mmotley

I'm really surprised at how many people don't have lathes! It's an expensive piece of equipment, no doubt. Car count definitely plays a role in it and also where you get your parts from. Cool to see all this feedback from everyone.

How many people actually bought stuff you suggested? What is the average repair order $ amount for customers using these coupons? Are you following up with customers that you made suggestions to? That's an important question. If you're increasing car count and your ARO is staying the same, then it's worth it. If they are calling back and scheduling the additional work, it's worth it.

I agree with both the comments above. I once considered stocking brake pads, and I only work on Toyota/Lexus/Scion... There are still too many variables to offset the cost of stocking pads.

Mine isn't an on car lathe, it's a bench lathe. I charge $200 for a brake job with machining rotors. If I have to replace the rotors, it is at least an extra $100, depending on the vehicle. Keep in mind, I'm using dealer parts 99% of the time and that's what my customers want. If they go for a cheaper aftermarket option, the price reflects it, but not much.

I agree. You haven't gone full time and I'm sure you are still on quite a learning curve... Have you hired anyone? You'll have to learn how to interview. And how to train them to call and make sells. And how much to schedule in one day... There is a lot to learn before just jumping in.

I HEARD that x-charge will match the rates of any competitor. I might start shopping around and see if they will match whatever I find

X-Charge is who I use. They partnered with Mitchell1, and so far I have had a good experience with them... Only experience I've ever had with a credit card processing company though.

I use O'reilly for all my shop consumables and generic fluids (gear oil, washer fluid, seat covers, brake cleaner, wire, vacuum hose, etc.) The main reason I use them? Their area rep stops by AT LEAST every 2 weeks. Not to sell me anything, but just to see if I need anything or have any complaints or issues. Sure, he hands me a flier, even though he knows I won't buy parts from them. He provides customer service, which is my biggest pet peeve! I don't really buy many parts from them, but only because most of the parts I get are dealer only parts. That, and my customers INSIST on factory parts. If I'm in a bind, I'll grab an oil seal or gasket or something small from them on a Saturday or Sunday, but that again is only because of my business model and clientele.

... I typed a whole bunch, but I went back and read it and it sounded like I was bragging. So I'll just leave it at this. January is already a record month for me.

Thanks. Just wasted a good 15 minutes laughing at all those pics! HAHA good stuff

I bought a used brake lathe on craigslist when I opened up. Can't remember exactly what I paid for it, but I think it was around $2000, maybe $1800. Came with the bench/table, adapters and cones. Cleaned it up with some WD-40, spray painted the the bench, and replaced a boot. I don't know if it was worth it, but it's hard to measure. Selling rotors on every brake job is gonna add ~80-100 I would guess. That could cause some customers to go somewhere else. Not that you want to be the cheapest guy in town, but people do pay attention to price regardless.

complete article here... http://editorial.autos.msn.com/blogs/post--senators-propose-law-covering-car-black-box-data

I feel the same way. Ignoring the fact that you can get yourself into serious trouble (lawsuits etc), just the loss of sleep from knowing you let an unsafe vehicle leave your shop is not worth it. I'm not sure I would try to cram all of those instances into a small disclaimer on the R.O. however. I feel like that is just going to get your tail in crack eventually. I would just instruct your service writers to refer that customer to the current manager on duty or you. Think about it, if a customer has a wiper blade from the dealership, are you really gonna decline putting that on? vs some used brake pads from the junk yard? Obviously an all encompassing 'no customer supplied parts policy' is the safest route, but I think applied common sense here can go a long way instead of a small disclaimer that hardly anyone reads. I think what I'm getting at is maybe a policy is better than just a disclaimer, and like you said CAautogroup, putting a note on the receipt is probably the best idea.

Sent you a PM

Do you own the shop or are you renting? Seems to me you would make more money if your shop was open during regular business hours, so maybe leaving your current job and opening your personal shop would serve you better. I almost did the exact same thing you're doing when I started my shop, but I decided to dive in head first and do my own thing full time. I'm so glad I did and never looked back.

Just curious, why are you staying at your current job and only working your own shop on nights and weekends? What is keeping you from going full time?

