Jeff

Had one of my senior customers drop off a box of "stuff" a while back. He cleaned out his garage and thought I would use the "stuff". In the bottom of the box was an old cardboard can of Mobile. My son looked at it and the asked "How do you open it?" I couldn't my "can punch". Musta tossed it. Thinking about building a small display in the office with some of "old stuff" I have gathered over the years. I think ot would be a good conversation starter...young'uns wanna know what it is and the elders will share memories.

FEEL PITY FOR ME? I have been doing this for near 30 years. There are connectors on cars that take a half hour just to get to let alone test. Guess I need to get my superman cape back from the cleaners!

Welcome to the socialist states of merica!

When I first started out as an owner I had a small booklet written by George Witt. in it was the statement "You spend a LOT of money to make the phone ring. why would you not give the person a reason to come in" or something to that effect. I will try my best to get the appointment, and I will toss out generic quotes based in the callers info. Nothing is in stone till they sign the estimate and to do that they have to be in your shop! Just my @ cents.

I start at .5 hour. This covers scan, quick inspection of circuits associated to codes (if any), and time to review Sure Track or Identifix. If nothing definitive is found in that time I call the customer and we discuss the next step. When I was at the dealers (and I know it's been mentioned here before) I had an egg timer. If the SA got .5 to diag I set the timer to 20 minutes. When it went off it was time to talk to the SA about the repair or the need for more time. If you are 110 percent efficient on mechanical work why not with diags. Otherwise the diag rate needs to be higher to offset the lack of being able to flat rate it. Not to beat a dead horse buuuutttt...the bigger issue is the shops and parts companies that advertise the FREE DIAGNOSIS. I must get 5-6 calls a week that have been "diagnosed" at the "zone" and want quotes to install the part that was sold them. Or the owners that have spent a thousand bucks to have another shop replace every part in the system that is related to a code and it's still not fixed and they cant afford my test and repairs.

Bet they knew Sum Guy!

I still blame it all on Sum Guy! This due has infected car owners nationwide!!

Facebook and Google + work great for me. It is not an overnight fix but it has worked better for me than any thing else I have tried so far.

I get the rust here also. The "snowbirds" leave the cars parked under the carport 4 months. They live in the condos on the beach. Come Oct-Nov I will see them with rotted brake lines, seized calipers, etc. All from the salt spray from the ocean.

Sign a ticket at drop off, state law. Any added work authorized I get the last 4 of social, pets name, etc. Document time called, who authorized work, and time and date. DOCUMENT EVERYTHING!

1) You pay a lot of money to make the phone ring. 2) Consumers are conditioned to ask for price based on the constant bombardment of advertising. With that said I will gather as much info as I can. Then I do my best to persuade them to come into the shop. If they simply want a price I will give them one based on the info they provide. Then I explain again the complexities of the modern auto and advise them to beware of lowball rip offs. People shop for groceries at Wal-Mart because they are conditioned to believe they are the lowest price. Others shop at Publix because they believe it's better quality. What we have to do is convince them that we can provide the quality they expect for a price they can accept. Just my $2.98 ( 2 cents plus the Obama care tax)

I started with $700 and a desire to help people. In the 11 years since I have kicked. cussed, went broke, banked thousands, lost a good woman, quit, reopened, and cussed some more! I can tell you that location is important but people will come to you regardless of location if you are GOOD AND HONEST! I am now in a 2400 sq ft shop in a fair location and still it is a struggle! But with the help of friends (ASO) and by the grace of God I manage! Good Luck!

The last week of July was in the crapper. My girlfriend's employer shuts down the first week of August and she wants to go to Ohio to meet my family. I haven't been home in 5 years so we scratch up gas money and take off. The whole time my phone only rang with sales calls. IT IS HARD TO RELAX ON VACATION WHEN YOU CANT STOP THINKING OF THE STORE! Anyway we had a really good time. The highlight for me was going to Rushville Indiana for a steam and antique tractor show. I love those old steam engines! Anyway we head home on a Monday and I have NOTHING on the schedule for when I get back. Then Tuesday as we are riding along the phone starts ringing. By the time I got to the shop on Wednesday I had a weeks worth of work set up! ANSWERED PRAYERS! AN ON TIME GOD!

If the state of Florida started an inspection program tomorrow by Friday there would be 1/3 the cars on the road. See em all the time along the road...ball joints separated, drive shafts fell out, tires blew out...

Howdy. you'll find some great people here.

