ScottSpec

It's funny, Yesterday I came in and one of my techs was searching a BMW for a starter relay that Alldata showed behind the glove box. So then he went scouring the web for help. Eventually he found that there was no relay and that the information in Alldata was incorrect. This seems to occur many times a week. My service manager has nicknamed it smalldata and nodata. Scott

Simon, While you did hit a sensitive subject, I don't feel attacked, and there is no need to be apologetic. Our exchange may be a bit passionate, but I don’t feel it has been uncivil or disrespectful. I think we are probably very much in agreement, just stating it in different ways. I want mechanics to be treated as the professionals they are. I think your frustration with the lack of professionalism and questionable characters in this industry, is another way of stating the same thing. Here is where I have struggled in our exchange. You seem very committed to learning all you can to be the best shop owner you can be. You are here participating in this forum, on a holiday weekend even. You are willing to watch YouTube videos and have probably watch some of the videos promoted here from the Car Count Guy or the Car Count Fixer. You seem willing to consume as much information as you can, in order to improve your job performance. I image you consider yourself to be a committed professional, and you should. I don’t know if you still see it the same way, but in your initial reply, you painted a mechanic that approaches his profession the same way, as inept or inefficient. My guess is that you are thinking about the guy who watches a few YouTube videos and thinks he is a mechanic, while I thinking about one of my guys trying to find a better way to keep tension on a BMW timing chain while he replaces the upper timing cover gaskets. Most of my YouTube Videos have to do with software development, but here is a good example of somthing you might find useful if you ever run across a 3.0 or 3.2 SIL 6yl with a bad R.E.A.D. unit. https://www.scottsautomotivemd.com/volvo-rear-end-accessory-drive/ Hope you have a great 2018 as well. Scott

skm, You are correct about hitting a nerve, but probably not for the reason you think. It was by introducing a fictional character into a discussion about the costs and benefits of modern technology in our shops. A discussion about how to clearly define what is and what is not business use, and how to enforce policies. When one of my daughters was in her teens, I monitored all her internet activity. Because she was a teenager and I did not trust her decision making. This was about 15 years ago. I want my mechanics, my customers, and the public to see my mechanics as the professionals they are. If I have to monitor their activity, like I monitored my daughters, it would seem that I see them more like teenages, and less like professionals. I'm not saying I have the answers or know what is best. As I stated in my original post. This is a tough one. Which is why I joined this discussion. I do know my business has benefited immensely from their access to these tools. I have been out of the shop for the last week. I know that when I go back next week everything I left to be done, will be done. And they do it without a single call or email to me. We have Alldata, VIDA, ISAT, ODIS, & Techstream, as well as access to Mitchell and most other manufacturers online systems and I can assure you from experience, that they all have their shortcomings. With regards to YouTube, I personally find it an invaluable resource. I have created and posted numerous videos that contain valuable information that I can guarantee you will never find anywhere else. Scott

skm, I've never met anyone who had that vast amount of knowledge "already in their heads". I would love to know how and were one obtains all that information. Especially knowledge of problems and testing methods that are experimental or don't even exist yet. Are you saying your techs already have all this info in their heads? Do they know where the most connectors are on every model of Volvo and BMW? Do they know if there are any software updates to address the neutral lockout on the turn of the century Volvo's? Or if their is any software updates to address Volvo evap codes? Do they know which modules are on the high speed bus, low speed bus, lan, and all the functions of each module? What modules use serial and which modules use parallel communication? Do they know which manufacturers require a locksmith license in order to program keys? Do they know what causes oil consumption in the SIL 6cyl? Do they know what modules are mated to a car and what modules can be transferred to another car? Do they know where to have a module cloned or repaired increasing the likelyhood of the customer purchasing the repair, and increasing profit to the shop? Do they know how to test every make and model air fuel ratio sensors? Do they alreay know how to set up ISTA, ISTAP, OSS, Techstream, VIDA, STAR, and how to configure them with the OE interface or a J2534? I hope you get my point that anyone who claims to have all this knowledge already in their heads is most likey not being honest. Scott

I'm curious how you are able to eliminate all non-work related use? How do you monitor that? What are your parameters for detemining non-work related? Scott

