DUFRESNES

We now have 4 loaners for our customers. All they have to do is fill it with gas when returning. We had a problem with that, so now if they don't fill with gas, it is $1.00 per mile. My question is, when we do extensive repairs done by an hourly employee what should he get paid and what should the service writer get paid. I have 2 repairs of over $2000. each. I understand if it was a flat rate tech, he should get paid. This employee is paid $19.50 an hour plus 5% commission. Any help would be appreciated.

Referrals are the best. Ours are worth min $1000.00 We send a nice letter and 2 premium movie tickets. We ask for them in our monthly newsletter and e-mails.

AAA has a program that is really good. Also I believe NAPA has a program.

Is anyone using Vavoline and if so what are you paying. We have a new National Account program and I wonder how it compares.

 

 

We also had a really bad time getting a master ASE Tech. Have used all the same technique of every

body else. I really like the ad of XRAC. We had an employee that just texted he wouldn't be back. He was at 130% efficiency making great money. Without talking to me he just texted and went elsewhere. I've always told them, come talk to me before making a change and see if we can work something out. We are finding out That we have to pay lots more. They can demand it and get it. The pay around here is 38.00 an hour +.

We have a employee handbook but need some help on attendance policy and consequences.. Does anybody willing to share, please send to [email protected]. Thanks

How are you liking the Akebono pads (or are you even still using them)? I've tried them on a few cars and had mixed results. One I didn't like was on a LS430. The shims came glued on...CROOKED! Pad design on a LS430 is the style where 2 pins pass through the backing plate to hold the pads in place, so glued on freaking shims that don't line are kind of a pain.

 

I'm considering trying Advics(from worldpac) on the next brake job that comes through. Supposedly those are OEM for the cars I work on (Toyota and Lexus). I'll probably call my worldpac rep tomorrow and asking if he has any feedback on them.

 

Anyway, thanks!

Since this post we now have an on car lathe. It really makes a difference. We then upped our labor to 1.8 hours.

I want to start a high mileage club at the shop. Got lots of ideas. I was wondering if anyone else already has a club going? What do you consider high mileage in this day and age? Do you promote using high mileage oil? I am excited to get this off the ground with lots of fun stuff for my customers and savings. Don't want to reinvent the wheel if I don't have to. Would love your input.

Haven't been on the site for a while. I couldn't find the search button to see if there is a forum now for my question. So sorry if it is duplicating.

We have had a website for years, being this is our 3rd one. It is a HTML and everymonth we have to have our photos and newsletter added for us. I understand if we do a website in Word Press, we can add our own information by our selves. We like our own now, but we need to make another. Any suggestions will be appreciated. www.dufresnesautorepair.com

We use RO Writer and have since 2008. The biggest problem, I see, Is the inventory integrated through the back office and into Quick Books. It is impossible to get the balance sheet inventory to agree with ROW. You can only print value as of the current day. Also Accounts receivable is only of the current day. The back office has provided another report that you can use by day. This works. Since ROW sold a while back, it is harder to get support if it is a technical question that has to be passed up the line to a supervisor. It sometimes takes a week. All in all, I like ROW for a complete management when used with the back office and QB all at another price.

Amen

We have an employee that keeps stirring the pot with all the employees. I knew I should let this person go, but felt so sorry for her. She is older and says she doesn't have a life. It has gotten out of hand and it is my fault. Please don't let this happen to you. She has tried to get other people fired and when I have investigated, it has so many 1/2 truths. We have tried to help her and it hasn't worked. We kept her way too long thinking we could change the situation.

We pay our flat rate technicians an average of their hourly rate from the previous year. A lot of owners pay an average of the last quarter. We use this for holiday pay and vacation pay. It is written in our employees handout when they are hired.

We have been AAA for years. At one time we got a list of members in our area and after having our marketing piece approved, sent a 3 step letter. Each state is different in what they will allow you to do. After this, we were told we couldn't do it again. We sign up for everything that they promote. This gets you in their newsletter. They have a free inspection in Oct and a Free battery roundup in April. On all of our marketing we use, we promote the AAA logo and any awards we have won. The state north of us has a #1 auto repair facility each year. We do not. The last one we had in our state was 2006. We received the customer satisfaction award. Nothing since.

We had our European Tech quit on the spot. We have placed 2 and 3 ads at a time in Craigs list and with the state of Oregon since July. We used short and long ads with lots of info and little info. No matter, we haven't got any response. One tech that lived too far away. One a mother wanted us to hire her 14 year old. We pay more than most and better benefits. I hear from other shops how hard it is to hire now.

Here is an article about the problems with the VW and product that was developed by VW request, it is what is being used at dealerships. The wholesale cost of the kit is about 85 bucks pluss the cost of filter and oil for 3 changes I think. Never guarantee anything, caution customer of some of downsides and on the work order put preforming at the customers request not you recommendation.