My son is an electrician by trade. He has 15 years plus experience. Owns all his own tools and some that he don't need to but makes the job easier. The best he has been able to pull in wages in the last 5 years is 16.50 an hour. Now with that said I understand the companies overhead. But the wiring, panels, etc have remained the same over the time he has been in the trade, no huge tech advances like we see in this trade. The company has a warehouse but they don't carry a huge inventory. Their labor is billed in excess of 100 an hour. Pretty much the same for the plumbers and a/c guys I know. Now here in lies the problem. They are REQUIRED TO BE LICENSED BY THE STATE. That gives the public the perception of professionalism. We on the other hand are not required to have that same licensing. The public, for the most part, still thinks SUM GUY (there he is again) can just go down to the local hardware store, buy a box of tools, get the cheap parts at xyz, and call themselves a mekanik. Now none of this relates to how you should pay a tech but it does cause the general public to question WHAT WE CAN CHARGE which in turn relates to pay. I would love to be able to charge 120 an hour which is what many electricians, a/c specialist and plumbers charge, but I fear that if I did you would see a tool sale here within a year or less.

Had a fella call me years ago for an est on a compressor for a Kia van, I believe it was. Started off telling me how he ran a shuttle service, had 10-15 vehicles and if I treated him right he would be my best customer (yea yea heard that before). So I write it up to include the expansion valve, which required evap removal, and drier, which was part of the condenser. When I call him back and gave him the quote he went ballistic. I was a con and a crook, he could get all the parts for a tenth of that, on and on. I finally got to ask him if he was sure it really needed a compressor and maybe he should bring it in for an inspection. He then informed me his prior mechanic checked it. When I pressed him as to why he didn't do the repair his replay was...get ready for it... HE WENT BROKE AND CLOSED HIS SHOP. I could hardly keep from laughing out loud.

I believe the problem is 2 fold. Most youth don't want to get their hands dirty. They have been told since the third grade to go to college and get a "clean" job that pays 100K a year. So they expect that from day one. Secondly this trade does not have a huge return on investment from a tech view. Cost of tools compared to earnings in the beginning will discourage many, A person has to have a true love of cars to pursue this trade and I don't see that in the youth. Not like it was when I was a kid. More so, like Joe said, there is a huge lack of "tradesmen" in this country. A friend of mine in Ohio complains constantly of not being able to hire welders at his machine shop. My brother tells me they cant find good help at the ag company where he works. He also drives semi in the weekends for a friend of ours because they cant find enough truck drivers. Now don't get me wrong they all have plenty of applicants. But when these folks find out what is expected of them at the interviews they never return.

The PC cops are busy these days!

Got a call last night at 5:30...right at closing. Fella proceeded to tell me his daughter is broken down on the turnpike near our exit. I explained that we are closing and if you want to have it towed in I can look at it in the morning. He says ok and hangs up. 2 minutes later he calls back and ask me how soon I will be out to get the car. I explained to him that I do not have a tow truck but could arrange one for him but it would still be in the morning before I would be looked at. He then goes on a tirade about his daughter is stranded and cant sleep in her car overnight and what kind of repair shop am I running,etc, etc. I finally get him slowed down enough to ask him if he has AAA or towing on his insurance and he flips again about where will his daughter spend the night. I explained to him there are several nice hotels at the exit and I am sure she could get a room and the tow operator could drop her off. He again goes off about the level of service in our "little" town and how poor services are, etc, etc, then hangs up.Prolly all the better for my mental health!

I use Mitchell 1. When I build an lof for a new customer I use my NAPA cat link to import the filter. Then I can build the package using the recommended fluids from the Mitchell data. At that point I copy and paste the package to number 9 tab in the revisions. Next time the customer comes in I just copy and paste to the estimate. Simple and seamless. The key is to have vendor cats set up and having the vin in the system. Have been using Mitchell a long time and this is the most efficient way I have found. HTH, Jeff

Welcome Gary. I am originally from the London-Mechanicsburg area, Good to see someone from "home" on here! Good luck!

I see it everywhere here also. I constantly get the "owner" (won't call them a customer) that wants me to match the hacks price. cant do it, wont do it! I let Sum Guy have that work. When it is hacked beyond recognition then I get triple to fix it right! I have filed complaints with the local and state agencies that are supposed to regulate these hacks. Their response is if they aren't registered with the state we cant police them!! THEN WHY DO I PAY FOR MY PAPERWORK?

I can testify to the kindness of people....you folks here kept me alive in more ways than just finances! It is a testament to the GOOD people in this world! Thanks Frank!

I test both ways. Also when I test the battery and it is marginal I will remove the cables and retest.