CARMandP

Pretty good idea. I know the dealership that I worked for hands out apples as part of their service. They go through cases of apples.

Like you, I worked 11 yrs for a Honda dealership. I was hoping to go into business just working on Honda's. Man would that have been nice. You may find it easier to specialize in Asian imports. If you can work on Toyota/Lexus, you can easily work on Nissan and Honda. Also, if you are not doing side work you better so you have a good following of people to help you start your business with.

Welcome to the site. You will learn a lot from the "older" shop owners on here.

I couldn't agree more with what Joe just said. I went from Tech to business owner about 2yrs ago. Man, what a challenge. DO YOUR HOMEWORK!!! Take the time to do a little business learning. Just cause you may be the best tech in your shop doesn't mean you are ready to start your own business. Get some business management training before you start. Also make sure you have a plan for what you want to do and how.

Haven't heard from Carfax yet but don't think I would feel comfortable with them looking at my records. None of their business. That is between me and my customer.

My question is how do they make any money with free? What is the catch to get the "free" service. Nothing is free....

I attended an ATI training class last year and here is what they recommend. A little high for what my overhead is but its a good basis. Dollar amount Multiply by: Parts Margin: 0-5 3.25 69.2% 5-10 2.50 60% 10-75 2.25 55% 75-150 2.00 50% 150-750 1.85 46% 750-up 1.54 35% These multipliers are based off a Jobber purchase price. My current numbers which I will be upping soon to help with the margins a little better. Dollar Amount: Markup: Profit Margin: 0-5 75% 42.85% 5-10 65% 39.39% 10-75 60% 37.5% 75-150 55% 35.48% 150-750 50% 33.33% 750-up 40% 28.57%

Please pray for me as I embark on a missions trip to Haiti tomorrow with a group from our church. I have been looking forward to this trip for months and hopefully all the preparation pays off. Pray for my wife as she keeps the fort down with 3 little kids. June was by far the best month I have had ever and it has allowed me to pay all my bills and be able to take a week off from the shop and not be hard on us financially. I will post up a few pictures when I get back. We will be going from July 2-10th. Here is the link to what our church is doing. The Crazy Love Campaign Here is the link to the group that we have partnered with. theglobalorphanproject.org

I worked too many years in the very hot, no air moving dealership shop to not have A/C in my own shop that I built. Its currently turned off so I can get use to the heat before I go to Haiti on a missions trip next week but as soon as I get back it will be turned on.

I just kick on the A/C system when it gets hot in here. I built my own garage to be comfortable when I am working. LOL

I had a great time with the wife and kids and my father-in-law. We went and saw Toy Story 3 in 3d with the kids. Great movie.

Yes, it should have bothered you and I probably would have called the lazy bum on it. Really? He probably used mommy's money to buy his lazy wife and fat kids the Sonic food as well.

Thanks for those reminders. I printed that list and posted it on my wall right where I can see it.

I also forgot to mention that if you need any factory parts I use www.worldpac.com They have it set up for me that if I ordered before 6:30pm I have it the next morning by 10:30 and if I spend more than $75 in the order the overnight shipping is free.

My experience is the stores that are more DIY oriented (AutoZone and Advance) will not have a good of a wholesale market or as good of a quality part. My personal advice, go into each one. Meet the manager of each one and inquire about their wholesale parts systems. You may find that just because the prices are cheaper (Autozone and Advance) their parts quality is much less. I personally use the Oreilly Auto parts verses the Advance in our town because of the people that I have to deal with in the store. I will gladly pay a little more for my parts to have the option of stuff like (free rotor turns when I buy the pads, personal parts deliveries by the manager since he lives near my shop--I get parts delivered well after their parts guys have gone home by the manager on his way home). Also because of my relationship with the people in the parts store they refer work to me over almost any shop in town and I do their own vehicles repairs. This is a great thing to have in the word of mouth option. Also for me, I use Mitchell on Demand. They have a great part of their program that is tied in with Oreilly, Napa, carquest and a few other companies that allows me to check inventory and order parts without ever talking on the phone. Oreilly also gives me a 2% kickback every month for the parts that I order over the internet. That ads up quickly when you spend a lot of money with them.

Do any of you guys perform charity work for those that may need the help? If you do how do you handle these particular situations?

Absolutely. Arizona's law is no different than the federal law. Arizona was just forced to enact their own laws to enforce because the pansy federal government isn't doing one of the biggest jobs they are supposed to do (enforce the borders and protect their citizens)

I use Mitchell CRM myself. Works very well. I would probably get a lot more out of it if I took the time to make sure that the specials and cards are up to date.

Do you need him there? Are you paying yourself to go? If you don't need him there, let him have the choice to attend but let him know there is no monetary value in it for him. If he is like most people, he may just go to "hang out" with others at the show. If he doesn't want to be there unless you are paying him to be there, would it really benefit you to have him there if there is no enthusiasm?

Amen.

You know, I have heard about this shop in Baldwin Place, NY....

I almost never use a customer supplied part unless I know what they have (example: I installed the customer supplies AC Delco plugs since this is what I would have used in the vehicle anyway). One of the things that I am learning the hard way is if you install a customer supplied part, you lose all the way around. If they bring you the wrong part, you are waiting on them to provide the correct part. You lose money on the parts markup which means you lose on the payment of your overhead. I don't give the customer the option. I tell them I would rather get the part then I know its correct, especially since most people don't have any idea things like engine size, year, trim level, and ect.

Welcome to the site. Its good to have you here. I look forward to getting to learn from you and hopefully give you a few ideas.

I can tell you Joe working for Honda for so long that if you use anything but the OEM replacement, they will come back on for cat codes. I am not sure why but I think it has to do with the aftermarket ones not being efficient enough. I don't do a lot of cats here but whenever possible, I do try to sell the oem ones if they aren't too far out of range just for that reason.

Like Joe said, that's pride. I am a generation behind you guys as I am the one with the small kids. I love spending time with my wife and my 3 kids whenever I can. I wish that I could spend more time but for everyone saying that they are slow I have so many cars in my lot I can't turn around...Not complaining but come on. It always seems to be the busiest when my parents are in town to visit and I want to spend time with my family. I proudly have picture so my wife and kids as my business computer screen saver. Makes it nice to remind me why I do what I do.