cdhowell

I think the fee was in regards to my posting in another thread. I do a lot of aftermarket work. Lift kits, Lowering kits, Hitches, Nerf bars, Tonneau covers, Air bags, Winches, roll cages, Performance parts.......... You name it. As well as auto repair and service. The part margins are not really there with the internet competition in aftermarket parts. My pricing on aftermarket stuff is Slightly higher than what they will find on line. Yet they want to supply their own. I will agree to do it with no warranty and a down time agreement. But If the parts they provided are wrong, don't fit correctly or halt progress from missing components. They will be charged hourly for the down time in that bay until "They" get it resolved. Now they have a choice to make. Take a chance on some Additional Charges, or pay a little more up front and let me do my job.

Not sure why it double posted

A new location. My current location is at the end of a little strip mall surrounded by Mini storage. Unless you walk thru the door you would never know what we do.I also manage the mini storage for a portion of my rent. But the time doing so takes me away from my business. I talked to a guy about 3 years ago that has a perfect building for me. I need retail space as well for the aftermarket stuff we do. It was vacant for a long time and I approached him. It is tied up in a trust with 14 family members. At the time he wanted a 2 year lease and a Million dollar buy out at the end of 2 years. Worth about $350,000. So it sat vacant another 6 months till another shop opened in there. 3 years later the other guy is folding but the family is also being reasonable now. Just waiting to hear when he is pulling out to start negotiations.

A new location. My current location is at the end of a little strip mall surrounded by Mini storage. Unless you walk thru the door you would never know what we do.I also manage the mini storage for a portion of my rent. But the time doing so takes me away from my business. I talked to a guy about 3 years ago that has a perfect building for me. I need retail space as well for the aftermarket stuff we do. It was vacant for a long time and I approached him. It is tied up in a trust with 14 family members. At the time he wanted a 2 year lease and a Million dollar buy out at the end of 2 years. Worth about $350,000. So it sat vacant another 6 months till another shop opened in there. 3 years later the other guy is folding but the family is also being reasonable now. Just waiting to hear when he is pulling out to start negotiations.

Hand them an old fashioned bicycle Hand pump. I do not think the law requires your compressor to do the inflation, or your payed labor to inflate it. And get a deposit on the pump.

Same here. But I do get a few gift certificates sold for Bedliners and side bars, etc. So it picks up pretty quick after X-mas.

I think this is where the problem lies. ( When we refuse to.) Look at it from the customers side. I have X amount of dollars to spend. They want X amount above that to even do What was asked. So for X amount (1/2 price) I can set the toe and center the steering wheel as close as we can get it. It will not be right but it will be better. That gives them choices. Now they feel you want to help, even if its not 100%. They are aware of the additional problems and should leave with an estimate and an appointment.

Since half the battle is getting people in the door, Why not just put it on the rack. Then discuss any problems you find. Show the customer, and let them decide. Good as you can get it or proper repair and align. Then note refused repairs on invoice.

I politely tell the customer "Company policy does not allow me to estimate anything we have not looked at. If you will not bring it by, pop the hood and hold the phone closer" This usually will jog the mind set into trying to understand what you are saying. Then lead in with "Grandpa always said If you can't do it right, don't do it at all." Tell them they are probably right (stroke that ego) and a simple pressure test will confirm this. You want to provide a correct repair the first time to uphold your reputation and be a shop he would recommend to others. Apologize for the inconvenience it may cause But Grandpa would turn over in his grave if you didn't.

Thanks for posting. I find myself in a little different position selling off road tires. You know these are going to be run at very low pressures 6 - 10 Psi. More than likely returned with a stick in the side wall or an impact break from a hard hit on a rock ledge. And in some cases the rim slices the side wall being bound up. How would you handle these type of customers? I have a fellow Jeeper that has completely replaced 2 set of 37" tires through Discount Tire.

