JimO

Ear buds should never be allowed. The customer and in turn the shop owner is paying techs for their undivided attention. Music that everyone in the shop can agree on or no radio and definitely no ear buds.

Although this has not happened to me, be wary of the techs that seem good for the first 2-3 weeks then go sour. Quite often they are doing this on purpose to force you to fire them as a requirement to allow them to return to their normal life of sitting at home watching cartoons, playing video games and enjoying unemployment benefits. This happened to a friend with a trans shop near me. The new hire was great for two to three weeks then turned on a dime, late every day, extended break time, sloppy work area, poor workmanship. Naturally my friend had to fire him and later found out that this “behavior” was this guys way of beating the system. He would routinely live off unemployment benefits until they expired, get a job and work long enough to again become eligible for unemployment, then get discharged as opposed to quitting to once again secure eligibility for unemployment. On my way home from work I listen to talk radio. The topic last night was what the different states are paying people stay home and collect benefits. In my state, New Jersey, a person with a family can earn $109,000.00 a year in benefits without working! I heard this “news” while driving home after a 12 hour workday. Do we really need to wonder why we have a labor shortage?

My apology for straying from your topic but when i thought about it I envisioned shops offering cheap oil changes or free oil filters attempting to increase oil change numbers to what they once were. That is a practice that I would not want to see happen. Extended oil change intervals definitely reduced car count but so did so many other things such as 100,000 mile or more spark plug change intervals. The complete absence of caps, rotors, wires, points and condensers. Many steering and suspension parts such as control arm bushings, idler arms, pitman arms are no longer on vehicles and what took their place sometimes lasts the life of the vehicle. Drive belts last two to three times as long as what we had years ago. Water pumps rarely fail and the average life of a radiator has certainly increased over the years. Incandescent and halogen bulbs are gradually fading away and being replaced with LED bulbs that may never need be changed. I used to replace at least one washer pump a week and I think currently I see maybe one in a month or two. I am thankful for TPMS, cabin filters, Honda and Acura service codes and electric parking brakes that prevent DIY brake work. If the farmer needs to increase milk production he could try milking the cows more but that is a futile effort and ultimately he needs to buy more cows. We can try to offer more services such as ADAS calibrations but that may be difficult for the average shop. Adding a car wash or detailing? Key programming specialist? Custom, aftermarket wheels? Specializing in off road vehicles, lift kits, suspension modifications and accessories? Small engine repair? For the last 20-30 years I have noticed that the marginal shops in our general area eventually failed, in most case they turned into a non-automotive use and our car count increased. Just think of the number of car dealers that closed over the years never mind small shops. This trend seems to be continuing but at a much slower rate. I guess the only answer I have is to follow the dealers and perform a service and not just an oil change when cars are in your shop. Look up and review maintenance schedules and have trained techs that notice items that need attention.

My customer base responds well to their on-board, in vehicle, service reminders that for the most part have made service reminder stickers on windshields obsolete. When needed we still use reminders on windshields but the majority of vehicles now have condition based service reminders and don’t require a windshield sticker. Our stickers include when the next OFL is needed and also any additional work that is needed now or in the future. The stickers fulfilled their intended purpose but I do find that most drivers pay more attention to a service reminder message or light on their dash. I also indicate future needs on customer invoices and verbally review these needs with our customers when they pay their invoice. Extended service intervals certainly reduced how often we see a customer but I also sell gasoline and diesel which brings regular customers to my property weekly or more often which certainly helps. This is straying from the topic but I think it needs to be said: When we perform an oil change we all face extended oil change intervals, under engine shielding, the popularity of AWD which adds the need to inspect F&R differential & transfer case fluid levels. The time consuming procedures needed to verify proper oil level on completion when the vehicle manufacturer fails to provide a dipstick. The vast inventory of unique oil filters and all the different oil grades that are needed in order to do the job properly. And last but not least the various, ever changing methods required to reset service reminders. This means that our entire industry needs to wake up and rethink what the financial compensation should be for performing an oil change on today’s vehicles or we will financially die on the vine. Sure, years ago we could offer a cheap oil change, bang it out quickly, no shielding, very few AWD vehicles, every vehicle had a dipstick, 20 oil filter numbers offered 90% coverage, three grades of oil, every vehicle got a service reminder sticker and even though you saw this vehicle 3-5k miles ago you spotted a valid need of additional work needed. Those days are gone, vehicles are built better and we can’t afford lost leader oil changes when the oil change may be all you get from the visit. Our customer base is mostly leased vehicles, retained for three years and then replaced with new. Many manufacturers offer free oil changes for the first 12 months which further erodes our opportunities. If your customer base is largely older, non-leased vehicles then maybe you can continue that practice but as years click by we will no doubt look back at the effort, liability and time taken to complete a task that we were under compensated for as a mistake.

