ATSAutomotive

I personally have used Alldata and TABS AutoBiz. Currently use TABS and once you pay for it, you own it. However, I have seen Alldata change their pricing structure from when I used to have it. It actually would cost me the exact same to have Alldata Online (labor guide) and the Alldata's shop management system. I know many others use Mitchell as well as RO Writer. Take a look and most companies will offer a demo. That way you can play with it and find one you like.

A lot of good information above, I would also include experience. I have dealt with that exact same car before and do I know how it feels. I warn my customers if we know that we typically have problems with this sort of vehicle and to expect a phone call. Do keep in mind that a labor guide is a suggestion based on an average. Does not take in to account rust and broken bolts or weather for that matter.

Definitely look in to getting a shop management system. It will save you time and money. You will be able to upload that pricing matrix and as soon as you enter a parts cost, it automatically calculates what to sell it for. Among a TON of other features.

TABS AutoBiz, you buy it and you own it.

Best thing I did Phynny was get a Service Advisor. His job is not just to create sales but to hold profit margin as well. I average 51.66% parts margin rather than the 27.10% when I was up front. I'm just too nice of a person and help others too much. Very difficult thing to let go of but I found for my business it was one of the best decisions I made.

I assume everything in your shop is written, including invoicing?

Currently paying almost $2.00 a tire for disposal. Customer is charged $3.00 I have seen this jump from $1.00 cost less than 2 years ago.....

No I don't discount in order to get work. It's not fair to my technicians and it's not fair to me. Long story short, my customer came in and we discussed his vehicle. Turns out even after all the talks we had. He still didn't understand what we were telling him. I brought him out to his vehicle, explained everything in the simplest terms I could and he agreed to further diagnostics. He thought a blown head gasket was his issue. Service Advisor has gone through some more training and also learned a valuable lesson as to why we don't tell a customer what we "think" is the issue. Sometimes you just need to talk face to face with someone.

If you have a good job where you are at and from what I gather your family owns the building? I would fix it up and rent it out. Make money just being a landlord. Plus it doesn't sound like you really know this guy who would be doing the work during the day anyway. Very easy for him to rip you off without you knowing.

This is definitely a case by case. My shop is smaller with 2 Full time techs, 1 SA and myself. Customer are always talking to my techs simply because they are friendly and will say Hi to our customers. We get to know our customers and ask how their weekend went or even that vacation they just went on. I pay my guys well and I do lots of "extra" things for them. They are my best asset and I put them first before anything (except for the recent argument of A/C in the shop ) My guys know when someone is sniffing for something and will be very vague with someone like that. Usually don't see that person again. My regular customers don't ask, If they don't think they can do it. They bring it to us. Now when I worked at the dealership, I had this happen a few times. I simply stated, if they didn't know how to work on the vehicle that we had trained technicians and we could schedule them in. If everyone hasn't read, I received an article sometime this year stating 2012 was the highest amount of deaths/accidents due to DIY car repair.

Best way is just to knock on the door and say "HI!"

We have a great wholesaler down the road from us. All tires are marked up 43% for a 30% profit margin.

We will not give estimates or second opinions over the phone. You need to see the vehicle before you can accurately tell them what's wrong. We are currently on the other end of this today. Great customer brought in his Oldsmobile Intrigue for a hard miss. He pays for a Level 1 Diagnostic and we perform it to the letter. We discuss with him that we need to do a Level 2 Diagnostic and what it entails. He doesn't want to do anymore diagnostics and just wants an idea of what is wrong. With somewhat loose lips my SA said he thought their may be a head gasket issue as the customer is adding coolant and oil and not leaking any. Now he is calling other shops asking for a quote on head gaskets when we haven't even verified the problem. Feel bad for those he may be wasting their time. For some reason he just isn't listening to what we are trying to tell him.