alfredauto

I've given up on my OTC tpms tool. Now I use a magnet for Schrader sensors, my air pressure gauge for the others. Replacement sensors are the plug and play redi-sensor's. If we get one we can't program I send it to the dealer. So frustrating to spend $$$$ and still not get results, seems like every Toyota turns the tpms light back on after a couple days.

For us the added setup time and upfront cost were big negatives. We balance thousands of tires a year with no problems with the regular coats balancer.

Old post but the lift is worth a grand. The aligner is scrap metal.

I'm still using my Acme Auto charger from the 80's. 6 & 12v is the only switch.

I tried to program a key for a 03 odyssey it had some menu choices but in the end "not supported" was the verdict. I wish there was a way to report not supported items so autel can be aware for the next update.

Hey no need to bust on a gravel parking lot. Mines gravel. Its almost one acre I'm not paving it :-)

+1 I totally agree even though I'm still stuck in flacvabeach's mentality.

Been off since wed, real nice. Drove 1000 miles spent xmas with my parents and my brothers and sisters. They all have grown up families so nobody visits too much these days. Sick in bed today so the internets my friend.

We had a different type of job the other day. Exhaust manifolds on a Durango. I quoted it high anticipating some problems. I broke 12 bolts. After running through 2lbs of welding wire and 10lbs of nuts i finally got them out. Its not the customers fault I broke them all, but again its not my fault his truck is rusted out. I charged him 3 extra hours, it took me 7. I made money on the job but it took way longer. I feel if I quoted him triple labor we might have had an unpleasant situation. In the end he bought me a nice bottle of wine as a thank you so at least I felt appreciated.

We figure it in up front for check engine diag, most of the time the car is due for inspection so we add an hour to get the monitors up. Example - CEL on p0442, p0456. We charge 2 hours to diag it. 10 minute smoke test we find a bad filler neck.1.5 plus part to install it. Smoke it again no leaks, run evap test with the scanner vent solenoid stuck. .5 plus part for that. Test again all good, 20 min test drive ("free") gets the rest of the monitors up. Total 4 hours billed, we are confident codes are fixed. We used to underbill it was bad for us. The customer that can't commit to 2 hours for diag is not a customer we want, its someone who doesn't think my time or equipment is worth anything.

Continental tire sent me to their test track in Uvalde TX to prove this theory. They had a circle track with a wet patch to simulate a highway off ramp. The front drive VW spun out every time when the 2/32" tires were on the back. Proof without a doubt the best tires should go on the rear. Fast forward to the real world of upstate NY and bald tires on the front means no traction in the snow, so we try to sell all 4. Put 2 snow tires on the rear of a fwd car and I guarantee your customer will think somethings wrong with you.

Lol they pull right up and block the bay, sometimes 2 bays. We fill for free. I wanted to install an air meter like they used to have at the old gas stations but they are expensive collectibles now.

$2.00 a quart is pretty standard, $1.50 is possible with a huge investment in inventory . Drums are a pita if you ask me. You will lose to shrink any savings. You pay for 55 gallons you use 50 the rest gets spilled or cant get out of the bottom or whatever. Synthetic is a better deal, we pay like .50 a qt more with reasonable quantities. If we do 1200 oil changes a year I don't want more than 300 gallons on hand, I figure less than 4 turnovers a year is bad inventory control.

I think if an established shop needs a new oil supplier its because they've been burned by the last guy, hence they don't trust you. We went back to quarts - no condensation in the oil drum, no chance of contamination, no more broken pumps, no more waiting for a delivery at an inflated price. The cost is comparable when buying by the pallet.

A tire shop is easier to do a business plan for. 4 bays 4 tire techs can do 150 tires a day x $25 gross profit per tire and there's the magic number. Payroll is cogs on tires. That said if you can sell and install 150 tires a day change your name to les schwab or Mavis because they will buy you out or set up shop next door fast! We do a lot of tires, advertise, really strive to do tires all day every day and sell 2000 a year if we are lucky, nobody gets turned away. That's 10 tires a day every working day. Theoretically you can do 1 alignment for every 4 tires. Alignment can be $75 minus $20 for the guy to do it, 10 a day is about the max for a human. $550 a day alignment profit minus the loan payment. Might be better off having the alignment guy do 40 more tires instead at $1000 profit. Add in 1 oil change for every 12 tires (about 1/3 will need it ) oil change profit is single digit unless you upsell, gets people in the door that's about it. $19.99 oil change gets you 4 tires, that's better. Now to do 500 tires a week you'll need 5 counter sales persons plus 4 full time tire guys maybe 4 or 5 part timers as well as a full time cashier and one guy to just unload the truck and take out the scrap tires. Probably 15 people on payroll. You should read "six tires no plan" it's a good book.

Did they give you time to "retrieve" them?

Closed Wednesday - Friday, gives us a 5 day break. It's been so busy here we all need it.