This is a tough one. My guys spend a signifcant amout of time on the internet doing research about the cars the are working on. Forums, Youtube videos, Alldata, etc. They use their cell phones as well for research, to take pictures of things they are working on to share, or for a reference so they are sure to put it back together correctly. They also spend a fair amout of non business related time on the web and on their phones. If you took these tools away from them, would it be a gain or a loss for your business? My guys get their work done, so for me right now the benefits outweight the costs. Scott

Alex, Thank You. Scott

Alex, When you get a chance would you try a search for Volvo Service Rockville and see if we are on the first page. I have been doing some work on my SEO and from the computers I have tested at, I have made it to the first page of results for that. I'm working on consolidating urls to scottsautomotivemd.com but the results may come up with one of my other urls. Thanks Scott

Alex, Thanks. I have been working on this the last few hours. I thought I would try eliminating the slant sites creating optimized content pages on my site which is why you are now being redirect from those sites. I did copy the Volvo page for all of these and I am going to start editing them tomorrow. I'm going to focus on building the site to attract owners of European cars since that is what we want the most. I don't see the slant sites doing much for me so I don't think there is any harm in removing them for now. Once I get the site further developed, I'll check back in. I do have Google analytics on the site, and a sitemap which I submit to Googles Search Console. So I will monitor those as well Thanks Scott

Alex, Thanks for all the feedback. I have some questions but want to give you some history so you better understand my situation. We started in 1989 as a Volvo specialist. I was one of the first adopters of Google pay per click and it served us quite well especially at .10 to .20 a click, that faded as it's popularity as well as the price rose. We still did very well with organic since everything continued to show us as as Volvo Specialist. About 7 years ago we started getting into general auto repair. While we still did pretty well organically with Volvo, not so much with general auto repair as there are a lot of shops in this area. Starting last January, we started direct mail marketing for more BMW customers. In May we bought the customer base of a German Car specialists and did some more direct mail marketing to those customers. The direct mail company created what they call slant sites for many of these marketing pieces. http://bmwrepairrockville.com/ http://audirepairrockville.com/ http://vwrepairrockville.com/ http://volvorepairrockvillemd.com/ earlier this year we had another company create us a 4 page site to see how it would do in organic search as many of the other shops they had built sites for were coming up on the first page. We also got the urls, yelp page, and google business listing for the other business. I started redirecting the urls to a page on our site. From my research, I think there are pros and cons to having all this presence on the web. On one hand it could provide several avenues and gives us a bigger foot print on the web, on the other hand Google may see it as spammy and not get a clear picture of what we do. Since our search results have been dropping over this past year, I have to believe something is negatively affecting us. So a few weeks ago I created the 4volvoservice.com site and linked it up to the Google business page I got from the other business and I started redirecting the other 4 page website to the Kukui site. I also ended up removing the Google business page from the other business because while the reviews were ok, they are related to the other business. I have since recovered it. This in an effort to see if I can bring Volvo Search back up. A big part of my marketing challenge is our split identity. Our business is about 76% European cars and 24% other makes. While we would love for it to be 100% European, we would not survive without the non European. I have read, as you mentioned that it is usually best to optimize one site. So the challenge of that is creating a site that European car owners will not see as just another general repair shop, while not alienating the non-European car owners. As I am writing this, I'm thinking it may be best to create 2 websites. One for the European and one for the general auto repair and take down everything else. Love to hear your thoughts on this. Also, I have a bunch of domain names that are forwarded to my sites. I have heard this can hurt SEO as well. Do you have any thoughts on that? Scott

Our Volvo specific site: http://www.4volvoservice.com/ And Our general repair site: http://www.scottsautospec.com/ Scott

We are a small shop. We provide Tee Shirts and Sweat shirts and the employees provide their own shorts and pants and clean them at home. I have had a washer an dryer for years to wash various items around the shop. You can pick them up pretty cheap on Craigslist. We washed our own rags for many years. About a year ago I realized it was considerably cheaper to purchase new rags and throw them away when you are done. I hate being wasteful, but I'm not sure how much different the environmental impact of disposing new over cleaning dirty rags is. Last time I purchased rags on eBay they cost me 11.5 cents each. I calculate with a service, including a portion of the delivery charge, environmental fee, and taxes, it was a little over 20 cents a rag. Washing them yourself is about the same since you need to use a strong cleaner and was them about 3 times. Also, I too have found with laundered rags, they tend to still be a bit oily and have debris like metal shavings in them. Scott

