SMMotors

I should be clear, I'm not referring to the drug test, lol. I was referring to the tech aptitude test.

I wonder how many shop owners could pass that test?

I've been usin kukui. Pretty happy I guess. Really pricey. The biggest thing I hate is the website design is very very cookie cutter. The copied our old design and posted it, however we thought this was just until they would come up with something new. It's on us to provide photos, taken by a professional ( additional expense). It's on us to update it. It is on us to change the content. It's on us to come up with the wording on the site. It is on us to tell them what wording we want on our follow up/ lost customer. We had to register new emails ( more $) then purchase the domain from go daddy ($$$). The biggest downside is that if we quit kukui, we lose our web design. You don't own the pages, just the domain name. Don't get me wrong, I do get a good amount of business from them, our SEO rankings are high, ( but my site isn't mobil optimized, they say that isn't important wtf) and they have a good looking stat page. However for $11k/ year, I'd expect a little more than cookie cutter. JMHO DON

Did you mean sexually assaulted your wife? Um if it's anything assault, cops deal with him, not me. If it's anything against my wife I deal with it and then cops deal with him.

I'll vouch for this. Great price if you do Chrysler dodge or jeep. Ton of reflash work to be had.

Have you looked at ssf. They are primarily oe euro with a ton of genuine oe parts at 60-80% below dealer for the same part. Now that doesn't happen all the time, but more often then not, it does. I'd be happy to give you my login so you could look around their site and get an idea. It's not open to the public or anyone who doesn't have an account. Let me know.

Man that's tough question because your a tire store and rural area. To put it in perspective , in my area ( southern ca in metro area that has money) are goals are ARO $450 parts GPM 60% car count 250/month. I've read/heard that a tire store should average out at 40% GPM but will have a much higher gross sales due to the large ticket price of tires with lower profit. Your billed hours looks low, but if your working I. Your business and not on it, it will always be low. You have to figure how many days your open then do the calculations. I'm open 1965 hrs/ year in theory after holidays and vacation time. That means my guys should hit that plus some in a perfect world. Doesn't always happen but if your not tracking it, you have no way to improve it.

I replied in the quote, so look through it to see what i wrote, sorry didn't know it would post that way!

Are you a quick lube or service facility? I sell service so lof makes me money. They take an average of .75_1 hr, because I do a complete inspection. So I try to limit it to only 7/day. There is an average $1200 in needed repairs per car that come in.I focus on doing more with less. My average oil change is 76_83$/ car with a cost of$31/ car. My loaded labor cost is 25% my aro is usually around $585 with a normal car count of 245/ month. These are AVERAGES. I don't hit them all the time. Give some data and I'd be happy to give you my humble opinion on what"should" be hastening. What's your trainer saying you should be doing? I haven't personally seen a trainer coach ask the questions your asking but I'd be happy to try and help.

I don't understand what your asking, sorry mate. # of sales? You mean car count? Average unit sold .....you mean ARO? Average cost?...you mean my GP? Service hours? You mean hours/RO? Hourly rate? You need to figure that out based off what you need to take home. COGS,loaded labor cost, fixed overhead, YOUR SALARY, investing back into shop, rainy day fund, health insurance, ect is what you base your hourly rate off of, not what anyone else is charging. Let me know if that's what your asking and I'd be happy to help. Cheers, Don

Kinda sad that everyone thinks $74k/ year is way too much.... How is the techs productivity? His efficiency? How many billable hours does he do vs what's available? A tech shouldn't cost you money at all. If you set it up right, the more he makes, the more your making off of him. Seems everyone thinks he should make $900 before taxes and be happy with that. Even it he is producing 65 billable hours a week consecutively? If you can't afford to give him more, you need to increase your car count or efficiency which wouldn't hurt your bottom line. Also maybe overhaul your pay plan that if they shop hits your goals he gets bumped, that way your not just giving him more money because he shows up. Figure what you want to make then tell him he needs to make it happen. It's your job to give him the tools to make it a reachable goal, make sure your shop is productive, and make sure he's the right guy.

I have the Schumacher unit. It was bout $220 on amazon. It's worked great so far. I use it for recharging and for flash programming. It's the same unit snappy sells at a fraction. Only down side is it doesn't come with wheels. I just keep it on my diag cart. Super long leads and quality cables.

Will it include the drb emulator? Any offer on trading in a wi tech pod?

Will it include the drb emulator? Any offer on trading in a wi tech pod?

What service info do you have? I'd be looking at a wiring diagram first. I find it hard to think all 4 sensors are out. When you say you have no power, you mean at the heater or signal? Jeeps do have a rather high ECM failure rate, but I would be doing some diagram hunting before I replaced it.

