Gonzo

I've got one teenager at home yet. He waited until he was 17 to get his liscense too. Most of what has been said about the internet being their travel method is true, however we all know eventually they'll have to get a car. As far as the dealers offering specials that are drawing them to the dealer rather than the independent... I don't agree with that. What I've seen as a trend is that less and less younger generation guys and gals care less and less about knowing how their car operates or what maintenance is needed. We've all heard of the throw away society syndrome, well... this generation is different, it seems to me they expect the car to work perfectly forever with nothing more than gas in the tank. Not a throw away society more like use and abuse... then throw it away. Cars have become able to maintain a reasonable drivablity level even with poor maintenance levels these days, and with less "home" look-see's under the hood the more likely something will go to castastrophic levels. Cost of repairs are going to escalate as well. Also, the education level of the technician has increased way passed the grease monkey days. Only after their car doesn't run right will they ask for advice or look for a service center... it's not like the days of repeat customers and life long customers...more like..."when I need ya, I need ya and nothing else" I think we are going to see a trend in repairs increasing. It looks like the trend is to be less car knowledgable and more internet savy. The internet could end up being the mechanics best friend, if... more effort is put to providing information on the internet about car use, maintance, repairs, etc... which will inform those young drivers of the importance of regular maintenance and what it takes to be a mechanic these days. I do believe things are looking up. They'll shop for your shop on the net, they'll check references, they'll price check parts,...everything on the net...then...they'll head to the service center.

We had a party line where I grew up. The hardest thing to do was to try and call a neighbor who was on your party line. You had to dial their number and then hang up, wait for their ring and when it stopped ringing pick it up quickly before they hung up. That's about the time my brother and I found out you could dial your own number, hang up and the phone would ring. Used to piss the old man off... he would answer the phone and nobody would be there. He would call a neighbor and ask them if they tried to call or something. When he finally figured out what was going on...well... let's just say "us" boys didn't sit down for a week. LOL good times... ROFL