Could we extend on this topic adding what does an Automotive Repair Shop really need on their site. I have built a lot of websites over the years. I still struggle with what is really needed. There are some nice looking sites here but some of them are quite busy and overwhelming. What do customers want to see? There is a shop across the parking lot from us. They have a one page website that is at least 10 years old. They don't have any social media accounts but if you search for auto repair in our city, they used to come up on the first page almost every time. I just checked and they are currently on the top of the second page. I did a backlink check and there are only 4 to their site. I have too many websites, I have considered very basic site with some special offers on the home page to entice people. What are your thoughts? Scott

It's funny, when I first saw the post saying "what I'm seeing more and more of is consultants looking for gigs", the first person that came to my mind is Ron, now he back on this thread, not realizing he is on top of the list. Scott

Anderson, Looking forward to hearing more of your thoughts on this. It doesn't make me feel good to know you are having a down month, but it does help to know you are not super-human. experience slower times as well, and are humble enough to admit to it. Scott

Ron, I think it is inaccurate and misleading, like a lot of information you publish, to say that tryguy is the only one that takes exception to your message. I clearly do, and based on the number of likes of my posts here, it would seem others do as well. I think the fact that your post has no likes indicates a lot as well. I also would not read into the number of video views you have. I checked some of them out, and subscribed to your email list. I did not watch for long before I became I was turned off, and your emails were directed to my junk folder. I don't know why you are struggling with this so much, but it's time for me to move on from this discussion. Scott

Anderson, What are your thoughts on this https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/REV8111TAXABL157QNSA The amount of information about the report is limited, but if I read it correctly, revenues from Automotive Repair & Service have been pretty much flat since 2010. Thanks Scott

Anderson, I always appreciate the thoughtful post you make. While I cannot speak for him, I imagine tyrguy would be in agreement with your assessment as I am. That we each need to analyze or local market conditions and plan accordingly. I think the issue we both have with this post is the argument put forth that more reliable cars and reduced required maintenance are not lowering car counts, and making this business more challenging for most. Obviously there is always the exceptions and caveats. For me is was being able to buy the customer base of a shop that went out of business after 29 years for the exact reason we are debating. This has grown our revenue 25% over the last 3 months. While this has been a great return on my investment, I unfortunately cannot count the availability of customer bases as a long term strategy. Scott

tyrguy, I think that the fact that no other shop owner on here except Anderson (who I have had some valuable exchanges with and great respect for) is supporting the original post, or even liking it, speaks volumes about the argument put forward. I can imagine the guys who made buggy whips were probably told there was no shortage of horses. And I'm sure the makers of DVD players whose sales continue to decline year over year can take comfort in the fact that the number of DVD is the world is at an all time high, and people are watching more movies now than ever. Scott

Tyrguy, I’m with you. People claiming that better made cars are not negatively affecting our car counts and sales are either ignorant or full of it. In fact, I think it is one of the biggest challenges we face. Ron seems to be all over the place on this. In this post he claims there is no car count problem. In one of his previous post, he started with the same argument that car count is not down because of more reliable cars. Then in a response to that post he listed numerous reasons why car counts are down. So I'm no longer sure what he really believes. I'm a strong advocate for taking personal responsibility, not creating excuse, or blaming. However, sometimes our challenges do NOT come from the man in the mirror. It is however our choice how we respond to those challenges. I personally prefer action over denial. Scott

We have 2 options for our customers. We are a Bosch Authorized service center and a NAPA Authorized service center. We offer CFNA from Bosch and Synchrony thru NAPA. Here is what I have found. Most of the customers that have applied have been denied. Customers with good credit have credit cards and just use them. I have spent hours submitting applications online and decided it is not worth my time. Now, I just email the customer the link and tell them they have to apply online. This also helps you avoid that always uncomfortable situation of tell the customer that they have been denied. Scott

Ron, Your post is a bit confusing. You titled it "Are Better Made Cars Drowning Car Counts?" You went on to state "That's not the reason why car count is down in shops." Then in your response to my post, you included "Cars made better." as one of the reason for lower car count. So hopefully you can see how this may create some confusion and distract from your intended main point. Scott

