JimO

I use Baymaster shop management and a service reminder printer that I purchased from them. It interfaces with my shop management program so any future recommendations noted on the invoice are also printed on the reminder sticker. Very efficient, stickers adhere well and come off with no problem and the print is legible after months of direct sun exposure. Finished product is very professional looking. I will say that my customer base is composed of newer, late model vehicles that requires less and less reminder stickers due to onboard service reminders. With that said, if the printer failed today I would call and order a replacement immediately.

Personal family (wife or child) vehicles only, no exceptions.

I rarely have a customer sign an invoice. We print a finished invoice on paper with color for customer and one on blank paper for us. After "end of day summary" is completed with shop management program we staple all of our copies for that day with the end of day summary. We do not file them but we do retain them in orderly fashion in a legal size archive box with dates - From 6/1/14 to 12/31/14. Each day is also backed up on a thumb drive. We file all receipts for purchases from suppliers in a A to Z file folder and use a new one every month. This system has served us well with no problems to date. As far as I am concerned the time and effort put into customer signatures outways the potential loss if one occurs.

We rely on the "all hands on deck" routine. Everyone goes out to the vehicle and we push it into the shop. Any vehicles that get towed in are always dropped on the high end of my lot so the push isn't bad. Snow and ice complicate the matter so we try to keep the lot as clean as possible.

We adhere to the following rule - Anything greater than a 2/32" tread depth differential requires the better tires to be on the rear. This applies to front wheel drive, rear wheel drive and all wheel drive. The front tires wear much faster than the rear on most vehicles. If we all adopt a blanket statement that the "best" go on the rear then we would never be able to rotate tires on any vehicle. The problem comes in when the front tread depth differential is greater than 2/32". This causes definite handling issues as noted in other posts. Vehicle "A" - Front @ 6/32" and rear @ 9/32" The tires should not be rotated. Tread depth differentials are greater than 2/32" so best remain on rear. Vehicle "B" - Front @ 6/32" and rear @ 7/32" The tires should be rotated since the tread depth differential is less than 2/32" Vehicle "C" - Front @ 6/32" and rear @ 5/32" The tires should not be rotated. The tread depth differential is less than 2/32" so rotation not required. All maintenance schedules require regular rotations to avoid tread depth differentials that would prevent a rotation. If you follow the maintenance schedule for rotations you will always be able to rotate - the tread depth differential will never be an issue. If you ignore timely rotations you may be put in a situation where you are unable to rotate due to exceeding the 2/32" tread depth differential rule. Let this rule work for you - Rotations should be performed every 5-8K miles - Good for the tires - Good for the driver - Good for the repair shop. Concerning snow tires - Front wheel and AWD - (4) snows. Rear wheel drive - (2) snows on the rear.

Wednesday - Normal hours Thursday - Closed Friday - Normal hours

I would not want to send a customer to my competitor to purchase tires. Not that I am the answer to every problem that can arise, to the contrary I realize my limitations based on experience. Tires happen to be profitable and basically problem free. They also open the door to other services as many other people noted. Why turn them away? If you sell enough tires you should be able to purchase them at a low enough cost price to have a decent profit margin and remain competitive. We use a matrix table that modestly increases the selling price as our cost price increases. Based on your example of a $75.00 cost price per tire my invoice would read as follows: 4 New Tires = $400.00 ($100.00 per tire) 4 Mount = $56.00 ($14.00 per tire) 4 Balance = $56.00 ($14.00 per tire) 4 Tire Disposal Fee = $10.00 ($2.50 per tire) 4 NJ New Tire Tax = $6.00 ($1.50 per tire) 4 Valve core = $4.00 ($1.00 per core) ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Total $532.00 + sales tax We see a lot of bead corrosion and charge $12.00 per rim to clean and then reseal the bead with clear coat. If there is just slight/minor corrosion we take care of that at no charge. What is everyone else doing when bead corrosion is encountered? While on the subject of tires - I keep hearing about shops and new car dealers continuing to use old style rope tire plugs installed from outside the tire. This is no longer considered an acceptable repair and should not be done. Is everyone now performing an approved type, plug/patch tire repair installed from inside the tire? How much are you charging to perform a proper plug/patch repair ? We presently charge $40.00 + tax If the injury is in the shoulder or sidewall of the tire it should NOT be repaired. Do you follow those guidelines? Someone must be ignoring these guidelines since we continue to see rope plugs in shoulders and sidewalls. Why would someone want to expose themselves to the liability of performing a tire repair using improper methods? The court systems does not care that someone performed thousands of "improper" repairs previously without a problem.

I tried MotoLogic for about 4-5 months about 1 year ago. The vehicle coverage was very poor. Good coverage on some vehicles and next to nothing on others. Nice as a second or third source of information but would never be a primary source for me unless they made tremendous improvements.

