Mike Walter

7 bay repair shop in the foothjills outside of Denver, Averages over $1 mil in sales over the past 5 years. Well established in a small community, comes with prime real estate, same size lot across the highway just sold for $1.1 mil. 5 bg flush machines, New Snap on aligner, tire machine, tire balancer, waste oil furnace, compressor , all come with the deal, Owner highly Moticatyed, $800,000 , make offer

Hi TM or DA or whoever you are, read before you speak. You are barking up the wrong side of the tree ( not the sunny side ), Mechanic. Hi guys and thanks for your input. There is alot more to this story than I can divulge because of the good possibility of the litigation process taking over.

Hi guys and thanks for your input. There is alot more to this story than I can divulge because of the good possibility of the litigation process taking over. I can comment however on what you guys posted. Not really a "pissing contest " going on here, I have been around long enough to no better that will never get you anywhere and its just a waste of time. I did request an email from the King before I posted my original post , to send me the exact reason why I am in default, the King has yet to reply, figure that is . The problem here is a pencil pusher behind a desk making an unjustified decision that effects the welfare of my business. The " rude awakening " is coming it just might take some time. Thank you all for your input and I will update what happens. Thank you, Mike.

Ok, here is the deal . I have been a loyal Snappie customer since 1984 and I have never experienced anything like what I experienced today with Snap on credit. Long story short , a credit Manager made the decision that I defaulted on the lease agreement because I failed to notify them that I returned a piece of equipment ( WITH THE HELP OF THE LOCAL SNAP ON DEALER ). So the Manager ( let's call him King ) made this decision from the input of all other parties involved ( some of the input was fraudulent, that's a big word and I would never use it unless I can back up using it, which I can ) and even though I had evidence to back up my claim that said I had no idea I was in default because the local Snap on Dealer was helping me with the return of the used equipment because he paid for it originally with his credit card. My evidence consisted of emails and text messages that backed up my claim of not knowing to contact Snap on leasing when returing a piece of their equipment. One text from the local dealer said once he got the credit back on his card he would either credit my truck account or cut me a check. The text did not say anything about contacting Snap on credit. BTW. I never missed a payment. So when the King called the loan amount due full or otherwise they will come and get the equipment, so I told him to come and get it. So be aware of Snap on credit fellow shop owners. I will guarantee to all you guys and gals, if some young buck wants to play King with my lively hood it's time he learned a little life lesson. I will keep you all updated. Thank you.

Thanks for the input. The Green Diamonds were a hot item here in Colo back in 2012. We sold a lot and then stopped selling them when the weren't holding up to the mileage warranty ( 50k warranty, tread gone by 20k on most Trucks ) and when they came in flapping and the local rep was no where to be found. He reappeared 2 years later. He said they WERE NOT RECAPS BUT REMOLDS. Tell that to the customers with flappers. We later found out it is ILLEGAL to put recaps ( remolds, flappers, etc ) on the front of a passenger vehicle in Colorado. Havent heard anything about them since, good riddance.

Yeh, I know a little bit about tire liability. Learned about it back a few years ago when I was peddling some Green Diamond tires. Those tires were a real good lesson when it comes to liability, thats for sure.

Hi Elon, I think the liability concern you have is a valid one but I doubt if Amermac would be selling tire shaving equipment if there was a problem. Heck if there was a problem, Amermac would be out of business by now.

Hi Elon, thanks again . Taking care of the customers is what its all about in any service oriented business. Doing it honestly, explaining to them how things work on their vehicles if they don't know, explaining to them why they need to perform regular maintenance, etc. builds trust. Without the trust factor you will not be in business very long. I think this Road Hazard thing will erode the trust factor very quickly if not handled properly. I think my particular situation with servicing many more AWD and 4WD than 2WD vehicles, is a lot of the problem I am having with the Road Hazard Warranty. I talked with a Tech at Tire Rack on Thursday that shaves tires and he said they do ALOT of tire shaving. That being said, I think the general public is starting to come around as far as having knowledge about just having to replace when one tire when they have an AWS or 4WD vehicle. I will think more about this, but right now I am thinking if I want to do my very best to take care of my customers as far as offering a Road Hazard Warranty, investing in a tire shaver would be the way to go. I am very curious to see what the future will bring ( especially after talking with the tech at Tire Rack ) with this whole tire shaving situation . You never know, maybe tire shaving equipment will make a come back ( they were very popular in the days of bias ply tires ) and every shop will have one. I will keep you and everybody else on ASO updated. Thanks again Elon for input, I appreciate it very much. Mike.

Good morning Elon and thanks for the reply. I was wondering about the liability concerning shaving a tire. If I went that way, I would definetly have the customer sign a release of liability. My main concern is up selling the road hazard warranty and if there is problem with a tire, the road hazard warranty only covers one tire, when on most vehicles we service you cannot replace just one, you must replace all 4 because they are AWD or 4wd. So it's like the customer would buy 3 and get 1 for free, even though they only really need one.