Ron, I’ve seen you give some helpful advice here, but I think you are way off on this one and are doing a disservice to all of us trying to find ways to maintain and grow our businesses. Being a some what overly optimistic person, I fought this idea for years, but more reliable cars are having a negative effect on the automotive repair industry and there is no denying it. I could provide you hard data to prove it, and could probably spend hours responding to this post. But to minimize the time I spend on my response, I’m just going to make a few simple points about your 14 year old average car. Right now that would be 2003 models. Compared that to a 14 year old car we would have been working on 10 years ago, which would have been 1993 models. We were exclusively working on Volvo’s 10 years ago. We are now servicing all makes and models, and one of the main reasons is because of the issue of increased reliability and the reduction in required maintenance. Just a quick look at the maintenance charts from 1993 to 2003 you will see major extensions in the intervals for just about every maintenance item, or the elimination of them. While it was not uncommon for 1993 to be towed in at least once over the course of several years, it is uncommon for 2003 models on to be towed in. Over the last few years we have seen timing belt service intervals go to 150,000 and a lot of cars going back to timing chains. Oil leaks were always good money makers, but with improvements in seal designs and PCV systems, those repairs have diminished. Oil change intervals of 3,000 miles are now going to 7,500, 10,000, up to 15,000. Simple math on that alone will indicate lower car count. I have been hearing for years how many cars there are on the road and how the average age continues to increase and how great that is going to be for our business. Meanwhile I have watched most everyone I know in this business have their year over year sales decline. In fact, I just bought the customer base of a German car specialist who went bankrupt after 39 years in business. Just 10 years ago he was grossing over $1M. I don’t think people have changed that much when it comes to car ownership expenses. There are always exceptions, but most people will not keep an older car if it does not make financial sense. Generally that means the older the car gets, the less they are willing to spend on it. So if the average age of vehicles on the road is increasing, it is a further indication to me that less money is being spent on maintenance and repairs. There is one last point I would like to address and that is fear. Fear is a very strong motivator. When I first started in this business, most customers knew what it meant to have a car break down or leave them stranded somewhere. Fear of that happening was a strong motivation for them to do all they could to make sure it did not happen to them again. When someone got towed in, they almost always bought any other recommended work. Most of my customers now can’t even imagine a car that won’t start or one that might quit running. You can say that bad behavior is no longer punished. Scott

I have struggled with the customer supplied part issue for many years. This is what I do now. A friend of mine named it the "Higher Authority" response. When I get a customer that wants us to use their parts, I just tell them that I can't. I have copied and pasted our written policy below. Scott’s Automotive - Customer Supplied Parts Policy Unfortunately we cannot install customer supplied parts. Our business license, as well as a number of our agreements with affiliates, requires us to have a minimum level of insurance and to provide a 24 month / 24,000 mile warranty, no exceptions. We would be unable to meet those requirements when installing a part supplied by a customer, thereby violating numerous agreements. By asking us to install a part you supply, you are asking us to risk losing: · Our Business License. · Our Maryland State Inspection Station License. · Our Maryland Tag and Title Agent License. · Our NAPA AutoCare Service Center Status. · Our Bosch Service Center Status. · Our RepairPal Certification. · Our AskPatty Certification. · Our Amazon Services Status. · Our ASA Membership Status. · Our ExtremeWrench Listing. · Our Great Reputation. · And most important, our relationship with YOU.

How do you calculate the average R.O. in your shop? I know the simple calculation is to divide gross sales by R.O.'s, but that alone can give you a pretty inaccurate number. I am big into documenting and making notes on everything. I save all emails from customers, etc. So every car or part that goes thru the shop gets an invoice. This helps keep track of what happened and when, makes sure inventory is not lost, and that taxes are paid. So when a loaner car needs an oil change or light bulb, a R.O. is created. If one of the employees needs an oil filter, an R.O. is created. There is no labor on those and the parts are billed at cost. We also do Maryland State inspections. Quite often they are for other shops and the R.O. is never going to be more than the cost of the inspection. When they bring it back for re-inspection, another R.O. is created for $0. If a customer comes by to have us check their oil, coolant, ck tire pressure, etc. an R.O. is created. So simply dividing gross sales by R.O. count can rally skew numbers. Also, do you include sales tax? I have played around with many variations. Sometimes I will filter out the invoices below a certain amount or with no labor. I figure the inclusion or exclusion of sales tax is not a big deal as long as you stick with the same methodology. Scott