bonabros

Not a part of any of these programs but have received the solicitations in the mail and always go right in the trash. We have had customers come in with these installed and sometimes don't tell us about them when dropping off. Just a total pain to deal with, especially if the repair takes more than a few hours (big job, parts availability, repair with multiple ignition cycles, die-out issues, etc etc). I would echo what Joe said above; "retain your core" and if you want to grow, there are better avenues.

I somehow missed this thread, but just recently went through the BS that Intuit is pulling with their Quickbooks 2023 onward. We have been Pro and/or Premier users for 20 years (even before my time). We were doing a similar every 3 years upgrade and paid the $500 for the annual standard payroll. I was getting the program from POSwarehouse.com for $279 instead of $849 from Intuit/Newegg/OfficeMax/etc. Now to switch to the subscription model for Pro with 2 users, it was going to be $749 for the program, a $500 annual payroll fee, plus $8/mo per employee... We have 40 employees wtf... The annual cost used to be $593/yr and now 2023 onward would have been 749 + 500 + (40x8x12=3840) = $5,089 It's disgusting how greedy they got here. We have a few different businesses and unfortunately, QB is our best option. We moved to Enterprise Gold with two users through Fourlane.com (the parent company the POSwarehouse) for $2134/yr. It has enhanced payroll, no employee fee, and can have more than one company file open. The program is still basically the same thing it was since 2008 with a few nice extra features, but certainly not worth an extra $1541 per year. Still painful to think about.

Have not used either of the ones in the OP but Iget spammed with their emails. We use the following: Indeed - Probably the best quality of candidates so far and you can require things like a resume, etc. Facebook - Seems like every technician is on fakebook these days. ZipRecuiter - Not quite as good as indeed, portal isn't as nice. Had a few decent applicants. Craigslist - The old reliable. Price keeps going up and it seems like the caliber has gone down in recent years, seems like people have moved over to FB or Indeed.

Yes, you will need to replace your current dongle if its not a Micropod II with serial WSP-31560 or higher. We have been using a VCI Pod for the last few years on WiTech 1.0, but our license for WiTech 1.0 expired about 2 months ago, and they would not renew it. They said (and I knew it was a long-time coming) we needed to purchase a WiTech 2.0 subscription but the old VCI pod won't work, so you also see a new Micro Pod II to go with it. The reality of working on FCA vehicles that you NEED this tool if you want to be competent and confident in your repairs. We have a Snappy, Autel Elite, DRB3 physical and virtual at our disposal, but they aren't always able to get the job done. MicroPod II Pros - It is small and fast - No more stupid ethernet cord to connect. VCI pod was always clumsy. - Wireless / uses Wifi to connect (if you consider this a pro, I personally prefer wires under 10 feet long) MicroPod II Cons - It is required to continue diagnostics - Expensive and technically unnecessary since there is nothing wrong with the VCI pods, they should still work but FCA has final say. - Communicates to PC via Wifi, not bluetooth. There is a usb cable that only allows device setup, it won't work as a physical connection for diagnostics. - Turns old dongle into a doorstop you cannot use or sell. WiTech 2.0 Pros - It is FAST compared to Witech 1.0 - It's internet browser based instead of a desktop java program (I think 1.0 is java, cant remember now). - It shows vehicle flashes that are available in the network tree without having an active flash subscription WiTech 2.0 Cons - WiFi only connection. For test drives, you literally need to have a hotspot (phone or mobile hotspot) to keep doing diag. - Again, an unnecessary expense when the old program still worked. - FCA will continue to nickel and dime at every opportunity. Tool, Software, Key Codes, Flash capabilities, Info systems: All require separate transactions - Google authentication code needs to be entered twice every time you connect to the server. Hopefully that helps give you some more information. Ultimately, if you consider yourself a shop that is up on technology, you will have to pony up for the system.

Intuit payroll is the way to go if you have a bookkeeper that is competent. I do it for 45 employees every two weeks. You have to pay yearly for subscription, as well as new Quickbooks program every 3 or 4 years, but it's well worth it.

We are open late and on Saturdays but it is due to the amount of fleet work that we do. If we did not do fleets that require extra hours, we would be closed on Saturdays for sure and shorten the day as well. M-F: 7am-8pm Saturday: 7am-3pm (closed to public at 3pm, often work after to finish up) Sunday: Closed to public (occasionally have work that needs doing before Monday pickup)