I am thinking of selling Road Hazard Warranties to my customers. The problem I am having with this program ( TechNet has a great program) is having my Advisors selling a Road Hazard warranty and seeing that 80% of the vehicles we service are AWD or 4WD, I don't feel comfortable selling the warranty when 9 times out of 10 , the other 3 tires will have to be replaced ( depending on tread depth ). I researched this great site and the web in general and I don't see anyone discussing this. Of course honesty and integrity comes into play here and I don't feel comfortable selling something that looks deceitful from the customers point of view if they ever have an issue with a tire that is covered by the Road Hazard warranty and then telling them that we will cover the one tire but because they are driving a Subie ( we service ALOT of Subies ) we will have to charge them for the other 3 tires because there is more than 2/32 difference in tread depth between the new tire and the other 3 tires. We could inform the customer of this when selling the Road Hazard warranty, but would you buy a Road Hazard warranty when it only covers the one tire that is damaged, knowing you will probably have pay to replace the other 3 tires ? Also, after my Advisors take the time to explain the whole tire circumference thing and how it could cause drivetrain damage, etc., chances are customers will just be confused and that wont help trying to upsell the Road Hazard warranty or for that matter the whole customer experience when purchasing tires. Tire shaving is not available any where in Colorado that I have found after extensive research. Its a lost art except for competitive racers at dirt or asphalt tracks, which Colorado has maybe a total of 5 tracks that I can think of. Tire rack does it but they don't sell Cooper tires ( which is what we sell the most of ). A little Quagmire going on here ? Purchasing a new tire shaving machine ( $10k for a quality one ) would resolve this quagmire and could be a profit center all by itself if marketed correctly, seeing as no one in Denver ( we are 45 minutes from downtown, 20 minutes from the western suburbs ) is offering this service. Any input from you great folks would be appreciated. Thank you , Mike.

I to am a Tech net shop and a little worried about parts quality. My independent CARQUEST is now stocking BWD electrical components such as ignition parts, sensors, switches, etc. I have an Oreilly parts house up the street from us and have used BWD in the past that we got from them and have had nothing but trouble with them. Also the Wearever brake pads CQ is now selling have me a little worried also. We do ALOT of brakes because 70% of my customers commute 40 miles or so to Denver daily from my rural town and its all down hill Quality of parts is very important to a shop like mine and always has been. We are not the cheapest shop in town because we use quality parts ( or used to ) and hire the best techs to get the job right the first time. If a parts fail because of quality that gives us a black eye, even if it isn't out fault or even if its covered under warranty. Customers want convenience, bringing their vehicles back to have the same problem fixed again isn't convenient not to mention what it does to shop flow and profitability. Time will tell whether this whole Advanced deal comes back to bite me in the rear diff. There are some advantages, like their new Nationwide warranty is now 3yr/36,000 mile. You have to pay an extra $83 a year to get it. There labor claim program is quicker but now its more of a fight than before to get it approved. Updates to come about this Advance Auto Parts adventure.

Morning, the customer covers all fuel costs. I am coming in at around $5.50 per vehicle, per work day . We also use the vehicles for training purposes for lube techs to perform flushes, tire work, etc. which also brings an added value to the business.

We recently have added a total of 5 loaner vehicles in the last 4 months and will be adding another one this week, for a total of 6. Being in a rural community where some customer live up to 15 miles from the shop, we are getting great results and a lot of happy customers. All customers must be a min of 25 years old. I also have a contract the customer must sign and show they have insurance on the vehicle we are working on. I spent countless hours researching what the verb age of the contract says so it is a legal binding contract ( not bad for a guy who barely graduated from High School, I got my law degree out of a beer can, ). The contract is the key because the one I came up with releases the shop of ALL liability and also makes the customer liable for any damage. We clean and check all fluids weekly and document everything on a spread sheet. We fix cars for a living, so maintenance really is not a problem. I took a good sized hit on my shop insurance policy because while the underwriter liked the contract, they still have to cover the rear ends. The added income ,not to mention very happy customers, offsets the insurance costs 3 fold. Smoking in the loaner vehicles was an issue for a while but that stopped once we put a sign in each of them stating there would be $150 cleaning fee for smoking in the vehicle. We also added a smoking clause to the contract. We have had some alcohol being consumed in the loaner vehicles ( maybe some guy looking for his law degree in a beer can ? ) The contract also covers this. All vehicles are 10 years or older, so if one was to be totaled ( which the customer would have to pay ALL costs ) its not a big loss for the business. Studies show the number 1 reason a customer brings their vehicle to your particular shop is convenience, not price, and also not reputation ( which is still number 1 with our crew). It was a risk at first and the program is still going thru its initial testing period, but it is really starting to pan out. Feel free to send me a message for more info, I would be glad to help. Just like this GREAT website has helped me. Thanks, Mike.

I agree with Joe 110%. I made the transition to offsite owner back in Sept. It wasn't easy and I am still working on ALOT of items to be sure my business will continue to grow. I could not have done it without already having the right people in place. Its all about competent, trustworthy employees. Getting your business to grow is one thing, but you cannot do it without the right people that want to help you to grow.