Party Line Every once in a while I’ll get a car in that just doesn’t follow the normal procedure for reflashing or reprogramming. GM products seemed to be the most common ones to do this, but I’ve had it happen on other cars as well. Say you’re about to install a new PCM, and you have to download the new software into it. After you get the software loaded onto the scanner, you start to transfer the information, and when you get about half way through the procedure the screen freezes and says, “Download incomplete” or “Download failed”. The usual cause is one or more of the other modules on the communication line are trying to communicate while the scanner is sending the new information. When this happens… and it does happen quite a few times, I have to find the splice pack where all the communication lines are, and disconnect it. Then using a scope (wiring diagram isn’t much help because all the comm. lines are usually the same color on the splice) find the exact lead that goes to the module that I’m trying to program, and jump that one… and only that one… to the ALDL. Then start the whole procedure over again. It’s my way of telling the rest of the modules to shut up… politely. It’s like the old telephone party lines. (If you’re old enough to remember those.) Basically, several homes were on the same pair of wires, and each house had its own distinctive ring. If you wanted to make a call, you had to pick up the receiver and check to make sure nobody else was on the phone. If someone was, you politely excused yourself, and tried again later. (Of course there was always that nosey neighbor who would listen in on other people’s calls.) That’s pretty much what it’s like trying to program some of these cars these days. Too many different systems are trying to talk all at the same time, and when that happens… nothing gets done. But, if you can isolate it down to one module, or somehow tell all the other modules to behave themselves for just a bit, then the new information can make it where it needs to go without any “Download has failed” across the screen. It’s bad enough to deal with the “party line” issues when I’m out in the shop trying to get a new program installed, it’s quite a different thing when it’s at the front counter or on the phone. It doesn’t work as well to tell the background chatter to “shut up” when you have two or more people trying to explain their car to you all at the same time. Having to maintain that professional image while they are all try to engage in a meaningful conversation with you is quite trying. Seriously, sometimes I wish I could just shut them up…politely. The other day I had a car dropped off that turned into the party line from the twilight zone. There was no way to avoid the confrontation in the front office on this one. In walks the whole entire family, dad, the wife, the two kids, the dog, and somebody who happened to be tagging along (I think he was the neighbor) with the rest of this ensemble. “What can I do for you?” I asked…. Needless to say I didn’t address my greetings to just one person, but to the group in general. At that moment the husband, the wife, one of the kids, and their extra person, (the other kid kept the dog occupied.) commenced to speak all at the same time, all in rather loud voices, and they all had different things to say. When one would hesitate, the other would jump in even louder than before, then the other one was speaking over the first one again. It was a free for all of random car problems, and not one of them was giving an inch as to who was going to speak first about the car. It kept getting louder and more confusing as they went on. “Hold on a second,” I said, louder than normal, “One at a time, I can’t answer all of your questions at the same time! Let’s have one person explains things; the rest of you please keep quiet… I’ll get to you all in a minute.” Now it’s like some old vaudeville act in the lobby, one person turns to the other, “Oh I’m so sorry, you go ahead.” …. “No, no… you first”….”No really, you should tell him.”… “You drive the car more … you should be the one to tell him.” … “Oh no, you should tell him.”… (The kid jumps into the act), “I saw it do it, Mom. I can tell him!” … then the neighbor, “It happened to me the other day when I borrowed the car. I just don’t want to get blamed for it messing up, but you should tell him, it’s your car.” Everyone was apologizing to the other, you tell him-no you tell him-no that’s perfectly alright… you tell him. This went on for so long I was waiting for the giant hook to come from stage left and end this show. I suppose in some small way I must have been part of this comedy act, and I’m the guy who has to straighten this whole mess out, time to say something, “I don’t care who tells me… but somebody tell me what’s going on here!” It still took a few more apologizes to finally get the mom to begin to tell me about the car. I swear… I’ve had less trouble isolating a communication line on the scanner. But, with a room full of people I couldn’t just scope out which one had the right info or not. I’m out of my element. (This is definitely not part of my training.) Unbelievable… and what a party this has turned out to be…! Sometimes I wonder if I shouldn’t install hidden cameras in the front lobby for just these sorts of things. Put it on YouTube or something. Hilarious stuff. As a technician/mechanic I’m pretty capable of dealing with the frustrating party line chatter on the communication line in the car, but this… this is way too much vaudeville for me. Well, ya gotta do what ya gotta do. Repairing cars is what keeps the shop in the black, and at times dealing with the owner is more of a challenge than making the repairs. Maybe I’ll eventually laugh about all of this, but until then I’ll just keep at it working on improving my communication with the scanners…. and those occasional vaudeville entertainers. Ring, ring, ring… it’s the phone… … hold that thought… there’s another party on the line… here we go again. View full article

The tale of the dealer tech needs to be explained to every customer that comes in the door. For some reason they all think these guys and gals at the dealership were molded from some space age machine and cloned so that every dealership in every part of the country have the same caliber of employees. That's a line of Bull. The truth of it is... any mechanic out there who wanted to work at a dealership just has to fill out an application...just like any other job. If you're hired in you're given the small jobs to see how you fit in. If... and that's a big IF... you do well they will send you to their choice schools to learn a certain part of their manufacturers cars. This will allow you to work on the new vehicles that are under factory warranty. Even the factory doesn't want some yo-yo working on their stuff unless they have passed a few tests. If you are at a dealer and you don't go to the schools you're just one of the flunkies they keep around to fill in the gaps when the other guys are busy. There is NO WAY to know who is going to be assigned to your car at the dealer. It's up to the service writer... and ya hope it gets it to the right person. They are NOT super techs, they are just techs. A good independent mechanic can walk circles around them. OH, they may know a few extra tricks with the manufacturers stuff they work on everyday...BUT, throw another manufacturers car in front of them and watch how quickly dumbo is stumped. Seen it before. Basically, some how some way... the general public needs informed that the dealership isn't always the best choice for car repair. My advice, if the car is under factory warranty... go to the dealer... otherwise, save your money and find a decent independent shop.