In my area Advance was running radio adds touting free battery testing and free Remove/Replace labor for battery purchases. When Advance acquired Car Quest we were told it was done because Advance needed to increase their trade with professionals since their DIY trade had been faltering. Understandably today's complex vehicles has caused that reduction. When I heard the free battery testing and replacement radio advertisements I quickly informed my Advance salesman that they lost me as a customer. We need unity and the ability to have large corporations realize that when they want our business they need to respect us and not be greedy. They need to decide who they want to attract as a customer and the methods they use to accomplish their goal. When the methods remove money from our pocket or cheapen the value of our labor then we need to remove the money flow to their pockets. Concerning our lack of recognition as professionals that Jeff wrote about - I agree. Years ago we were told that certification would be required and that it would professionalize the trade. ASA has the framework in place but the required licensing or certification has never happened except for our states emission repair program. While on the subject of respect - how about the recent full page Auto Zone advertisements in some of our trade magazines showing a very dirty/greasy tech with filthy hands named Mohamed and a statement about "rusted nuts". The dirty, grease monkey image with slightly questionable dialog about " when your nut's are rusted" has to go, What was Auto Zone thinking when they came up with that advertisement?

Great!

New tires, seasonal snow tires, balancing tires and tire repairs are a good part of my business. Until recently I always had Hunter tire machines and balancers. Two years ago I changed to Snap-on and they have been very good. Understandably both Hunter & Snap-on are expensive but they both offer very good service when needed. I believe Snap-on is running equipment specials right now and that could also mean that your Snap-on dealer may have info on used equipment if the new is too expensive for you.

I did try Motologic and it was very easy to navigate and had very good information on some vehicles and almost nothing on other vehicles. We would enter year, make,model so many times to only find out there was no information that we stopped using it. Motologic has potential if they can fill in the holes and present a complete package.

I did quite a bit of business with CARQUEST and was concerned about the changeover. As Joe said the sales and counter people have remained the same and that was a relief. What did change however was my cost and list price for most lines. If you have been switched over to Advance please take some time to compare pricing. Example - Cabin filter for a 2003 Honda Odyssey EX 3.5L Napa #24897 Cost $10.99 List $20.61 OEM Cost $17.99 List $27.99 Advance #C45459 Cost $21-99 List $55.98 There is nothing that can be said that can justify the above pricing issue. Can you imagine invoicing a cabin filter for $55.98 and the customer comes in the next day armed with the OEM list price that 50% less! We try our best to establish a good reputation that could be tarnished by things like this. The above example is NOT unique. I have documented 20 to 30 price comparisons all ending with Advance having inflated cost and list pricing. Wipers, steering/suspension and exhaust prices so far have checked out OK with a fair cost and list.

I did have Mitchell On-Demand (downloaded from discs on my hard drive every quarter) and it was quick, to the point and everything I needed. Mitchell stopped supporting the discs so I changed to Pro-Demand since On-Demand will be phased out soon. I and my techs hate the new Pro-Demand. The information is no doubt there but difficult to locate. We have been using it for over six months so the problems are beyond normal learning curve issues. When I expressed my dissatisfaction the Mitchell rep informed me "that's odd, everyone else loves it". After being a Mitchell customer for 25 to 30 years I expected more than that comment. I need to replace Mitchell with something easier and quicker.

Welcome and wish you the best in your new business venture.

We use Trice Exact Fit for most applications and supplement with Bosch and OEM when needed.

I used BWP/Car Quest as my main aftermarket supplier and miss them. BWP/Car Quest interface with my shop management program was much better. BWP/Car Quest prices were better (lower cost and a realistic list price). BWP/Car Quest inventory of parts that I use was better. BWP/Car Quest parts were more professional & less homeowner/do-it-yourself. I am hoping that the most recent acquisition of General Parts will improve things but that will no doubt take time and I need a supplier like BWP now. Things better change or Advance will not retain the professional market they have acquired via the BWP/Car Quest acquisition.

I always ask the customer "Do you have AAA to avoid the cost of towing?" If the answer is "No AAA" then the customer has been told and is now aware that there will be a charge for the tow. If the answer is "Yes, I have AAA" then I suggest they call AAA and provide them with the phone number if needed. If the vehicle is being towed to my shop then I do not ask for credit card info or pre-payment. If it is going anywhere else and I don't "know" the customer then I would ask for credit card info or pre-payment.

If a tool or time consuming procedure is required to accomplish the reset task then we charge extra. If we, as an industry, fail to get compensated for things like this then we will surely get to a point that we will not be able to afford the technology or the time to accomplish the task at hand.