Joe, I can relate to you statement “When I went into business, my father told me, "You will feel guilty when you take a Saturday off." My father passed away years before I took the step to shut down service on Saturdays. A big hurdle for me was overcoming the thought of what my father would say to me if he was alive at that time. He was a machinist by trade and eventually managed large manufacturing factories for numerous companies unrelated to the automotive industry. From a very young age he instilled a work ethic that has served me well and I thank him for that. Maybe I am just older and cynical but it seems that most of today’s young males fail to have that drive. The pandemic and paying people to stay home seemed to squash whatever small amount of work ethic that was left. I am sure there are young people in the work force with more drive than I can imagine but I routinely deal with young, male gas island attendants that can’t sleep at night so they look at their computers or play video games. They can’t work any mornings because they are unable to wake up since they go to bed at 3am or later. They don’t want to work Friday, Saturday, or Sunday because they want to go out at night with their friends. They don’t want to work more than 4-6 hours a day because they are tired. Many are taking some type of prescription medication for anxiety, depression or to help them sleep. Unfortunately this is becoming the norm for young men in my area and it worries me.

I own a gas station with service bays and we are open for gas/diesel seven days a week. For the first forty years we were in business our shop was open six days a week but ten years ago we reduced our shop hours to five days a week. We were very concerned that we would lose customers by closing our bays on Saturday’s but that failed to happen. Have we possibly lost some customers over the last ten years to other shops that are open on Saturday? I am sure we have. I am also sure that if our shop was open 364 days a year that we would lose some customer because we were closed that one day a year when he or she needed help. I have answered our phone on Labor Day, Memorial Day, 4th of July and Thanksgiving with requests for oil changes, tire repairs, brake work.... and had to explain to the caller that we are open for gas/diesel but closed for repairs. The caller was home, not at work, it is a holiday, they were aware it was a holiday and yet they expected me to say “sure, bring it over, I just need to call my family and tell them not to expect me home late for Thanksgiving dinner because you have been nursing a slow leak in your right front tire for the last two weeks but now, on Thanksgiving, you have decided that you need it repaired”. I guess I am trying to say that it is impossible to satisfy the needs of all our customers 100% of the time, we will disappoint people. Life is short, our job is demanding, we are all all probably working too many hours, away from our family and loved ones. If you think your customer base will tolerate a four day work week - Go for it! Unfortunately I am old fashioned, I still worry about being closed for repairs on Saturdays so for right now I will continue with the five day work week.

I have had a/c in our shop and offices for over 25 years and it was the best thing we ever did. I am in NJ and it gets very hot and humid here in the summer, the a/c makes life bearable. I have been in business for 50 years and my two techs have both been with me for over 40 years each and maybe that is one of the reasons they have stayed with me. The last 3-4 weeks have been very hot and our a/c does struggle to keep the shop area comfortable. Opening bay doors frequently and bringing in vehicles that have been baking in the sun only adds to the heat load. My guys are very good about quickly moving vehicles in and out of the bays which helps. They will also complete small jobs (that don’t require a lift) outside rather than bringing the vehicle into the shop which also helps minimize heat gain. I try to fill every bay at the end of the day so we start off the next morning with bays and cars cold. The a/c runs day and night otherwise we would start the day with a hot building that is unable to catch up during a hot day. With everything we do to minimize heat gain there are some days that the shop does get uncomfortable for a few hours in the afternoon but it is always better than not having a/c.

It certainly seems that our current administration would love to see the EV’s dominate our country as soon as possible. They fail to acknowledge regardless of the fact that the required infrastructure of charging stations fail to exist. Hour many current repair facilities have the required training and expertise to repair EV’s? This push to replace internal combustion vehicles will no doubt cause some unintended consequences. Many underground storage tanks were replaced during 1980’s to meet new, stricter, Underground Storage Tank regulations. These 40 year old tanks will need to be replaced again very soon. How many locations will be willing to invest $400,000 to $500,000 to remove and replace their tanks knowing the uncertainty of the business? Due to the current high cost to purchase an electric vehicle, the affluent areas will see the change over to EV’s sooner than lower income areas. Expect to see low volume stations that are located in affluent areas closing rather than risk high debt with little or no chance of recouping their investment. I feel like a blacksmith watching the first horseless carriages roll into town. The strong will survive but there will be many casualties along the way.