Two great comments. The only thing I can add to them is... been there...done that. Comparing different vocations is one way of looking at it, comparing different aspects of auto repair is also complicated. Although I would say an oil change doesn't require the same expertise as someone chasing down an electrical problem. The big thing to me is.... getting the average customer to understand the differences and not come unglued because we have to charge you for our time. I could go on... but that would mean a whole new story... LOL

Square Peg Round Hole I’ve made a career out repair cars; it’s a great living full of all kinds of surprises and new adventures. It’s not a career for everyone but for those who have done it for as long as I have we’ve all seen the changes in the way we approach car repair. Our tools and techniques have evolved right alongside of the cars we service. But there is still one fundamental thing that hasn’t changed… a knowledgeable technician/mechanic who understands the complexities of the modern car and how to properly diagnose and repair them. That all starts with the good technical information. Years ago performing repairs and diagnosing problems was done with the help of those oversize manuals. Some were bound, others not, but for the most part, it was still ink on paper. These manuals spent a lot of time on the edge of a fender and went through a lot of abuse before they were either replaced or taped back together. (Like a lot of mine are.) Every type of information, specifications, and procedures were between the covers of those manuals, and as time passed the volume of information kept growing, as well as the thickness of those manuals. When the PC (personal computer) became the norm so did the way we get our information. Most often it was offered on CD’s or floppy discs when they first came out. That wasn’t that long ago, but, these days everything has gone internet. In the days of the paper manuals I would take a pencil and scratch notes on the margin of the pages or scribble another line between the words on a page so that I would have a reminder of a change or update for a certain procedure. After a while there were a lot of personal notes in those big heavy books. With the CD’s it wasn’t as easy… however, most of the CD’s were just a transcribed editions of those early books. So, whatever changes that I kept on the margins of those books weren’t part of the CD, which meant I would have to revert back to the old books on occasions. With the internet services we have today, there is a notation section that I can jot my little cheat sheet information down and store it for later use. I still find some things that just don’t make any sense when I’m looking up some information though, just as it was with the book form there a times when even the great internet information is amiss, slightly off, incorrectly labeled, poorly explained, and… OK, OK, enough of the pleasantries … the truth of the matter is… it’s just flat wrong! There’s a certain amount of frustration a mechanic goes through when looking up something like a fuse box for instance on a certain car or truck and you get to the “correct page” only to find out that it’s the wrong fuse box. Now you have to go back through, change the year or something and see if you can find a match to the fuse box you’re actually working on. It can be maddening at times trying to dig through the maze of information. Especially when things aren’t where they should be. Another area that will put you into an early coronary or psycho ward is the component locator section. (You know, if the consumer knew how much time is spent just trying to locate some of these out of the way components they may take away from this experience a whole new appreciation of their mechanic.) I’ve got to admit a doctor only has two different models to work on, be it, some are large and some small…But, all the parts are (generally) in the same place…or at least they’re supposed to be. In a car, not a chance. Every year the manufacturers gotta move things around to accommodate either a new design or some other change. I’m never surprised when the locater tells me a part is on the left side of the glove box and it’s not. Then the chase is on, you find a wire that matches, maybe a relay that’s in the circuit you’re working on, or some clue that leads you to look elsewhere… finally you locate it under the center console and not behind the glove box. Yep, been there…done that. (Time to write a note about this one.) It’s like trying to put the preverbal square peg in a round hole sometimes. The harder you try the harder it seems to get. Ya just have to be aware that sometimes that peg just doesn’t fit and it ain’t going to fit. You’re on your own to find that component, labor time, or procedure. It’s just another challenge in the automotive repair business that a lot of folks out there are not aware of. To me, it can be the most frustrating part of the job. I may know what the problem is by looking at the wiring diagram or from a scanner reading but when it comes down to getting to that ailing part and it’s not where it’s supposed be, I’ll guarantee it’s not a good time to ask me, “How’s it going?” Kinder words may have been spoken in the past… but not right about now! Just the other day I got a 09 Hyundai in that had a bad alternator in it. With the aide of the wiring diagram, meters, and a quick scan I was able to determine the condition of the alternator. The next step was to get the thing out of the car. By the book it was only supposed to take a couple of hours… uh - huh… sure… sure it does. The only way to get it free from its encasement was to get the coolant fans out of the way. I had to explain to the customer that the book time for the job was wrong before I even started. And, like most people who get an estimate from their mechanic that they aren’t agreeable with they start to call everyone else on their list of repair shops. Of course, everybody else has the same labor rate that I found… but nobody on the list had ever taken an alternator out of that particular car before either. The car was still too new; it was just out of its factory warranty, so I was the first to see this guy’s car outside the dealer. (Lucky me….) With almost the entire front end of the car dismantled the alternator finally came out. What an ordeal… not only was the job made difficult by the extraction but worse by the customers concerns that I was overcharging. (Pictures helped by the way.) Cooler heads prevailed in the end; it’s all part of my job to explain things as well as to fix things. FYI; Labor guides are called “guides” not labor quotes, just keep that in mind. You can bet I made a note on this one. In more ways than one, it was one of those square peg in the round hole problems, and I’m sure it won’t be the last one either. View full article