 

http://www.bgprod.com/blendr/stickyProblem.html

Thanks for the BG website article. I wrote this a year ago. I thought I had answered it this year, but can't find it. Since Jan 2012, we are now desludging engines with success. We are using the BG kit and it seems to work very well. Sometimes we are almost too cautious. As far as the intake cleaning, we do a fuel injection cleaning for maintenance and for mileage. We do the intake when we do the fuel injection cleaning. Depending on the vehicle sometimes there is an additional charge for this.

I have never believed in engine flushes especially for engines with high mileage. Lately we have several VW with sludged engines. Some of them are under a class action to be replaced by VW. The others we have sent to the dealer. This gripes me. So, I am looking into the situation. Our dealer here charges $500 for this service. The Jiffy Lube charges $89.99. There must be a difference in solution, filters etc. According to our Honda Tech and European tech where they worked before, they would pull the valve cover off 1st if possible to check condition before flushing on a car with less than 90K miles. On the case of De-Sludging that the car already has a problem, they would do it with no guarantee, that maybe it would take care of the customer's problem. I want the groups opinion.

I get our list each month from the list lady [email protected]. We get 3 zip codes. Then I clean out the ones that are too far away. We then cleanse it against our own customer list. Sounds like a lot of work, but really it is not. Once you get the hang of it, goes really fast. She charges us for the 3 zips $125.00. It was cheaper to do this then to do 3 miles from our shop. I can take off the names or address that I want off. If you have any other questions call me 503-646-2940 Nancy or TEE

I definitely understand what you are saying. I am just very surprised to see how ridiculously low my response has been (2 calls, 2 walk ins, 1 appt) since November 12th. Everyone other than 1 walk in (potentially) and the 1 appt have been quality customers. I really have no problem sending out more flyers however I was hoping to get something of around atleast 10 responses from the mailers. So far its been pretty bleak. I was advised by the mudlick rep that i SHOULD have gotten some response even though I sent out heading into the holiday season. At this point over a month into the mailer I have received .1% response out of 5000 mailers which is rather discouraging.

 

 

 

 

 

Where did you get the mailing lists?

Not wireless, I did install it myself and yes it is on and recording all the time. Installation was quite simple,

 

It can be set up to record only at certain times, or motion activated.

 

Not really sure how many days or weeks it stores before it starts overwriting though.

Thanks for all the information. I really appreciate it.

We are always trying something new, but you must track it very closely to see if it works. One of our best is what we call our 3 step letter. It goes out to new move in a 3 mile radius, about 350 each month. We do it in house, in an envelope with a 1st class stamp. The 3 letters are with a 2 week expiration. You must have urgency. We put a magnet in the first letter. We do not get a great response off the 1st letter, 2nd letter much better and the 3rd letter they come in. Of course that has the best offer. We send a coupon page with our 2nd letter that extends longer. On an average get 10 a month back and average ro is $256 for the 1st time in. Last year we went back and figured what each 1st time customer came in later and how much he spent. Most became good customers with multiple cars. We showed this to our flat rate techs who hate doing the low ball offers, how this made more money for them in the future. On our European coupons, we always use a $20.00 off regular price synthetic oil changes. This is because some oil filters are much more expensive.

We have been approached to do a 3 time large postcard. I don't like them and throw them away, but am willing to try and see if other people respond to it. It would be targeted to a specific vehicle such as honda, VW or Mercedes. Not sure if we are going to do it or not. Please let me know if anybody has done this with a postcard and mailing it 3 times to the same people.

Hey guys just wanted to get some opinions. My shop is located in Queens, NY. There are a ton of people in and around my shop as well as lot of competition. We are a relatively new shop (6-7 years old) and just moved into our new location in the summer. It was a nice upgrade from our very old and run down and Very small shop. Now we have approx 5,000sqft with a lot of new equipment, renovated office, lounge area, epoxy floors, etc. We mainly specialize in BMW work however I have been trying to open the doors to other German car makes. Although our new space is great, it is not in the most desirable location in terms of curb appeal. I sent out a direct mailer with Mudlick Mail to about 5000 homes. The mailer was sent out at around November 12. I have yet to really get much of a response from the mailer and I am rather disappointed. There are a number of factors that might have been attributed to the low response such as the mega storm that hit over here and also going into the holiday season.

 

My main goal is really to drive new business to the shop. I have been on a on going campaign to stay in touch with our old customers however with the new space and new bills, I see the need to increase my customer database. Has anyone had any experience with direct mailers in the NYC or highly dense metro areas? I am reluctant to try again due to the costs of sending out mailers but I was thinking of maybe giving it another shot toward the spring time.

 

Thoughts?

Is it wireless? Did you install yourself? Is it on all the time?

Which system did you purchase?

Help on deciding which system to use. We have inventory missing, whether from not getting on the invoice or walking out. Would like to put a camera at each bay, office and cash register. We have a little store with Espresso, cigarettes, candy and vending. Costco has an eight camera hard wired indoor and out door. I understand you can watch it on your computer or smart phone. How does this work. Is it all the time or just at certain times or ?????? Do you have to have a security company set up or can we do our own. Does it have sound or just video? I guess I am just asking for any information to make my job easier.