autoguy

So it's been about a month or so since this thread started, any new news?

Looks like I am the first poster here... Outside the shop I enjoy fishing. Mostly fresh water, reservoirs. LG Bass mostly. Anyone here into fishing? Once in a while I will go out on the ocean, charter boat mostly, and fish for blues and stripers. Looking forward to doing some fishing this year.

Congratulations and I hope you a have great success. Those are some great photos.

Auto Repair: Mass Air Flow Sensors - Testing and Replacing (1 of 2) Auto Repair: Mass Air Flow Sensors - Testing and Replacing (2 of 2)

I'll be the first to post a video here... For thoise that did not see this, this is a crazy stunt! Robbie Maddison's 2008 New Year's Eve jump

Keyword: consistency

Very nice website. Looks to be search engine optimized well. When I type "ken's auto service" in Google, it comes up. Does it come up for your area? I see your keywords are good, and zip code targeted: auto repair, car repair, automotive service, auto garage, mechanic, brake repair, engine repair, shocks, struts, suspension work, air conditioning, tune-up, akron, canton, springfield, cut-rate, mufflers, exhaust, 44312, 44310, 44305, 44301, 44308, ohio, brakes, tune ups, diagnosis, towing, radiators, computer diagnosis, fleet repairs, starters, guarantee, warranty, certified, ASE. Looks good, nice layout. I don't have a site up currently, but do have some expericence with them.

What's the best Euro scan tool in your opinion? What are you currently using to diagnose VW, Wolvo, BMW, Mercedes, etc.?

Got this very needed tool at CARQUEST: http://www.autoshopowner.com/network/Tire-...MS-V-t2593.html

Lisle Manufacturing L19860 Tire Deflator Set for TPMS Valve Stems Quickly Evacuates Air from Tires Without Removing the Valve Core. • Simply replace a standard sized valve cap with this handy tool and the special design will depress the pin in the valve core. • Large openings on the sides of the tool allow air to escape quickly from the tire. • Tools are marked so tires can be returned to their original position on the vehicle so TPMS will not need to be reset. • Also saves time since the valve core has not been removed from the sensor. You can get this tool at your autoparts store. I got it at CARQUEST. Lisle part # 19869, $12.00

Welcome aboard Brad! It's always nice to see someone opening up a business. I think that the circumstances you have (father owning the building, 6 months rent free, etc) will help you launch a successful business. I would for the first six months, while yoru overhead is low: Market, Market, Market your business! 1. Find a service to target zip codes around your shop and send out a mailer. Use the money you would have for rent. 2. Print flyers and see if other local businesses can display them. 3. Find new customers and take everyone in. 4. Get a hold od a solid management system, ie Mitchell, R.O.Writer, etc. 5. Collect ALL e-mails from customers...(free mailings down the road, newsletters, etc) 6. Build a basic website, you can find them for $99 a quarter. Subnit that site to search engines, yellow pages online, online directories liek Google, Yahoo, etc. 7. Offer an intro LOF price to get people in the door. Basically, in six months, use your money and tiime to build yoru business for the coming years. Get yoru customers and wow them with professionalism and make it easy for them to want to use you again.

Just reviving this thread. Fanchise fees could be a killer to a starting shop. I think that buying an existing franchise witha customer base is ok, starting new in this economic climate is not a good idea. If you are thinking of making your existing shop a franchise, you should weigh out what the advantages if that woudl be vs. the cost of the program. The biggest advantages are the national advertising and POP material, in my opinion. BUT, if they run a $19.99 oi change...so do you.

Dealers are cutting their prices to make money in service, for the lack of selling cars. I would honor the dealer price just to secure the customer. It's getting tough out there, but I feel that we cannot loose ANY customers.

Please mark your calendar - Jacob Javits Convention Center from April 10-19, 2009. http://www.autoshowny.com/show

Here's a nice informational .pdf: http://www.tireindustry.org/pdf/features/0106_TTI_TPMS.pdf Where do you get the sensor if it breaks? Local supplier or dealer?

