xrac

I agree but it is hard to charge what you should because of the customers resistance and because of all of the shops in the industry that are doing different.

Two Redneck hunters, Bubba and Bobby Joe (or was it Gonzo and Frank) , got a pilot to fly them into the Canadian wilderness, where they managed to bag two big Bull Moose. As they were loading the plane to return, the pilot said the plane could take only the hunters, their gear and one Moose. The hunters objected strongly saying, "Last year we shot two, and the pilot let us take them both...and he had exactly the same airplane as yours." Reluctantly the pilot, not wanting to be outdone by another bush pilot, gave in and everything was loaded. However, even under full power, the little plane couldn't handle the load and went down, crashing in the wooded wilderness. Somehow, surrounded by the moose, clothing and sleeping bags, Bubba and Bobby Joe survived the crash. After climbing out of the wreckage, Bubba asked Bobby Joe, "Any idea where we are?" Bobby Joe replied, "I think we're pretty close to where we crashed last year."

My theory is that the majority of PT Cruisers and older Cadillac STS's are owned by wannabes. These are people who either have no money or are very tight when spending money. They buy these cars because these are "cheap" IMAGE vehicles. They are at least cheap until you start having to maintain them. The owners of these vehicles are usually a hard sell when it comes to repairs.

Welcome to the forum and good luck!

We have classes through O'reilly and through NAPA.

Because of the market we have targeted I am with you that ultimately our largest competitor is the new car dealer. However, I will say that I think the dealers are at a disadvantage when they begin to work on everything. As a rule dealer technicians are not as flexible and problem solving oriented as those independent technicians who have came up working on everything. However, the dealers have an advantage on us with their specific makes and models due to the unavailability of information and technology in the aftermarket. Joe, that is where your efforts and the efforts of others for right to repair is so important.

How is this for rest and relaxation. My son caught this when we were fishing last week. I caught one about half this size. The little girl is my oldest grandaughter. It was a beautiful day and the water was gorgeous. We were fishing on a strip mine pit of about 50 acres.

One thing that my service manager is good at is preparing people for the possibility that they could have additional problems occur. He tells customers that we have fixed the most obvious problem but there is always the possibility that another weak link in that system could now crop up. You know what I mean. We fix the radiator and now the system is sealed up and a leaking water pump becomes detectible. Your replace the plugs and wires and a weak coil will now begin to break down. You get the AC system charged and operating at the right pressures and a failing compressor kicks the bucket. This has saved us on many occasions because the customer was already prepared for the potential of additional repairs.

Congratulations! Do you like her? What does your son do?

Enjoy yourself but they do have good seafood.

Way to go Joe!

JUst keep working and pushing the limit up. My credit limit with one vendor is up to $20,000.

Congratulations! You have only just begun!

I am glad to hear that you are o.k. Joe. Those generators come in handy. We were without power 3 days about four years ago when hurricane winds from the Gulf blew through here and then 5 days without power due to an ice storm about a year later. I bought a 10,000 watt with electric start.

There are days that it is really crazy but both of us have been at this a long time and can handle it rather well. It is a little more stressful when one of us is off. We do not have a dedicated tire and lube tech. Tires are only about 15% of our sales. Only recently did we add the 6th tech. We are trying to keep from turning cars away.

My service writer/manager and I do all pricing, selling and parts ordering. When we are both working it is the service writer/managers job mostly. I help when he is too overloaded plus I always handle the pricing and sale of all tires. On our days off we each do the others job with the help of one of the techs that we have trained to help run the front.

Gonzo, as a rule I haven't found the car club types to be profitable for our business. There is too many things they want to do themselves and they all know, with the internet, where to buy parts cheap. For the most part they are a waste of time. Here in Evansville we have the Frog Follies every year. This weekend we have about 5,000 street rods touring the streets of our town. Those cars are hard to work on because you never know what parts off of what car went where. http://www.frogfollies.org/

I think that is overstaffed. I operate a 7 bay shop with gross sales of $900,000+. We currently have our largest staff ever: two service writers and 6 technicians.

I wouldn't install a used rack (unless it was some exotic or something hard to get a hold of). I wouldn't install a used window regulator. I doubt that most salvage yards could get one of those out where it would be reusable. I will install used somtimes and in some case but we do not do many used parts except for wheels, engines, and transmissions.

I do not have a problem installing some used parts like a spindle, an engine, transmission, or even a strut in some situations. We use LKQ on a regular basis and I can dail their phone number without looking it up. It is 800-382-9792 and the person we deal with is David at extension 153. However with something like a rack and pinion it just doesn't make any sense to me. I would expect a used rack and pinion to only be a few bucks cheaper than a remanufactured one. In addition the chances of a used rack and pinion coming to me with some type of damage is very high. Junk yard parts pullers aren't very careful at times and sometimes do not recognize that they are creating problems for an installer. Would you install used wheel cylinders or a used window regulator? As far as looking the vehicle over from top to bottom we do that so they can get the most bang for their contract and for their deductible. We tell them to also bring the vehicle in just before the warranty expires for a good going over.

That would be ahoot!

Gonzo, this is the one that made me laugh: Roy- "An oil change is just like using the "john", it ain't over till the paper work is done." However, I am not usre that you can get a magazine to publish this one.

Nobody says that GWB was a great president but on the other hand if GWB was a terrible president does that mean that this one is good. I do not think this one has anything to offer other than liberal social policies and a tax and spend solutions. Honestly, I think I pay enough taxes.

I cast my vote for Sunday evening which seems to work for me. However, I would add that my feeling is not strong about whatever evening it would be.