I don’t think that I have ever rehired someone that I fired, and I think that would send the wrong message to the rest of the staff. I can say that over the years I have rehired numerous employees that had voluntarily quit but then came back asking for their job back. What is better for morale: Having an employee quit and other employees see him achieving happiness and success employed by someone else? Or having someone quit only to return to their job with horror stories of why the grass on the other side was not greener? I think it must be very difficult for any employee to decide to leave a job and then a day or a week or a month later decide it was a mistake and ask to come back.

I can’t agree more that networking is beneficial. I have a great relationship with a shop 15 minutes from my location. We help each other with odd things like receipt paper, dispenser filters and car seat covers. More importantly we discuss business and the problems we are both facing and how we are addressing them. As Joe said, It’s great to know that your neighbor is struggling with the same challenges that you have. I only wish I had a better relationship with other shops that are near me.

Most of the jobs we do are already entered in my shop management system as “canned jobs”. When I entered all these canned jobs I added all miscellaneous items such as clips, retainers, conditioning discs, nuts/bolts/washers etc.. onto jobs that would routinely utilize those items. Over the years I have adjusted these canned jobs to include more items or in some cases removed some items. My estimates are done using my shop management program so in most cases the forgotten or overlooked part or a part that commonly fails is included in the estimate. If The part is not used then it is removed from the invoice. The above covers all of the small, incidental items in most cases. If I fail to include a clip or small priced item and add it to the final invoice I very rarely have anyone question it. I always have the option to N/C the item if I think this particular customer will cause a fuss over a low price, unexpected part. Over time you get to know your customer, even first time customers. When I review an involved estimate I always try to verbally inform the customer of the potential need of additional parts or labor based on my past experience. When the unexpected happens and the additional part or labor is costly I call the customer as soon as possible and inform them of the need and cost of the additional part or labor. Letting something like this go until the customer receives the invoice is never a good idea. When we increase the cost of a customer’s invoice because of unexpected issues we need to realize that we are spending the customers money so they deserve to be informed and be brought into the decision of how to proceed. Concerning signs - I find that most people don’t read signs so I don’t post a sign concerning this matter. I suppose if I had a sign and the customer questioned an additional charge I could then point to the sign but that to me would be wrong. Pointing to a sign when a customer is standing in front of you, upset about an up charge will only add fuel to the fire.

Congratulations on retirement from your own business and entering a new chapter of your life that will no doubt have less time commitment and much fewer headaches. Most of us that have been in this business for the long term would probably have a hard time to stop work altogether. I think of myself as an old work horse, my years of experience allows me to comfortably do my job every day but put me out to pasture with no challenge, no problems to solve and I think I would lack purpose. My father instilled a work ethic that was very strong and has served me well over the years. As to thoughts of future topics or content - Profitability is required to grow and we are living through changes that affect profitability dramatically. The cost of doing business has increased so much over the years that you could be put in the position of having worked all year but failed to make a profit. No matter where you go prices for goods and services have increased. I know that there are price fixing laws to restrict the discussion of setting prices but if there was a way to legally have discussions or surveys concerning prices it would be beneficial. I am talking about repetitious jobs that some shops post on menu boards like charge a battery, mount a tire, balance a tire, repair a tire, put on a spare tire, cut a drum, cut a rotor, flush a cooling system, etc... We all need to realize the cost of doing business today and what it takes to keep the doors open. Most of us are too busy to notice these changes and that can quickly get you in trouble financially.

One of my customers recently came in with his new Tesla to explain why I have not seen him at my gas island. Knowing that this particular customer owns a grocery store in Manhattan I asked where he recharges his Tesla when he is at work. He told me that he arrives at work very early in the morning and manages to secure street parking in front of his store. He runs an extension cord out to his new Tesla and plugs it in. I right away questioned him about the safety of an extension cord going across a busy Manhattan sidewalk. He had any answer for that concern, he covers the extension cord with a large commercial entrance mat to prevent pedestrians from falling on the cord. My next question was how long does it take to recharge his Tesla using a regular extension cord? He proudly stated that using this method it recharges at a rate of 1% capacity per hour. I asked if there are any fast chargers that he has access to and although there are some available they have long waits and he needs to be at work. He went on to tell me that some of his customers that live in the city have also purchased Tesla’s and love them which prompted me to ask where they recharge their cars. He told me that most of the people he knows that own a Tesla and live in Manhattan drive over to New Jersey on the weekend and recharge their cars at the Tesla dealer in Paramus, NJ which happens to be 10 minutes from my location. So these intrepid Tesla owners will plan their weekend to include a trip from Manhattan to New Jersey via the George Washington Bridge ($16.00) to the Tesla Dealer in Paramus (45 to 120 minutes depending on traffic) sit in the Tesla lot for 45 minutes for a “fast charge” and when done drive back to Manhattan (another 45-120 minutes). I need to know what medication these Tesla owners are taking that gives them enough patience to do this weekly and still tell people that they LOVE their Tesla. I have owned a gas station for 50 years and the average gas customer will honk their horn if a gas attendant fails to appear at their car window within 30 seconds of arrival on the gas island. New Jersey holds the distinction of being the only state that is Full Serve only, Self Serve is against the law here. The gasoline and diesel price at the pump includes a Federal and State Motor Fuels Tax which in theory pays for repairs, maintenance and construction of roads, bridges and tunnels. The Motor Fuels Tax is different from state to state but in New Jersey the total Motor Fuels Tax is currently 61 cents a gallon for gasoline and 74 cents a gallon for diesel. So.... my question is: If every ICE vehicle was replaced with an EV tomorrow, where will the government get the money to build and maintain roads, bridges and tunnels that they currently get from Motor Fuels Tax?

