Joe Marconi

Excellent analysis! The balance between being profitable and competitive can be tricky at times, but being profitable is job 1. Let me add a few thoughts: Every business needs to do cost analysis to find what their breakeven is. Not that shops should settle for breakeven, that’s just surviving. But understanding what it actually costs to put the key in the door everyday will show you what you need to make a profit and how important it is to be profitable on every job.

Also, identify your customer and market to your customer. Don’t worry too much about those that want the cheapest job. Competing on price alone is a recipe for disaster.

I have to agree that shop efficiency is probably where many shops loose the most money.

We had a 2002 Subaru Outback today with a wheel shimmy at 55-60mph. The customer just had 4 new tires and a wheel alignment at another shop and the vibration was still there. We checked the balance, align and wheels...all ok. When we ran the car off the ground we found that the right side wheel wobbled as if the wheel was bent. We ran the car without the tire on the right side and could clearly see that the rotor wobbled badly.

We removed the rotor to check the hub, it was good. We installed a new rotor and the wobbled was gone.

If felt just like a tire balance problem.

Great points!

Another thing, what if the customer has nitrogen in their tires????? What if you don't have nitrogen equipment????? Will you be required to supply nitrogen too, by law????

According to what I read in Tire Business Magazine, Starting Sept 1, 2010 all auto facilities in California will have to check tire pressure on all vehicles that come in for any type of service or repair. I repeat; all vehicles for any type of service or repair.

The reasoning is for safety and energy consumption. How do you feel about this? Is is me or do I smell some legal issues here??????

Sad, funny...but true.

Did you know that there was a Chrstian Church that was destroyed on 9/11 went the Towers fell and they have been fighting for a permit with the NY Port Authority and so far, cannot get it!!!!!!

THEY CANNOT REBUILD THEIR CHURCH, BUT IT'S OK TO BUILD A MOSQUE

People don't realize what is going on in this country. Why do we walk on egg shells for certain people??????

People have not changed, I think it's because we have seen so much for so many years that we are more sensitive these tough days.

Ranger for hire??? I like that Gonzo...

Even in these tough economic times, when consumers are looking for the best deals, one thing remains true: you need to offer the very best in customer service and quality repairs. If you feel overwhelmed it may be because you are doing too much and carrying too much of the load. This will lead to frustration and burn-out.

You mentioned getting organized; I think that is a good idea. Put a plan together to insure you are on the right track. Make sure you are staffed well and have the right people in the right places.

Most of all, the key to your business is you, the leader. But, leaders must lead. Maintain a positive attitude and lead from a position of strength. Your people will feed off that and will increase your chances for success.

Greg, a few years ago was service manager at a different shop. A customer came in with a problem after having been in earlier in the day and when it was diagnosed he wanted to talk to the technician who had worked on his car earlier that day. The customer who had something simple like an oil change done but now had an intake leak and needed a large repair. The guy was about 6'-5" and about 280 and the technician was about 5'-7" 150 pounds. Before Greg realized what was going on the customer was blaming the technician and threating him and it was getting heated. Greg walked out to where the guy was, stopped off to his side looking up at him smiling. When he caught the customer's eye the guy said, "what are smiling at?" Greg says, "I am just wondering how you will look stretched out on this shop floor?" The customer looked Greg up and down, never said a word, and walked out of the shop. The next day the customer called, apologized, and had them fix his car.

 

It is nice having a Ranger on staff.

Now that's a great story. It reminds me of one of Sun Tzu's laws from the book, the Art of War: "Win without fighting"

Just give them the keys and tell them to go somewhere else and to never come back. I have done that a few times.

 

A few years ago we had a used car brought into our shop by a guy who had flown in from out of state to buy it but wanted it inspected first. It was a Jaguar as I remember. After we did the inspection we found some bolts and mounting plates missing from the transmission area with things not lined up that needed attention. Come to find out the car lot who was selling this car had had someone but a transmission in it and they had left some stuff off. We took the buyer and the car salesman out to show them what we had found. The salesman became irate because of what we found and began to cuss us and verbally slander our shop. Greg our service manager, who was an Army Ranger, told our tech to get the car down off the rack and told the salesman to get out of the shop or that he was physically going to throw him out. The guy left because one look at Greg told him that Greg meant business and was very capable of carrying out what he said.

We have had simliliar issues with used car sales people. All we want to do is give an honest inspection.

Thinking about it....maybe it should be required that all shops hire x-Army Rangers....

