To Do, or Not to Do: State Inspection

[CarER]

For those of you who do state inspections (I'm in Virginia, I know some states have them and others don't but I imagine it's all the same concept), do you feel as though it is a worthwhile "investment?"

 

What I mean is this. If for example, you do 10 vehicles a week. How many of them do you actually do "work" on? Out of those 10, do 6 of them go back to their mechanic to get the work done? 2 of the ones left actually pass the state inspection and then you do work on the 2 that are left?

 

What does it do to your ARO? Would you rather not do them and have less car count but a higher ARO? Do most of them have the work done with you? Etc...

 

I would rather have 10 vehicles that I do $300 on turning into $3,000 in revenue as apposed to having 10 vehicles x $14.00/vehicle ($16.00/car - $2 for the state) and say even fixing 4 of those cars at $300 = $1,340. Correct me if my way of thinking is incorrect.

 

The reason I ask is because I have a 3 bay shop. In Virginia you have to have a dedicated state inspection lane that you can't work on in other vehicles (or you can but as soon as a state inspection comes in, you have to get it out.) If I dedicate one lane to state inspections, it turns into a two bay shop. Not to mention that I would essentially no longer be working for myself but for the state (since there are only 3 of us here) and all of the liabilities and things like that.

 

All answers are appreciated ahead of time. Thanks!

[pfseeley442]

Inspections were a no brainer for me, in Massachusetts we get $35. Per sticker and keep $23.50. They take about 15 minutes each. We do 200 per month, with about a 8% fail rate. Average RO on failures is about $340. But another way to look at it is from a marketing stand point. We average 35 new customers per week, we capture their info and send them thank you cards. They stay on our mailer list and we get a 30% return rate. So it is great from a marketing stand point. We also need a dedicated bay, but I have four total. We also sell a lot of tires, bulbs, wipers etc. I feel that providing inspections kept my customers from going else where. Good luck with your decision .

 

 

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