Hi guys, I am very interested in this meeting subject. For so many years, I always brought up the negatives that were happening in the shop. Lately, I have been more positive and instructed my manager to do the same. Employee input is very important and I enjoy hearing what's on my guys minds. Questions I have for you guys, is do you put a time limit on these meetings ( our meetings have a 1 hr time limit on them ) and what time of day do you usually do them ? Right now, I have biweekly meetings with my managers and monthly with the 2 staffs ( I basically have 2 staffs with 2 different managers, because I have a quick lube business and a full service repair business, located in my 7 bay shop ). Your input ( just like my employees ) would be appreciated. Thanks, Mike.

Thanks for all the replies. First off, I am definitely finding that this was the best business move I have ever made ( getting out of the back room). Looking from the outside in, has gave me a much different perspective, much like a business consultant .I have remodeled the waiting room ( 5 compliments this past week, mostly women) , I changed policy concerning safety issues , tightened up control over the cash coming in and out of the shop, started calling back customers again and not relying on emails to check customer satisfaction, changed a lot of my marketing techniques and joined this GREAT website. In my original post about the handbook, I misstated when I said " how repairs are excepted to be done ", I meant how inspections or diagnostics should be done. I think the problem is, I wrote the handbooks ( a lot of them and now even a lot more coming ) from my experience ( 30 plus years) and tend to go on and on and on, on how I came to the conclusion that this is the way the inspections or diagnostics should be done for shop efficiency. MAP has good guidelines, but most their guidelines are to broad, so to cover every vehicle ( we service mostly SUV's and 4wd vehicles because of our rural location in the foothills outside of Denver). I think I will have someone that knows nothing about how to do auto inspections or diagnostics look at it ( like my wife) and see what she reads into it. I will keep you guys updated. Thanks, Mike.

Morning, I am still working the offsite owner gig and have ran into many more battles ( Joe Warned me ) than I thought I would but I am still winning the war. Security camera system with remote access is helping ALOT. Anyways my lead tech ( rocket scientist , actually he used to be) says the verbage in my tech handbooks seems to ramble on and needs to be more concise. While I am good at fixing cars, employees, etc. my writing skills could use some improvement. This handbook by the way covers how repairs are excepted to be done ( Brake checks, ball joint checks, leak checks etc. ) so it is not your typical handbook covering dress codes etc. Anybody know of any software or anything that's out there that could help me. Let me know and enjoy your weekend, Mike.

Thanks for the good wishes, it will take time for sure. Every time a thought pops up pertaining to this offsite owner transition ( shop liability concerns, inventory control, employee theft concerns, how to handle angry customers, etc.) I email that thought to myself with my phone. Lots of emails from myself lately. Happy Monday and Have a Great Week.

Thanks Joe, the process/journey part of your post is what I must keep pounding in my head. Mike.

Joe, thanks for your input, I appreciate it 100%. We do have separate monthly meetings for the techs, writers and lube techs. I went in yesterday actually because I still work every other Sat. as a tech. don't think to many customers will miss me because a lot of them I always think my manager who has been with me over 10 years is the owner ( sometimes I wish we was, lol) because I was always in the back turning wrenches. I am setting up goals for improved car counts and will review them with the crew weekly. I have also added 3 more cars to loaner car program so we will have 5 and have implemented other changes in the 2 weeks to achieve my goals. My crew is my second family and the respect we have for each other should make the transition easier because they like working for me so they respect what I have to say and I always respect what they have to say. The handbooks and the daily check sheets pertaining to the handbooks should keep everyone on the right page. I guess my biggest worry is I am overloading them because although I was a tech there was a lot of decision making done on the spot while I was there and now I am leaving it up to them. I am adding this decision making to their handbooks ( which some of them have already doubled in content ) and don't want to overwhelm them. Again, thanks for input Joe and enjoy your Sunday.

New member here, glad I found this site , it has some great info. So here is my story ( short ?). I have decided to get out of the backroom finally after 21 years of owning a shop ( I was told to do this 20 years ago by business proffessionals but working with my hands and hanging out with my employees is what I enjoy ). I was wrenching during the day and doing everything else (HR, marketing, bookkeeping, etc) on my free time. I did this big move 2 weeks ago and I am finding it a little difficult to say the least, but for now , looking in from the outside ,I can already tell it was a good move . I have 9 employees, have access to Mitchell system remotely, getting a camera system installed so I can access whats going on remotely also ( the shop is already cramped so an onsite office isn't feasible ). I have handbooks for managers, writers, techs , and lube techs. I have been fine tuning the handbooks for the better part of the 2 weeks that I haven't been there. So far my crew has done well but I am still apprehensive about what's going on when I am not there. I think the handbooks are key, getting the guys to follow the guidelines in the handbooks is another story. I am building an accountability system using Google drop box to help the guys out daily with check lists pertaining to the handbooks but don't want to overload them. Any input or links to info would be appreciated. Thank you.