, how soon do they want it back, what warranty are they looking for? How many times have you given a quote based off a customer telling you what they want after they have refused to have you diagnose the car and whey they drop it off they say something like this, "yeah I'm pretty sure it's the starter but can you just make sure before you swap it out?" Then you are faced with informing them that you will but there will be a charge for it.

So in finishing my $.02, I agree, I disagree, I agree, I disagree....

You were smart to quit when you did. Now you have a chance to build a business the way you want it to be. Too many guys who know how to fix cars wind up burnt out because they don't know how to structure the business, set pricing, say no, etc. I got a direct mail postcard from a guy yesterday offering a $34.95 full synthetic oil change and $15.95 regular oil change, ac special including freon for $44.95 and other low ball prices. Too many do that and work 70 hours a week and make no money. People who are looking for bargains tend to be the customers you don't want.

Agreed. I found it amazing that when you set high standards how many people flock to it. Oil is a good example, I will not put garbage $1 oil in your vehicle. My cheap oil change is between $40 and $50 period. I decided if you don't want to take care of the 2nd most expensive thing you own, the one that gets you and your family to where you are going safely and relaibly, I don't want you as a customer. It's a fantastic way to weed out the want-something-for-nothings&won't-be-satisfied-no-matter-what-you-do's .

 

 

sounds great I wish I could afford to do the same in the city. Properly costs are horrendous here.

I can't even imagine what they are in NY, you have my sympathy.

Yeah, the cheap route isn't going to work, just too many flaws. I really just don't want to get big and have to go buy a facility, staff it and then deal with the daily headache a large shop creates.

LOL, I'm certainly not a troll. I didn't plan on starting a shop here but there was a need and it seemed like more and more I was repairing vehicles. It started making me nervious to have 80k and 100k+ cars on my lift in my shop with no insurance should the worst happen. So I had to create a business, get permission from the county then get insurance and now there is a business that needs to pay for itself. I'm not looking to make a ton of money from it but a lot of my customers have no where to turn. My fellow Viper club members were paying $175/hr to have some "viper tech" learn how to work on vipers at their expense.

I agree, great post Stow, simple fix to a nagging industry problem. In WV it was an easy fix, I call both supplies and informed them that they would either warranty our $95/hour or lose our 10k+ per week in sales. Here in IN, I'm a one man shop again so I have zero pull.

I've always want to do some sort of extended warranty but haven't reallys sat down and layed it out.

LOL I hit my "mid life crisis" last year at 34. The 7 days/week 14hours a day and putting out more fires than the NYFD just got to me. I wanted to see my children grow up(4, 2 and 6 months) so I made the change. I bought a Viper then ended up getting into another business and now I'm back to auto repair...

So as my shop is getting set up I have been meeting with all of my parts reps. I had a long conversation with the Oreilly rep yesterday and when I asked about warranty claims due to a bad part THEY sold me I was told that they do not do them...? He went on to tell me that they submit them to the manufacturer and they warranty the item and labor at $25-$35/hour. After some further discussion he informed me that shops should not make money on claims and I disagree. Why, when I put on a part and it fails should it cost me money to repair it? Am I not losing money when I have a vehicle on my lift making $25/hour vs $85/hour? Sure I do, I am losing money? When does a customer (we are customers to the parts store) have to lose money in any other industry? Early that same day he was telling me about their CSC program in which they will pay other shops to fix parts failures across the country... Excuse me, you just told me that you won't pay me to put a part back on but you'll pay Bob in Idaho?

Great article and so very very true. people that don't really have much to lose seem to not care what the price is and you end up making more in the end. Seems as though owners are so afraid of overcharging/not getting the work they undercharge.

This is a funny topic, I recently discovered while dealing with venders that I somehow subconsiosly make sure to find out if they like the current administration. If they like them I don't do business with them. So in fact, I do surround myself with like minded people .

These are videos of exactly how you DON'T run a repair shop. What a dumb mechanic/owner, tried to be a nice guy and let some asshat work on his vehicle in his shop and pays the price. I'm not saying he did get it pressure checked but ether way that does not mean the head is cracked. I also love the part where the customer's like "I didn't sign any paperwork for you to work on my vehicle so I don't have to pay", then says that the mechanic was supposed to do x, y and z and yet has no paperwork on what he wanted done...

So obviously the vehicle is done and done correctly even though it wasn't done to the customers "requirements" and the guy is still refusing to pay. I'd keep that vehicle until he payed. What's his plan?, go to court and say he shouldn't have to pay for his fixed vehicle? ROFL

I know a lot of shops lie and are shady but at the end of the day if the repair fails the shop has to fix it or you can take them to court. What kind of business would this be if you could take a shop to court and not pay for not doing exactly what they say? IMHO this customer should be throat punched.

A lot of shops start seeing a decline after the first couple of years because they just stop advertising. With a shop on a main strip you can skimp on the advertising because you will get all of the "walk in" traffic. If it seems like a great deal I would lock it up by putting in an offer and just make it contigent upon x, y and z so you are covered if you find out it can't support a shop, has back taxes or whatever else you have planned for it.

Looks fantasic, definitly looks more professional

P0455 is an evap large leak, I've really only seen this when a gas cap has failed or the large evap line on the tank. The small evap lines won't cause this fault.

Oh yeah, another possible cause is a tank that has a leak as it will not hold pressure.