Why I Oppose the Ground Zero Mosque

I do not dispute the constitutional right to build a mosque 2 blocks away from where Islamic terrorists flew two jet planes into the World Trade Center Buildings, killing nearly 3,000 people. I do question the morality and intention of such act. Why there? What would we say if a Nazi organization planned on building an educational center next to the concentration camp at Auschwitz?

I am a New Yorker, born and raised in the City. I watched those Towner being built, I watched them burn down to the ground on that infamous day, September 11, 2001. I have customers and friends who battled that day, risking their own lives to save others. I organized fund raisers to help families who lost loved ones. Friends of mine who were there that day told me, with tears in their eyes, as they watch their coworkers jump to their death from the windows of the towers.

Maybe I am too emotional to think rational, but to me, this mosque is an act of provocation, a symbol of triumph for a twisted ideology that considers anyone but Muslim an enemy.

This country was founded on principles, one of which is the freedom of religion. Another is the separation of the Church and State. I am not questioning the constitution, only the strategic location and reasoning behind this mosque.

About 5 years ago I started making notes on all customers who purchased a new car. I found that many were being offered free oil change or oil changes by the dealer. I did not want my customers to go back to the dealer, so I started my own “First Free Oil Change” for all new car purchases.

Letters go out to all customers that purchase a new car, congratulating them on their purchase, and a coupon for a complimentary first oil change service. I make it a point that he needs to be their first oil change. The letter also states that they do not have to go back to the dealer in order to maintain their new-car warranty, which we reinforce when they come into us for the oil change service.

This program has been very successful at getting customers to come to us after the new car purchase, instead of losing them to the dealer.

The saddest part of this story is that it happens too often to all of us. The insults and rudeness from some people is unbearable at times. I can’t tell you how many times I had to stand there while an idiot customer rants about a situation that in actuality is not really that big a deal.

We had a customer come in the other day for an oil change and a state inspection. When we told him that his wipers were torn and would not pass inspection, he went ballistic and started shouting at the service advisor. He said, “that’s impossible I just spent $1,1000 on the brakes and steering at another shop, they would not have missed the wiper blades, you guys are ripping me off”.

I heard the commotion and walked into the office to confront this jackass. Politely, BUT STERNLY, I told the man to calm down and stop shouting at my service advisor. I also told him that if he thinks we are ripping him off, he was welcome to leave and go back to the OTHER shop and have THEM inspect the car. (Why he came to us, I don't know). Grudgingly, he told us to put the wipers on. I know this guy will not be back, and truthfully, I don’t care.

Thanks again for a great story. For me, this one was therapy…it’s easier to deal with things when I know we are all going thru the same issues.

I've run across that one before, but, I have one problem I've found with the newer beetles that will throw you a curve ball... If you get a Beetle with A/C problems... do this little test first.

With the car idling and A/C on... and you get no cold air... BUT... if you bring the engine rpms up to say... 2 grand or so ... if now you have perfect cold air the problem is not the A/C ... it's the charging system. The feedback current from the alternator is too low at idle for the PCM to recognize that the charging system is working. However, it is high enough to keep the charge light off. The PCM reacts by assuming the charging system is shot and starts shutting down accy systems to avoid overloading itself.

To make matters worse... everytime I ran across this problem I have never been able to see a voltage change at the battery with a meter. But, believe me... it's the alternator. The last one I did was probably the worst one. Everything looked great, but I changed the alternator anyway. As soon as I did... the A/C kicked on... blowing cold air just like you would expect.

Hope this helps... Gonzo

That's a great tip, Gonzo. Maybe we should post more of our technical war stories. Afterall, if we can help each other to become more profitable in the shop, it helps our business.

A 2002 VW Jetta arrived at our shop the other day, the customer complaint…no air conditioning. The system was fully charged so we started our diagnostic tests and found that there was a pulsing voltage to the a/c clutch. The fan control module would pulse a 12 volt signal every few seconds.

After a little research we learned that a faulty compressor clutch could be the fault. We ohmed the clutch coil and found it open. We replaced the compressor clutch and now the FCM sends a constant 12 volt signal and all is ok.

Maybe others have seen this, but it stumped me and my lead tech at first. Apparently, if there is a problem with the clutch coil, the voltage will pulse from the FCM.

It’s a good thing we did a little research to find how the system works before shot-gunning the problem.

Over the past 1 1/2 to 2 years we have had a pretty large failure rate with aftermarket cats using 2 different companies. We have now mostly gone with O.E. for most applications or if the customer is really strapped we will offer them and aftermarket unit at their gamble. If the unit fails within our warranty, I will install a O.E. one for the difference in price of the converter and they are responsible for the labor again. ( I will return the aftermarket cat to my supplier to get credit for it) Most times the customers go with OE and have had no issues but now at least it gives them an option. If they are just trying to get thru an emission test and do not plan on keeping the car long (which we all have heard that), they a a less expensive option.

