Brianp

Dont you hate these vehicle with the piles of crap in them. We bag it all and throw it in the back of the vehicle. We also charge accordingly. Book time is a guide for optimal conditions.

Iv never found any discrepencies on the maintenance stuff on mitchell. Were you vin decoding? As for estimates there easily kept in the revision tabs without startign a repair order. I ve done it daily for the last 10 years with no problems. I have never found any othe the issues you are describing to be true for me. Its true you cannot "customize" maintenance intervalls they are there in the factory form. I use there crm program and it also allows customers access to there information and videos onlone if needed. Autoownersite I believe. Its a great tool. Ive found mitchell to be the best in my limited experiece of using them 10 + years.

I also have no smokers. I dont allow cell use during work unless its an emergency. Or on a break

I once had a tech rear end a person in a vehicle we were test driving I had it repaired wiht no problems. Im not sure WhatI would do in your shoes but I would say it would be at my expense if it was truly an accident.

Got ya missed that part. I tried a similar product during the boom years like 2005-2006 and it didnt ork for me. It was done through ac delco I believe and it offered a free lof to all new customers and was sent to If I remember correctly ppl who had just moved into a new home. It got me 1 new customer and that is all. I wont do it again. Im not sure waht all the details were but it was something similar to this.

Ive seen it but have no experience with it. I use mitchells crm program and like it along with there autoownersite

My flat rate guys still make good money even on a slow week say they flag 30 hours. 30 Hours is still a decent salary. I could see changing my pay system if I could not keep a tech busy but at this point my newest tech(been here 13 years) is still on flat rate. His checks fluctuate a little like last week he got 52 hours and the week before 42 but either way I like it. I could switch him to salary but I feel I could possibly be screwing him on those weeks he flags 40 + hours and I wouldnt feel right in doing that.

Nice ill check it out. Keep up the good work

Thats funny the truth hurts sometimes. lol

I do alot of the warranty companies they are typicall ins companies in alot of ways. And like others have said there are good and bad. I get approval fromt them and waht they cover then let the customer know before repairs that this is what is covered and this is what will be your responisbility. Most of them dont cover it all. A few times iv had them send adjusters to check it out for them selves and take pictures etc. If this takes your time i recomend charging for it.

Aos no dye here

We use our otc alot on evap leaks, exh leaks etc. We also use the nitrogen tank to add to the nitrgrogen tires that arent suppose to lose air. Ours has a nice roll around cart makes it easy for the tires and to work with.

I have one tech whos flat rate and 2 that are salary. The flat rate guy averages over 40 hours in a week. He has been as low as 32 and as high as 55. Our buisness isnt slow so the work is not an issue. I dont have a "lube tech" I dont want my guys being paid on what they sell due to the possibility of it interfering with what is really needed or what they want to do. Aan air filter that is ok tell next oil change may be needed and brakes that have 5k left will be needed due to the bonus $. It creates to much possibilites for coruption in my opinion. Now in shops that dont have the work thats the owners responisbility to make it happen. The tech should be creating work. My guys are also some of the highest paid in the area and we are one of the buisiest shops.

I use bosch and like the master tech(have had a few) and the lab scope(have had a few also) but I have the new vci and they cannot get it to work right and are offerign little to no assistance. Im not pleased with there help. I would makeit a point to bring it up to your rep. Our rep is not good. He tells me just to use mine plugged in? I bought it cause its wireless? Good luck.

Ive been out of it for a long time. I never really had a way of tracking productivity and didnt pay extra do to hours flagged. I did give xmas bonuses but thats all. Labor times in body shops is a weird situation and they add for everything but its at a lower rate.

When I was young and paying my way through school i managed a body shop and they are all like that. Dont let it fool you. THey can do the right thing but make more money but cutting corners. They would rather spend 2 hours looking ofr a used part just to save $5. They also hate having to add stuff later. Ins is the biggest rip off ever. The owner of the buisness i ran told me that back east it was common for ins adjusters to take cash on the side to write estimates as you saw fit? He owned back there for a long time also

What I see is a oe cat failing at say 120 K then the aftermarket failing in the next 6k. I believe its the effiency of the cats. They dont seem to be made to the same standard. I dont think all oe parts are the best in all situations but due to the pattern of failures ive experienced ill never sell another aftermarket cat. It could have been a bad bnunch but it ruined me.

Im sure you do test them right. Most exhaust shops dont understand it. Plus there sales reps feed them false info. I dont have rust in our area. Cat failure isnt a common issue. But I have seen nothing good about the aftermarket ones. Fodd for thought would be to get an oe from say worldpac? But ive found they dont list the gaskets occasionally :-( I will no longer use an aftermarket cat I dont like any comebacks even for a part failure. I kind of group it with aftermarket mass airflow sensors have you ever been in a bind and tried one? Bad news they are junk. Its like a needle in a hay stack to get a good one. I feel cats are in the same boat.

I only use oe bolt in units. I have told a few customers to go to our one and only exhaust place in town and have seen repeat failures of aftermarket cats. We to properly test. I had one he did come in we tested and said it was bad and I advised they take it back to the previous installer. He said it tested fine there was something else wrong. I re-tested found nothing and called the shop. I went through what we tested and how a cat works and they were still saying it wasnt the cat. I believe they just do not know how to test. They only heat test which is one thing I do not do? How are others testing the cats? I monitor the before and after o2's. If its a pluged cat thats a pressure test. Sorry for the ramble.

the only thing I can think of is if it wasnt allowing the rings to properly seat on a new engine? Otherwise Im at a loss.

I agree with everything except the bold portion. Some manufactures recomend 3k lof and maintenance so a blanket answer doest work.

I add nitrogen to tires that already have it. But its still a subject that is toal garbage in my opinion. Anyone can scew #'s to favor there argument. But in real life situations nitrogen does not help a tire period. Does it keep a tire cooler at 150 mph? Possibly but that isnt a real life situation. Does it keep the inside of a tire from rotting as fast? Maybe but the outside or tread will still rot so a bogus claim. Will it keep moisture out of the wheel? Possibly but again I have never seen this as an issue EVER. Does nitrogen keep tires from losing air? NOPE I have to add nitrogen to every car that has it in them everytime the oil is changed and there tpm light some on just like the rest. 50% of the tire warning light calls I recieve have nitrogen in them. These are things I see in my shop. Nitrogen is a gimmick in my opinion. I have never seen any real life instances that would allow me to ethicly sell it to my customers. Consumer reports has said alot of things over the years that have been proven false. Like most tests and articles sometimes it comes down to the info given to the author or the $.

I use mitchell and find it to be hands down the best product out there. Great support and a great product.

I dont believe in this. What is the maintenance period once the warranty is expired?