I think it really comes down to prepping the customer before work begins. When there is a massive leak and its hard to tell, you tell the customer 'Look, when we get done, there may be some other leaks that we couldn't see.' Remember, you're not the one who has let the car leak oil for so long that now you can't tell where it's coming from. It is a result of their poor vehicle maintenance. Like Xrac said, you can try degreasing the engine and reinspecting... And don't hesitate to charge for it! I recently had a customer come in with an oil leak, and it was covered in oil underneath from the radiator to the rear diff! I had to clean it off, I made him buy an oil change, and he is coming back in 100 miles... AND I told him it's still gonna be tough to tell. Remember, we're all human and we can't always be perfect, no matter how much the customer expects us to be.

Wes, that's what I've been told too. I wanted to try it out in a small section so I could see how it performed before I ordered 1000's of sq ft. There are lots of pictures of people using it in showrooms and home garages, but I never really saw any pictures where it was being used in a commercial application (only a few recent exceptions on there website). I just put it down in my main stall 2 days ago, so I'll be using and abusing it as much as I can before I start building my own shop. I'll post a my thoughts on it after a month or two

I just ordered some racedeck flooring and installed it in one of my bays this week. Trying to give it a good test run before I build my own shop and decide what kind of flooring I want. I'll try to give a thorough review on it after it has taken a little wear and tear. Also just bought another lift for the shop, maybe I'll post some pics and review for that too when I'm done if anyone is interested.

Had a few people interested in the construction of my sign, so here are a few pictures of the finished product. I didn't get to take too many during the construction, so hopefully these help enough for whoever is interested.

phynny, so how are ya'll pricing them over the phone? Do you just tell the customers you start at $XX.XX and go up from there, or what?

I even charge the same price for all filters, and it still seems that getting the price takes too long. Maybe it's just me being impatient. Also gets worse when you find out that their car could have a 4 or 6 cylinder... Hopefully someone here with a quick lube shop has some input.

Just curious, how are others handling the pricing of oil changes? More specifically, how are your service writers giving prices for oil changes if someone calls in? I know, I know, I know, many of you don't like price shoppers, but they still call and I would like to give them the quickest and best answer possible. Example: Customer calls in and wants to know how much for an oil change on their 2002 Toyota Camry. Where does your service writer get the price? Does he/she just say 'our oil changes start at $40 for a 5 qt oil change and each additional qt costs $5?'... What if the customer wants to know how much oil their car is going to take? Do some of you guys out there have a 'cheat sheet' with a table on it showing the year/make/model/fluid capacity/price, or is everyone going through mitchell/alldata and asking the customer to hold while you get this info? The reason I ask, I called a quick lube place this week, and the kid who answered the phone seemed to have the prices and info pretty quickly... Either he is really on the ball and knows his cars/fluid capicities/prices or he had a cheat sheet or computer program that had him the info quick. I know at my previous employer, they had a 'cheat sheet' with all the basic prices listed for oil change/air filter/cabin filter/rotation/etc. but they were a high end dealer and could make flat rate prices for all the cars. Every oil change cost the same there, 4,6, or 8 cylinder (with the exception of one car). I don't think that's feasible in an aftermarket shop. Any thoughts or input is greatly appreciated!

That makes way more sense (I didn't read the articles, just kind of skimmed...lazy). At that point, I would say they are definitely worth it. Wes, shoot me a PM with your email address and I'll send you a copy of the slideshow. For future reference, if anyone is interested in making a slideshow for a TV, here is a quick rundown: 1. In paint/power point/etc. save your image as a jpeg. 2. Save all your files to a thumb drive/jump drive/usb drive 3. Most TVs nowadays have a usb hook up. Insert the usb drive into there 4. Turn on the TV. Some will automatically detect the drive, others you may have to change input to media or whatever 5. Set to play, you may have to choose to loop all the images so they keep playing over and over. Reference http://www.scantips.com/basics1f.html for the correct pixel size for your image. I think it says to set it to 1920x1080 pixels

Wes, I would love to see the cost of those displays. I'm sure they work great, I'm just afraid the price is gonna be way too high for the return on invest (plus floor or wall space). By no means am I saying my slideshow is the greatest idea ever (I'm really just to cheap to pay for cable and I don't have enough waiting customers), but like Joe originally asked, can we have to many sales displays. The TV takes up just a little space on the wall, didn't cost me much (really, I took it out of my room at home, so it was kinda free), and has sold tons of keys, rock chip repairs, and headlight buff jobs. I guess it comes down to how many customers you have waiting around and being bored vs. customers coming in a out quickly. Bored customer might check out displays and brochures, but those just coming in to drop off their car or have you check their MIL real quick will at least glance at a tv... At least that's my train of thought. If I ever had a bigger waiting room and extra money laying around, I would probably invest in some of those displays though.