Is anyone using Smart eCat with R.O.Writer? I was looking for some feedback on this system. Below is the description off of their website: Progressive Automotive Systems, Inc. Introduces the latest Shop Management System Innovation: Smart eCat Let me ask you three important questions… Are you taking advantage of the power of the Activant Catalog Today? Yes you say, excellent… Are you utilizing electronic parts ordering from inside of R.O. Writer? Yes again, wonderful… Do you have more than one parts supplier? Yes, of course you do… If you answered yes to all three of the above questions, then you already know how great the Activant catalog is! Six years ago, Progressive Automotive Systems integrated this awesome technology into the R.O. Writer Shop Management System. You also know that the Activant catalog has information on over 4.5 million parts, labor time information, factory scheduled maintenance, tire information, VIN decoding, cover to cover part pictures and much more. Who doesn’t need access to all that information? Of course R.O. Writer didn’t stop there! Four years ago, we built new functionality on top of the Activant catalog and brought you R.O. Writer’s SmartJob functionality. These are predefined canned jobs of parts, labor times, shop supplies, and vehicle specifications. They are setup for package or flat rate pricing, presenting information specific to the vehicle that you are working on in an easy to use step by step methodology. And you already know that eOrder within R.O. Writer is a wonderful and powerful innovation that we launched three years ago. With electronic connectivity to all the major parts suppliers including NAPA, CARQUEST, O’Reilly, CSK, and 1,000’s of independent parts suppliers, R.O. Writer’s eOrder functionality easily connects you electronically to the parts suppliers in your area. Ok, so you knew all that – then what’s this new Smart eCat feature? Well, Smart eCat combines the data from Activant with the connectivity of eOrder, presenting the information to you the way you want to see it, in the way that you conduct business. You can now lookup a Water Pump for a 2002 Chevrolet Cavalier and see all the parts that fit that application from all of your part suppliers including pricing and availability in real time on one screen. No more jumping from the Activant catalog to the eOrder module to check part stock and determine profit margin. R.O. Writer Smart eCat gives you all that functionality in one easy to use, simple interface. But wait, we didn’t stop there… We built on top of Smart eCat brand new Smart eJob functionality that takes all the best features of R.O. Writer’s SmartJobs and combines them with the real time lookup capabilities of R.O. Writer’s new Smart eCat. Yep, you read that right! Real time pricing and availability displayed from multiple suppliers within a SmartJob that is fully integrated into R.O. Writer’s workflow and application functionality. (I know, whoa!) You must see how this seamless, beautiful integration really addresses the needs of the service writer. So don’t waste your time with Web Based Catalogs or buttons to other third party modules that force you to learn new navigation techniques. Use the power of R.O. Writer and Smart eCat functionality to reduce your estimating time; you don’t have to jump between Activant and eOrder to check parts suppliers pricing and availability. Improve your shop profitability by knowing the actual cost of the parts before you present the estimate to the customer and finally (oh finally) be able to protect your profit margins. Live up to the promises you make to your customers by ensuring that parts are available before you tell them that their car will be ready by 5:00pm today. Smart eCat does not emulate the way you conducted business yesterday. Smart eCat does not let you continue to make the same uninformed decisions today. Smart eCat is the way that business will be transacted in the future. Smart eCat and Smart eJobs are both available now in the v1.20 release of the R.O. Writer Shop Management Suite. Are you ready for the future? Here's the link: http://www.rowriter.com/SMARTeCAT/tabid/57/Default.aspx

Hey Don, where did you post it? Is it in another forum?

Merry Christmas!

I'm curious how everyone's marketing has changed because of this economy. Have you started to throttle back, move forward, trying something new? It's difficult to get people to spend money these days. I heard on the radio, a car dealer is giving away a free pt cruiser with a $40,000 car purchase, to get people in... Not that I want the car dealers to do well, just wondering as an independent repair shop, what strategies are you taking?

I'll BUMP this thread up....

Welcome aboard Tire Champ!

The president is only as good as the people that he surrounds himself with. Take a look at the past few days and the coming days for appointments. The market rallied after finding out news of who is going to be a part of his administration. This mess is too big for one man to fix. The problem was created in years and they want to fix it in a month. It's like an old lady who goes to a cosmetics counter to get some wrinkle cream, and finds out that the wrinkles are still there. Well...she worked many years to get to those wrinkles, I don't think a little cream will make them disappear...same with this bailout bologna!

Automotive Repair Shop Increases Productivity and Improves Customer Service In the automotive repair business, success requires highly productive service personnel as well as excellent customer service. See how Seyfer Automotive made its nine employees more productive with the Cisco Smart Business Communications System. The new communications system freed up 30 minutes daily for the service manager, resulting in one to two additional daily repair jobs worth US$200 to $US400, and made it easier for customers to reach the right person, on the first try. http://www.bitpipe.com/detail/RES/1213909298_143.html Video: http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid1612766497

Is anyone interested in a group chat at a specific time? I was thinking that maybe we could come up with a time when most can be online. We can do an open chat to see what's going, then maybe move off of that. Anyone interested? If so, post best times/days.

Maybe some chat sessions? Never anyone in there.