Exclusive Auto Care

Thank you all for all the input. Im glad that you guys have a similar system to what I am trying to do. I will come up with something and let you guys know.

I would like to come up with a chart that will help me know how much to charge for diagnostics. This is what I have so far. Any input will be appreciated. Level 1 Fluid Check Air/ Check tires On level 1 I would like things that can be diagnosed visually. I can come up with a reasonable price to charge the Scan Codes customer. I also thought about just charging 0.5 hours but it seems that is not working out too good, plus i dont think is fair to charge $40.00 for fluid check or just to check tires. Level 2 Wheels Axle Front, Rear Suspension On Level 2 I would like to list things that I know my techs need to take parts off to be able to check the problem. Level 3 Engine noise Cooling system On Level 3 Cars that need to stay over night or takes 1+ hours to diagnosed. Fuel System Transmission I hope this is a good idea for me to stay on track. What do you guys think? Good idea? Should i just charged 1 hours minimum of diagnostic time?

What do you suggest Phynny? They are very hard working individuals and they also have a family I want to be able to pay them fair.

What do you mean by "When I sell a job I sell value and benefits and sell the entire job. I don’t focus on parts or on labor, but sell the entire job as one" How do you sell the entire job as one? Could you specify a little more.

Which management system do you recommend?

Yes. I used Labor guide for the invoices and keep a copy for our records. I keep that copy with the customer Information form plus any parts that were order with the same ticket.

Very interesting responses from all of you. This is what we do at our shop please correct me if I am not doing it the correct way. We use Real Time Labor Guide. I dont know how good of a system this is but it works for us now. My husband is alone in the morning while my workers go to school. They dont get to the shop till 2:00pm. Their rate is $16.50 an hour and we pay according to labor guide, for instance if a job takes 3 hours they will get pay for the 3 hours at their rate. If they take 4 hours they will still get pay for only 3. We always have work, so they are always busy. They clean their work area, and they also have their own tools. I would like to pay them hourly from the time they get here to the time they leave. That way I can have a little more control over them and I can set rules and regulations. Unfortunately, our shop is not there yet. I dont want to take the chance and pay them hourly when we dont make the money. By us paying them flat time, I know that we made that money for that week. Is this a fair system? Am I doing something that Is not right or Ilegal? I want to be fair to my employee they are good techs.

I dont have a price matrix in effect. How can I figure the price matrix for my shop?

Ill try to develop something. Thank you

Grifftans Im looking for the thread but cant seem to find it. Could you direct me to it or post the link? Thank you Zulma

I have a Customer Information form that my customers fill out before we can work in their vehicle. The form includes simple questions such as name, address and phone numbers, with a detail brief description about our policies. A signature is required for us to work on their cars. My problem starts when the vehicle enters the shop. I (receptionist) fill out the vehicle information such as, year, make, model, mileage, vin and license plates. My husband diagnoses the vehicle and gives the job to a mechanic. Everything is done verbally. I would like to generate a form of some sort where they (mechanics) can fill out for themselves. I believe that is more convenient for me for them to fill the vehicle information. The form should include the diagnostic, parts that need to be order, notes and recommendations. That way they would just come in hand me the form and I can order parts needed. I think it would also help me to be aware as to what they did, and is wrong with a customers car. That way I can explain or give a little detail to customer about what was done. We are currently using a Employee Work Order form that I have created on Microsoft work. Im not sure this form is working for what I have intended it for. Any advice will help. What else should the form include? What outline could I use for my employees to understand it? Thank you Zulma

That is one of the marketing strategies I used a couple of weeks ago. I made some fliers and went to stores like Walmart and even the local college. Well I got kicked out of the college because I was not authorize to touch peoples cars. So that was a done deal there. At Walmart I did almost half of the parking lot when I would watch people getting to their cars and wouldn't even read the flyer they would just throw it on the ground. That really did it for me. I had spent my money on making copies and let me mention that it was as hot as it could be on that day for them to just throw them in the ground. I decided instead of placing the fliers in their cars I would hand them to them in person. So I did. That seem a little more effective to me. Good luck with your marketing! Zulma

Thank you all for the good advice and feed back in return. I will definitely make sure that I do my research and take some type of seminar or class to be more educated about the business. I will also be making changes to our policy dealing with parts and warranties. You all have a wonderful day. Zulma

Thank you so much for all the advice. I will take it all in. I will also make sure I make some changes.

Thank you so much for all the advice. It was easy to understand with the examples that you have provided.

Thank you for the feed back. I will look for the article.

Thank you Mr. Jeff.

Thank you. Great website.

Thank you. Yes, Cypress is about 30-45 mins from our area.

Hello to you all, husband and wife from Houston, Tx and we are coming close to our 1st year as business owners of an Auto Repair Shop.

Good day to you all! I have been trying to do research in how to financially manage our small business, and came across this site. Been looking around it and reading some real good articles. My husband and I have started our own mechanic shop in Houston Tx. This is our 2nd time giving it a try. Last time we got into it without knowing anything at all about how to run a business. We mutually decided to closed it down and wait till the time was right for us to try again. We both got a job at a repair shop. My husband was working as a mechanic in the shop and I was helping inside the office. We got some experience while working there but not enough. 3 years later and here we are again. This time we seen there was an opportunity and we just could not let it go by. On November 22, we will be making one year since we open our small Auto Repair Shop. We are so grateful with all the support that we have been receiving from our community. We have lots of work, and is all by referrals. The only marketing i have done is through Facebook, most of our customers are walk-ins or friends, or family members from people we have done work to their vehicles. We are very happy with the outcome. Our local dealer is even sending us cars for us to work on them and right now their jobs is what is keeping us afloat. Our shop name is Exclusive Auto Care, we have 2 mechanics that work with my husband. Very good guys by the way. I work in the office. I deal with the customers. I get the jobs in, and my husband gets them out. I order parts, deal with estimates and invoices, all that good stuff. I enjoyed what I do and why I do it. Im not so sure that we are doing everything the right way or how we suppose to. Our rate is $80.00/hour. We are the cheapest ones in our area. The rest auto shops charge $90-$100/hour. There is 4 mechanic shops in our same street, regardless of that I dont see them as competitors. We all trying to make a living here, and their reputation is not all that good. We are just happy with any work that we get. We order parts from O'reillys Auto Parts. We get a discount and raise the parts to 0.8% (im not too sure about this percentage) How much do you guys mark up parts? Some times I dont think we make any money on parts. At times the customer rather get their own parts and we are ok with that too. If customer bring parts do you guys offer warranty? How long? We were giving 3 months (90 days) but due to us loosing money we had to make it 30 days only. I am thinking about not offering a warranty for parts that are supply by the customer. Could this be a good decision? Why or why not? I am in desperate need of advice I dont want to see our business fall apart. Thank you so much for taking your time to read my post. Have a good day! Zulma