CMillet86

I'm 28, Third Generation Technically, although my dad wanted nothing to do with the Auto Repair side, he took the machine shop. I've been running this place since I was 22, I butted heads ALOT with my grandpa then. But as the years have went on it's been less and less.

I'm assuming newer Nissan? I've done at least a handful of the older ones. Hondas also.

If that's the case I'd run. The only decent launch tool I've heard of is the Matco maximus (sp?) As Matco handles tech support. We owned a launch and it was the biggest piece of junk yet - an actron code scanner would be better!

 

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It's the same exact tool as the Maximus. The Chineese brands bring a lot to the table but Support is not a strong point.

It's just a Launch X431 Pad II is all it is.

These are the things I struggle with immensely as a single person shop. I try to implement them all but being pulled in so many directions means I usually forget.

had the scanner for about a month so far and i love it,

it does everything the genesys and the high end snap-on scanner do for less then a quarter of the price.

http://www.obd365.com/wholesale/autel-maxidas-ds708-1213.html

 

they always have new updates, which i consider a very good thing.

 

the only downside to the unit is that it will take some getting used to and the menu is not unified, for example, if you want to check the ECU, under some manufactures it will be listed as ECU unit, others PCM units, others something different. also for certain cars, like an 01 f350 diesel (they just recently released the update to support ford diesel)you will not find the diesel option under the F350, instead you have to look for the engine model in the menu where you select the car model, those are minor things for and for me and they dont bother me much

 

i have used it on 2001 mercedes S500 (W220 body) and it scanned a total of 41 different systems, i didn't even know the car had that many systems, it scanned everything from AC to Radio, Navigation, Insturment cluster, ABS, Airmatic, Airbags......etc

 

overall im very happy with it, and highly recommend it, especially considering the price

 

(UPDATE)

------so far had the scanner for about 6 month and i am happy with it, no major problems and as i mentioned earlier the only annoyance is searching the menu's sometimes. i have used it on many different car models and it worked great on all of them. there is no ECU programing in this device, you can program keys and security systems on certain cars but not all, i was able to program the key on 01 infiniti I30 but not on a 2003 Saturn L300, the device only workes on cars 96 and newer and some models have to be 97 or 98 and up (had an 96 mercedes c220 and for that model it would only read regular obdII codes, but for the 97 and up it does everything). --------

 

(update #2)

had the scanner for a couple of years now, still works good, i just wanted to add that the cost to sign up for software update after the 1 year thats included is about ~$600 (total care package for 1 year, update and warranty) which i thought is kind of high, especially concidering the current price of the model. but on the plus side the updates are not mandatory, i haven't purchased any update packages since i first got mine and dont find the need to yet (don't really have any cars that are newer than 2014 that i need to work on)

 

also another thing they recently not too long ago released their newer model maxisys which looks really nice but is more expensive, its just another option to consider if you are a mechanic

I have a Maxisys and the speed of it blows the older maxidas out of the water. My only issue is at less then 2 years old I can't use it unplugged. And they want $900 for a new tablet. I believe I'm going to pick up a OTC Encore for day to day, and keep this thing for when I need to do something oddball like program immobilizer on a honda or nissan.

I did a free trial with them a year or two ago. I don't remember much about it honestly. So it must not have been something I saw as worthwhile. EDIT, I was thinking this was a labor guide and repair data thing like all data. I agree with Mspec, it's a terrible thing for the industry. They can sign up some lowball shops, then people can check those prices and tell you that your too high.

I purchased a Lite version of the program in 09 I believe for somewhere in the neighborhood of 3 grand, has service for another year after that. Never needed support for the last 5 years until now, Ran into an issue because my computer is taking a crap. And can't install R.O. writer on my new one, they want to charge by the minute for help.

Any one got any updates on this stuff. After getting off the Phone with RO Writer today, I'm going to do everything in my power to never give them a dime of my money again. I bought my program, and now I can't get upgrades any more because they've switched to a subscription based program at almost $300 a month.

Vin Waterhouse has a deal you can purchase, it's customized with your shop name etc.

I've been trying to push this a little more, still not seeing steady car counts which results in fluctuating advertisng capital if I have any at all.

Interested in this as well, this is the next big step I need to take.

It'd be hard for me to justify putting any kind of money into a 6.0 with all the issues they have.

I'm in the same situation, I hope 2016 is the year for me also. I've learned a lot in the last couple months, and finished the year pretty good, the last couple weeks hit a rough patch. I'm trying to recoup from that and focus like I was. I'd also like to double my numbers this year, the last 2 months I hit numbers close to what I needed to do that so as long as I can keep going I should be there.