Stop focusing on what everyone else is charging and focusing on making money. You need to get in the mindset that you are selling a service and value. When you make it about price, it's a race to the bottom or better yet attracts bottom feeders. Cars nowadays don't break down as much. So opposed to offering an oil change @$30 , offer a full inspection ( on every freaking car that comes in )' oil change service, air up rotate tires, check brakes and lights. Then chage $49.99. Your selling the customer perceived value. If you want the cheapest LOF, donor come here. If you want your car fully inspected by a trained profession And not a high school kid, and made sure it's safe to drive your family in come here. You want the best possible oil and filter, come here. Set your business apart. Not charging labor or even losing money on LOFs is ridiculous! I rarely have people call me up and ask how much is an oil change? People come to me becusase of our reputation, customer service ( which should set you apart from everyone else) , and referrals. 90% of my phone calls are people asking to schedule an appointment! price is never brought up. If you are starting out, I understand the thought of " hey I got to get people in the door", but it attracts bottom feeders who won't become your A clients. Take it one step further and just charge what the suggested service from the OEM calls for. Labor is covered, your marketing as competing with the dealer, and your doing what's best for the customer and their vehicle. Fwiw, my lowest price LOF is $55 which includes castrol gtx, Nippon filter, and inspection. My average LOF is $66-90 being I sell way mor synthetic LOFs and high mileage LOFs.. Better for the car/customer, has brand recognition, and I have /attract customers looking for quality now. Sorry for the long post, I just feel bad seeing everyone so worried about being the best priced and no focusing on selling the value of what your selling. It's a fast ride to the poor house.

Ghmerlin, Why did the tech quit? If the techs aren't the key to your success, what is? Depending on what consultant you follow, loaded labor costs should equate to 20-30% of your posted rate. Saying you pay your techs too much is crazy. Either bump your labor rate to reflect what you need to make ( as an owner) or your going to be stuck promoting b techs to be your a tech. How come you bumped him up? Did he suddenly improve in skill to become an A? Is he going to be able to do the tough diag that your a tech was able to do all of a sudden? Or was your a tech really a B tech that you paid too much and didn't have the skill to back it? Let's be honest, your techs do make you money. Between them doing proper inspections and a service advisor who knows how to sell value, you should have no problem paying a tech good money that basically pays for itself while allowing you to earn your desired profit. It's up to you to figure out your costs, tech pay, GP needed, COGS, and bills and then come up with the correct hourly labor rate to make it all come together. It seems lately that everyone is so worried about being the cheapest shop in town which in turns makes the techs pay lower, which in turns means your going to able to only afford "economical" techs. Economical techs aren't going to produce you a profitable business. Your right on not all techs are motivated by money. You do have to find out what motivates them.i like spending time with my family, and not suffering in my wallet for it. One of my techs loves tools so I buy him tools and get the write off. But, everyone likes having money. We wouldn't work unless money motivated us. Figuring out how to keep people motivated to make more money is the big question.

We techs are a moody group of curmudgeons. Family drama ( which should be left outside the shop, be they were human), bills, and working in this business can make your emotions run the gambit. Can you really blame the dude for over selling himself? That's a damn good skill especially if it fooled you, maybe he could move into sales? Times are tough, and sometimes you got to go where the grass appears to be greener. One thing I do to check references without calling the current is to talk to the tool trucks. They have a pretty good bs meter and know what's up. Also, I ask if they are on any forums and take a gander at their posts. Someone who is constantly bitching about their employer, not really contributing anything to the topic, my alarm bells go off.

Did you check references ?

Umm why are you offering to pay the labor? They had major issues/neglect when they brought in the first place. It shouldn't have been flushed that much, it should have been replace. Who knows what the block looks like if you had to flush the radiator that much. Simply tell customer that this is an issue cause by having 18qts installed, a horrible maint schedule, and it sucks, but the correct way to fix it is a remained motor which will be $xxxx. No reason to bow down and take it in the wallet. These ppl seem to bitch about all their past mechanics, so let them bitch about and and more on to more profitable work. It should have been a motor from the start with over oiling and rust issues like that. Learn from it. Good luck!

Well where's the fix lol.... All the more reason to have one after 3 years. Justbsaying

Waivers don't hold up in court. There are court cases where customers are coming back to chain lube stores (Wally world was named) and filing suit that the incorrect oil was used which lead to damaging their motors. In the case I read (link to follow), the people were returning after 30k miles or more. And they won. Now I know in quiet a few states, it is law to show on your invoice the spec (vw spec 502), API( SN ), weight 0w20, approvale (dexos) ect. This means the days of putting 530 on the bill and leaving it at are gone. CYA BIG TIME. When the judge asks you, " did you put this grade oil in when it calls for this" you better be able to say you put the correct oil in, after all you are the professional, not the cheap customer. Otherwise, depending what state your in, your buying a motor. Look how vw went after everyone who didn't use the correct spec oil and had motor warranties voided. Now my customers don't ask,me to put in " the cheap stuff". I don't service CONSUMERS. I put in what it calls for, or I don't do it(never had someone even ask me for the incorrect oil...funny isn't it). I am also not cheap on my LOFs. I do make a profit on that service. Learn to charge more on LOFs and sell your shop as a service, not a commodity. I stock bulk 540, bulk 020, bulk 520/30 and high mileage 530 ( which is a huge money MAKER). I am currently switching over to caring all castrol oils. Just food for though, sorry for the rant, I just don't understand doing something for a consumer that saves them money. I'd rather lose the headache abd focus on making money and servicing my customers. Charge more and be happy ( not my line but fully agree)

Must be nice to be able to charge a blanket charge for shop supplies. That's a no no here in Commiefornia.