I am surprised that Fast Eddie Lampert’s name has not been mentioned. Sears was in bankruptcy and had definite trouble previous to his buyout but he did nothing to correct the problems and instead drove Sears and K-Mart into the ground. Icahn and Pep Boys may be this generations Fast Eddie and Sears. I have dealt with NAPA and Carquest over the years and both have had their own small issues but they were still OK, focused at supplying parts to us, the automotive professional and not the DIY walk in consumer. In my opinion Carquest lost that focus since it was acquired by Advance. All NAPA locations were changed to Carquest in my area so I have not had dealings with NAPA for over six years and I am only able to comment about Carquest. Vehicles are becoming more complex by the minute, above and beyond the ability of the average weekend warrior yet it seems Advance still tries to cater to that crowd. Their profit margin with a DIY is better than dealing with us but their key DIY customer base is dwindling as technology increases and the back yards for the back yard mechanics disappear. Young people don’t get their hands dirty, they don’t want a house or a yard to maintain. New housing in my area is catering to this new mindset, young people want to live in multi-level large housing units near shopping, restaurants and public transportation. Another problem facing the aftermarket suppliers is the ever decreasing parts that are on today’s vehicle. No more points, condenser, cap, rotor, breather element, gas filer (in many cases), idler arms, pitman arms, control arm bushings..... spark plugs are still here but were replaced every 12K and now last 120K. LED lighting is killing light bulb sales. How many parts are only available from OEM or should only be sourced from OEM due to cost differences or quality differences. Yes, I said COST differences, I routinely see OEM parts are much more affordable (cost & list) than aftermarket Carquest parts (watch yourself on this issue because it could be embarrassing if you sell an aftermarket part for 50% more than an OEM part). Advance is big but so was Sears, they better refocus or the next generation will be comparing Advance to Sears 10 years from now.

I have owned a shop for fifty years and I think that knowing when to say no and pass on a job is vital to success. When I first started it was easier to try to be everything to everybody because I had youth on my side plus we were working on vehicles that were easier to repair. GM, Ford, Chrysler and AMC made up 90% of our customer base with Toyota and Datsun (now Nissan) just entering the scene. We rarely saw a European car in those days. As vehicles became more complex we began to realize that it would be very difficult for a small, three tech shop to become proficient with every vehicle that came in. We got burned a few times by getting involved in jobs that were too complex or too time consuming. We are also blessed with a busy location which allows us to be more selective. So fast forward to 2022 and we have people in our area with Bentley’s, Ferrari’s and Lamborghini’s that I will not touch. Convertible top problem on any car - No. Involved electrical problem on a Jaguar or Land Rover - No. Windshield replacement on any vehicle - No. Involved, 8 hour heater core on any vehicle - No. Intermittent problem that I feel will most likely not end well - No. Transmission work on any vehicle - No. Installation of aftermarket radio, remote start, theft alarms - No. Any kind of work on motor homes, large trucks and busses - No. I could probably keep going and add another 25 more items that I would say No to but I will stop at this point. Saying “No, I am sorry but I can’t help you with that particular problem, I suggest you bring it to the dealer” allows me to concentrate on the jobs that we are good at, jobs that don’t put a physical strain on my older techs that have been with me for over 40 years, jobs that allow us to be profitable. I fully understand that many of you possibly need to say Yes because if you say No there may not be any other job. As I noted, we have been blessed for 50 years with a busy location that provides us with more work than we can handle so this, more than anything else, allows me to be this selective. With that said I can’t help but think that as these vehicles continue to become more and more complex everyone, busy or slow, will be getting familiar with explaining to customers that they need to go to the dealer for various repairs.