We had a problem where the parts drivers forget the return slip book. So a part gets billed and we have the slip. Then we return it and there's no slip. They forget to issue a credit. My wife assumes the part that didn't get billed or returned is inventory or a consumable when she checks the monthly invoice summary. No way to account for this type of nonsense. Now the rule is no return book no returned part , come back with it . As far as accuracy how many overcharges do you guys get ? Besides the returns the parts stores have been 100% the last few years. Almost seems like a waste of time to spend hours double checking their work.

I would figure out your fixed expenses then divide by # of bays will give you the cost of bay/day to just hit the light switch and be there 8 hours. Now you know how much you need to produce per bay to cover the overhead, then add how much profit you want, divide by working hours and you have your hourly labor rate. Add in your parts/labor ratio to figure gross sales. Assuming all bays will be 100% productive 100% of the time is unreasonable. Maybe adjust to 50% productivity to be much more conservative or some target you set. You can also figure the maximum amount of tires and brakes you can pump out in a day and profit per job and go by that. National averages are 1.2-1.4m gross sales for a tire/alignment/general repair 6-8 bay shop. Average Net profit is 5% so for every $1000 in receipts the business keeps $50 to pay income tax on while $950 disappears to pay people (your officer salary included) This bleak figure is reality for the vast majority. A couple places to look are annual reports for public companies like Monro muffler (Google it and prepare to read awhile) or ask your parts store manager the expected parts $$$/bay/day in your area, they know how much you should be spending with them. If you simply want some #s call me during the week and I can give you car count per month and average RO dollars. The slowest month is the one when gas prices spike and the stock market plummets. Tire sales for us are highest September through December and slow down considerably the rest of the year. When people can't make it up their icy driveway they buy tires. Alignments spike in May after the snowplow ruined the roads all winter. Oil changes spike in June and before all major holidays in preparation for travel. Mechanical breakdowns spike the first hot days in spring and the first cold days in the fall. We are in a college town so August is a big month as 10,000 new cars arrive in town. Come May they all go home. January is pretty slow for us for preventative maintenance as Xmas credit card bills and property taxes drain the pocketbook. Tax refund time in March makes everyone rich again.

How much bonus is appropriate if giving cash? A weeks pay?

In ny we keep the tax exempt form on file and don't collect tax for businesses with a tax #. In 15 years nobody has ever asked to see the forms but rules are rules. When filing sales tax it will ask you how much gross, how much exempt, here's what you owe. Pretty basic. The gray area is if someone lies and uses their tax # for evading paying tax but that's their problem as I understand it.

In my area the competition plays the labor game of $30/hr and then they charge 3x book time for every job. We have a realistic labor rate and quote by the labor guide. Same result different approach. By having a much higher labor rate I don't have to explain why I billed 3 hours for a 1 hour job because it never happens. Plus it weeds out the bottom feeders. Overall 99% of my customers don't ask to break down the price, "hi mrs smith you need a new gazinta plus we recommend the kanuter valve too while we're in there it's $1234.56 parts labor and tax" "OK call me when it's done" end of story. Now if I quote the gazinta based on $100 at napa and az or cq has the same quality part for $60 I keep the extra $40 as a smart shopper reward. It sucks price shopping every job on my end but it's become a necessity. There's sometimes 75% variance between the 5 parts stores that deliver for the exact same part. The colors on the box are different the parts on the inside are identical in every way right down to the manufacturer and part #. As far as good better best goes it makes it harder for a customer to decide when there's too many choices. Even with tires we stock what I would put on my car in the sizes we carry. It makes it easy "we can order anything you would like but I keep xxxx in stock because I feel it's the best choice for a number of reasons in this particular size." Example 185/70r14 we carry the cheap tire because it fits old Junkers, 245/40r18 we carry a brand name because it fits more expensive cars. The mileage warranties are bullshit marketing strategies anyway but that's a different topic. Our parts/ labor warranty is the same 12/12000 for everything so it's best for us if we decide what we feel will last them at least a year. So to conclude my novel I recommend what I feel is best which makes decision making easier for the them. Too many choices and they can't decide and hold off. They present the problem, we suggest the solution. KISS. After-all isn't that why they went to the professional in the first place?

You never know, she might come back and apologize. I've seem it happen, people scream and leave then bring cookies the next day.

Joe, I learned that when I started selling cars. I would spend hours to fix everything body/mechanics/detailing to make the car as perfect as a 10 year old car can be and people were happy. Then I learned they would buy a good enough car that I didn't have time to fully restore and be just as happy. Most people cant even feel the difference between new struts and totally worn out ones, they just don't pay attention and honestly I think they don't really care. As long as the heat works and it starts they go back to thinking about the news headlines or candy crush or whatever. The car is simply an appliance to some.

We charge $65 for alignments, if they ask we do it. Once on the rack if we find bald tires or loose suspension parts I do up an estimate and call the customer. If they insist that they just want it good enough I try my hardest to explain the reality. I was tired one day and lined up a guys Benz, cords coming through the tires. He didn't want to listen so I lined it up anyway (I must have been really tired in hindsight) and he comes back 20 minutes later "still shakes". Ugh, after he berated me for 20 minutes I refunded his alignment and fired him. You can't fix stupid.