IntegrityAutoCare

Interesting article. I have heard of using an impact on these before but was never really too sure if I actually wanted to try it. Approximately how many vehicles with these type spark plugs have you successfully done this way without breaking the plugs?

As the name of my business suggests, my absolute goal is to remain honest and diligent in every aspect of my business. There has been more than one occasion I have had to tell a customer that I messed up and so their vehicle will not be finished when I promised, but as a general rule my GOAL is to maintain a standard of excellence whereby I don't keep repeating the same mistakes over and over again. There will always be unforseen circumstances, however, and I am trying to break myself of the habit of blaming myself for not anticipating that rusted bolt or not ordering the part I MIGHT need ahead of time when I had no real way of knowing that's what the problem would turn out to be. As HarrytheCarGeek said, I also have found it beneficial to cover my butt ahead of time and make VERY clear to the customer that the time estimates are just that....estimates. I cannot guarantee there will not be any delay with unforseen problems or unavailable parts. With all that said, in my effort to run an honest business, I struggle with another area of customer communication perhaps some of you vetran shop owners might be able to help me with. When I am working on a car, especially during routine service jobs, I make it a habit to keep my eyes open for other potential problems with the car that may require attention in the near future, but that aren't causing drivability issues YET. Unfortunately this habit leads me to see ALL KINDS of issues...many times requiring expensive repair bills, that the customer simply had no idea they needed. This creates problems for me in that I want to inform the customer of EVERYTHING that their vehicle needs so that they can be aware of the problems and (presumabely) make arrangements to get it repaired, but in my limited experience I have found that my customers [to tie this into the thread topic] simply don't want to hear the truth! If they bring it into me for an oil change and I hand them the $35 bill they want that to be the end of the transaction. When I tell them that their vehicle, in addition to regular maintenance, needs new tires, tie rod ends, ball joints, brakes, and has leaks in every major system they look at me like I am from another planet! To THEM...they thought it was running and driving just fine! Then, when I tell them it will cost over $1000 to fix all that stuff they either never bring it back to me or they go straight out and trade the vehicle in! I have come to dread even telling people all the things that are wrong with their car....they ask me to "check it over" just for good measure because it is running and driving fine, so the expectation is that I will come back and tell them about some piddly hose clamp I tightened or that I replaced a turn signal bulb for a cost of $20 extra. I am also very well aware that when I consistently find extra expensive repairs that customers need but did not ask for it makes me LOOK like I am just trying to milk them...which is really not my intention at all. What's an honest mechanic to do?

I have recently started my own mobile auto repair business and I am doing very well. Still not making much money, mind you, but I have more customers than I can even keep up with and I have only been in business for about 8 months! Anyway, I am wanting to purchase an a/c recovery machine but what I am wondering is if anyone has any experience using the smaller, less expensive, portable a/c recovery machines and what your experience was? Do these type machines have any sort of filter that would allow me to re-use the r134a from vehicles and charge it directly back into the vehicles a/c system? I assume I would have to purchase a refrigerant scale seperately. Essentially I am just looking for ANY way whatsoever to be able to do my own a/c work without having to pay $3000.00 or more dollars for one of the full scale robinair type fully automatic digital display recover, recycle, recharge machines! For one I just don't have that kind of capital to play with at this point and for another thing I was hoping to find something a little more portable as I am running a MOBILE auto repair business. ANY advice?