A sales man at a local dealership bought a Jeep Wrangler that was traded in. We do a lot of aftermarket work for these guys so he comes looking for a deal on a lift kit. Not just any kit, but a high dollar long arm kit that require a lot of cutting and welding to the frame and axle. Long story short he bought the kit on line to save tax but freight cost him more than purchasing from me. These are solid steel control arms front and rear. Plus the rest of the components. He shows up yesterday looking for help. The kit was installed in his buddy's garage for half of what I would charge. "Something happened to the rear axle." he says " So we put a new one in and its doing the same thing. I've had it a few months now and can't really drive it" It was an obvious hack job and the pinion angle was way out. "Can you tell me what wrong?" he asked. "Yes, you went to the wrong place. But for $600 I can fix it." We looked at some other custom work I had done. Now he could see a night and day difference in the quality of work. Between the freight cost, the axle he did not need, and the additional labor for me to fix it. Lets just say lesson learned. He's scheduled after Xmas.

I recently brought Mitchell into the shop and learning the program. The Rep set up a quick Matrix that left me gasping for air. I too would like to see a copy of some ones working parts matrix if some one is willing to share. 75% mark up on an engine or tranny seems excessive to me. Are you really getting this kind of mark up? E-mail [email protected]

Where do you draw the line? If they sale it on the Snap On truck its the Techs responsibility? I under stand that tech levels are different. A lube tech does not need a ball joint press or a pitman arm puller. So at what point Is it your Dime or the Master techs making top dollar? I would not expect a smoke machine or A/C machine to be a Tech tool but they are on the truck. Same with expendables such a s drill bits and Roll loc discs? We do a lot of fab work. I usually buy a new guy a cheap set of drill bits up to 1/2" and provide anything larger. It's funny how much longer they last when its their bit.

Anyone else having problems? I used Moreoem but this new site is not user friendly.

I do not know about Texas but In AZ. you must have a signed work order to place a lien on a vehicle. Even then you can not legally hold the vehicle and must go to court. I was instructed by a DMV officer to place storage fees on no shows, then file for an abandoned title. They cannot remove the vehicle until storage fees are paid. My posted sign shows $25 a day storage starting 3 days after work is completed. This is for my protection. I will store vehicles under special circumstances but it give me a legal foot hold.

Just looking for a way to help my customers afford larger, and unexpected jobs. I really do not want to finance the job. But if they are already here and I can find a way they can afford it. They are less likely to leave and start shopping prices. A lot of what I do would not be considered priority work. Any other ideas?

...A check guarantee service such as Cross Check? Have you had to file claims and were they handled promptly? Opinions Good or bad.

Recap Customer neglects engine and blows head gasket. Customer refuses to let you finish flush. Customer returns past warranty with possible head damage. Now you want to warranty the work?

Exactly my point. How do you go from a $450 repair to a $1400 repair and make the customer understand. In their mind you are so incompetent that you can't change spark plugs without messing up their perfectly running truck.

So sharing this

I have hot rodded a lot of power steering pumps to add hyralic rams to 4x4 steering. If the bypass valve in the pump is opening and closing I can see a vibration. Have you run the motor without the belt to verify her concern? Right fluid in the pump?

The thing is , She was referred to us by 2 other small shops that refused to touch it. But No one was doing anything without an exact dollar amount. That I could not give her. Maybe I should just be glad she left, But I do not like the circumstances she left under.

Had a lady come in wanting a tune up on an 06 Expedition. I explain that it books at 3 hrs.and plugs are x amount. This would be The minimum charge "IF" everything went correctly. I went on to explain The notorious spark plug problems and that this "could" drastically change the price. I tried to explain that they could break at the shell, or the porcelain which takes longer. And there was no way to estimate "IF" or how many plugs would break. She says she was expecting it to be under $200 and she could not afford us. I tell her that any shop that can do it for under $200 has know idea what they are getting into. I tried to get her to explain what problems she is having and that she may not need plugs. Instead she ran out the door so fast I thought she was going to break a high heel. So where did I go wrong? I had a customer in the shop willing to spend money but had no idea of what could happen. Trying to be up front scared her off before we had a chance to earn a repeat business customer. Even though my wife was here, I feel she thought we were trying to take advantage of a female. Was there a better way to handle this?

Also a Husband and Wife team. In Casa Grande. And fairly new to the board.

With the off road stuff I do I see a lot of customer supplied parts. But these are parts you do not get from Napa or any other normal supplier. We offer no warranty on there parts and charge a $25 per hour Bay rental fee for supplying wrong or damaged parts. It's a good incentive to let us do our Job. Truth is sometimes I can not compete with the internet prices. But I refuse to lose money from a bad purchase by someone else.