 

That is our 2 cents, Tim

As much as I hate it, I am going to OE cats too. I will keep everyone informed and updated. We do a lot of cats, and not just for emssions failures but also for rust thru.

Glad to hear from you! Welcome back!

I understand you need to do what you need to do in order to survive, but I still am not a fan of installing customer supplied parts. Do I do it on occassion...yes. But it's not the rule and my customer understand that. I had a customer come in just today, he tried to install his own shocks and found all the bolts seized. Now, he is embarrssed and asks me to install the shocks he bought already. Of course I am not going to refuse him.

Just put togther a game plan and do what is profitable. Stay away from things that are not profitable for you. Stick with with and "ride" it out. It will come around...it always does.

Good luck!

Joe, I don't know if I am making myself clear. These are not cats that we have ever replaced before. Rather it is vehicle where we have diagnosed converter problems or where someone else (think dealer) has. Our exhaust sales the last two months have been higher than they have in years due to the number of bad converters.

Oh, sorry, misunderstood. I was concerned with the fact that we were using an aftermarket cat company and the replacememt cats we were installing were failing.

Are Fewer Independent Shops Able to Service Today's Vehicles?

 

http://www.autocarepronews.com/Article/78205/are_fewer_independent_shops_able_to_service_todays_vehicles.aspx

I don't think the dealerships will win the war on capturing the market share of the motoring public...but, they will surely win a lot of battles. The aftermarket is a resourceful and resilient group. We just need to focus on what we can do and think out of the box. The auto industry is huge and we need to keep things in perceptive. It will be tough in the years ahead.

The car makers are purposely building cars that will force many car owners to return to the dealer. Many frustrated shops will throw their hands up in despair and give up too. The amount of money needed to stay ahead of the curve will be burdensome, at best. But we must never give up. We cannot become the blacksmiths of the early 1900’s. We are better than that.

We will need to redefine who we are and what business we are in. Changes will occur, be part of it and help create it.

I highly recommend having a car care event. This will promote your business and bring customers to your bays. We have done with great sucess.

In the dark days of the World War II, when it looked as if Germany would overtake Britain, Winston Churchill, one of history’s greatest leaders, understood that for Britain to persevere he needed to maintain high morale and confidence of the people.

Churchill worked hard at reducing all signs and symbols of negativity. When the antiaircraft guns were low on shells, he ordered the firing of blanks. This would show a continuous message of strength, rather than silence which would bring fear to the people and give the German bombers a feeling of superiority.

When the Germans sank vital supply ships, Churchill pointed out that many hundreds of ship made it through safe and sound, instead giving attention to the ships that were sunk. Churchill never minimized events, but would never allow defeat to enter his mind.

As shop owners we are the leaders of our companies. We need to remain strong and positive. Focusing on the negative will hurt morale and only serve to bring down your business. Focus on the positive and watch morale and productivity go up.

Glad to see the problem is solved. I am sure it's a big load off your shoulders.

In my 30 years in business I have seen many different types of people. Some that don't need to be motivated, because they are self motivated. These techs produce because it's the way they are. Then, on the other hand, I have seen techs that are lazy and need to have a "reason" to be motivated. Flat rate works, there is no dispute on my part. It's just that it is up to management and ownership to provide the opportunity to have enough work. This is where I see the problem in many dealerships. When the work is there, the techs makes money,when the shop is slow the tech suffers. Does it equal out? I don't really know for sure.

What I do know is this: if a tech works hard and produces he/she needs to get compinsated for that.

Cash For Clunkers Leases a Bad Idea One Year Later

 

http://markets.hpcwire.com/taborcomm.hpcwire/?GUID=14132401&Page=MediaViewer&ChannelID=3198

Now that is interesting...Cash for Clunkers turns out to as bad as sub prime lending...giving many people an incentive to but something who really should not have gotton a loan to begin with...another bad move from this administration.

I am seeing a high failure rate on the factory cats.

Factory cats? Oh, please...I switched to selling factory cats to avoid the issues with the aftermarket.

We have replaced more catalytic converters in the last 6 weeks than at anytime in our history. Quite a few high end cars have been involved. What is going on? Do you think the extreme heat we have been having is part of the reason?

i don't think it's the heat. I have had seen a high failure rate too, that's why I posted my concern. What bothers me is that alot of these cats were not replaced due to cat failure, but rusted thru. There was no check engine light before, but they came back with a cat error.

Something is up and we need to find out.