Hello,

I am a new member and just read through this thread and decided to put in my 2 cents worth. You have received some very good advice so far, labor rates, hiring tactics, etc. I have been through much of what you are describing and I just want to say that you first need to decide "who" you want to be in this business. If you want to turn wrenches and fix cars, then your first hire should be someone to field the front counter and phone (as much as customers are needed, they eat away at you time like nobody's business), even if it is only part time to start. Someone who exudes a sense of trust and friendliness. So, where do "you" want to be? In the shop, or on the counter? You cannot be both effectively. If you want to eventually be the "business owner", you will end up being neither, but for now you need to decide if you want to work on the cars or handle the customers.

 

Next, if you intend to keep on doing big jobs you need to find a way to do the smaller ones, ($200.00 jobs pay the bills) possibly with a low-rise lift that can be placed outside a service bay for brake, tire and chassis work while you are still working on the engine jobs.

 

Don't try to take every job as a challenge. This is my biggest downfalls. You will end up spending way too much time on things you cannot bill for.

Know when to send a job down the street. Pride is one of the 7 deadly sins, especially for a business.

 

As far as more advice, I would need to know more about your goals. Do you WANT to do the physical work on the cars, WANT to talk to and build relationships with customers, WANT to OWN and operate a business? They are all separate things and if you try to do all of them you will wear yourself out and resent the very business that you own.

 

You CAN be successful as long as you know who YOU are in all of this.. You can work on cars at least part of the time, or work on the counter part of the time, and own the business too as long as you know that as a business owner your role goes way beyond that.

 

Just decide what you want personally and the business will be build around that.

I understand what your saying, it's a struggle to decide which is the right move, the problem for me, is seeing the immediate benefit of someone up front all the time vs someone in the shop all the time. I'm better suited for the shop for sure, as I can struggle with dealing with people.

CMillet86 AND Bockauto,

 

Thank you for the input. 1-2 alignments a day would make it worth it for me to go with the alignment lift over the stands in our current situation. If you don't mind sharing, what car count do you guys have? (If you don't want to share exact numbers as I did, feel free to give a % of total car count or something along those lines.)

 

Hunter rep is giving me some numbers of their expectations of what could be done. Obviously the sale is up to us. I'm interested in the "real world" numbers of what others are doing so that I can make an educated plan.

 

 

 

Also - Is anyone checking alignments on services or normal inspections for free?

I haven't done much with the quickcheck feature yet, working on that. I have low car counts currently, it's taken an uptick the last couple months. I don't currently have a car coming in each day.

I went with the Hawkeye Elite, I'm in a unique situation where I don't have any rent basically so it allows me to use money that would be for that on other things. I'm having my best 2 month streak ever, thanks in large part to this site but I'm still shy of 15k/month in gross.

I'm still new to the alignment game, just got the machine and stands operational within the last couple weeks. I make it a effort to make sure that the bay where everything is stays as open as it can so I can do alignments when needed. I'm not doing alot currently, but I've done about 1 a day since I've gotten everything operational.

I use a 2 post with stands only because I have a 2 bay shop, with bays that are really smaller then average. So the flexibility for me was the big thing, it's much faster with a drive on lift for sure but it was another investment at the moment.

Be careful who you hire, I thought I vetted my last hire well. I knew he was limited in his skill set but said he could do brake lines no problem. He did a whole Chevy truck yesterday, and I got to looking at it and he had the brake line ran through the clutch fan. I was speechless, I immediately sent him home and let him go this morning. This was the 2nd time I had to redo the entire brake line job I had him to do, the first one I chalked up to a learning experience.

I've been trying to do it, but I just don't see it as feasible anymore. Like mentioned above, everything is tied to you, you get sick or hurt, everything stops but the bills. It's too stressful. Find a kid who wants to learn and just have him as a helper at first, thats what I'm doing now and it's a huge help to productivity and he's not costing me anything hardly at the moment.

I should match my numbers from last year, and thats including a little 3 month sabatical where I took a day job at a dealership because I thought I was done. I just had my best November that I can remember recently. My area has a lot of price shoppers, and a lot of unproffesional shops that will undercut everything to get the job. I refuse to do that, as Elon said your selling value. I've become staunch on the no customer supplied parts this year, that has helped weed out some bad customers.

We got really lucky and had a friend who owns a machine shop give us a 10HP Mattei Rotary Vane Air compressor, talk about volume.

The Autel 908 is bang for the buck the best scanner out there in my opinion. I never see myself owning another Snap On Tool after the debacle that was the first wireless verus I had, that thing was insanely expensive, slow, and crashed repeatedly. And Snap On couldn't fix it, best thing that ever happened was my shop was broken into and it was stolen.

I'm in the same boat. I like the Hawkeye elite with the tire clamps and fast setup times, but the $40,000 note is intimidating.

Do you already have a 4 post alignment lift or a 4 post lift? Like I mentioned I just bought the machine for $26k and thats the Elite with a 32" monitor, tire clamps, vin code scanner, code link etc. It's so fast, I'm actually doing alingments with a 2 post lift and stands right now and it's still fast.