A couple of tips for hiring a mechanic Ask for references obviously. Certifications such as ASE is helpful ... if nothing else it at least shows they care about their field of expertise to take the tests. Back when I would hire people in I had a little pre-test that I would ask them to take before they turned in their application. A couple of abbreviations, some standard terms, a few trick questions, and a couple of laughable type answer questions. They had to fill the test out without the aide of a helper or internet. Ya can't take it home and bring it back. The reason for this is you're after their "first" reaction to the questions ... this is important especially when they are talking to a customer. The wrong thing said to a customer at the wrong time can be devastating to your bottom line. It helps weed out the "wanna-be" mechancis. A typical question was something like: What does TPS stand for? things like that. Then I would put a couple of question in there that "if" they have been around a lot they might know the answer. Such as, (This was an ASE question years and years ago) What manufacturer requires removing the spare tire to gain access to the starter?" answer... Subaru Then I'd have a real dumb question like: "How many wiper blades on a 1983 Corvette?" a. 1 b. 2 c. 3 d. none answer... none. (There was no Corvettes in production in 1983 only two were ever made as prototypes)

It's always busy getting slow or slowly getting busy... ya just never know which it is from one day to the next. After 30 years of this... it's never changed. Hang in there...

LOL You should read my latest article. It says it all. Look under Gonzo's toolbox heading.

Nothing Beats a Full House There’s days, even weeks (depending on the time of year) when a pair is pretty good. Then there are days when three of a kind ain’t bad. But in my book nothing beats a full house. I’ll bet you thought I was talking about poker, didn’t ya? Nope, I’m talking about the automotive repair business. When the shop is humming, and the jobs are flowing, and business is brisk, that’s when I know I’ve been dealt a winning hand. It might mean coming into work really early or staying late, but at the end of the week it’s a pretty good feeling to know you’ve played your cards right. There’s been many a day that closing down the shop early is better than being dealt jokers or cards that won’t play. The phone isn’t ringing, the shop is empty, all the tools and service bays have been cleaned, and all the shelves are stocked, but not a single car in the service bays. Those are the days that even a pair sounds good. I’d even settle for pulling one decent card out of the deck on those days. “It’s feast or famine,” a good friend of mine told me. He’s a realtor, and his business is the same way. One day everybody is calling, and the next day you have to pick up the phone just to see if there’s still a dial tone. (Boy, do I know it, I certainly can relate to that.) There is a pattern to all of this chaos though. It took me years of running a shop to figure it out, and I’m sure the same thing happens in every part of the country, just like it does here in the southern part where I live. Take the holidays… no, seriously… take them. There a joyous time to be with family and friends, but it’s not that great if you’re making a living servicing cars. It never fails when a holiday is on the calendar you can bet it’s slow. But, the day or so before a long weekend holiday you can guarantee it’s going to be packed at the repair shop. Seems everybody waits to the last minute to get the car ready for a trip and everybody wants their car done… RIGHT NOW! I pretty much know those are the days I’m coming in early and staying late. Then there’s when school starts… listen close…can ya hear the crickets out in the shop? I know I can. Usually the week or two before school starts everything slows to a crawl. Oh you might get a couple of pair, maybe three of a kind but it’s doubtful you’ll get a full house. As soon as school is in session the cards start to fall in the right place again. It’s a sure bet the shop is going to be full for the next couple of weeks. Of course there’s Fair week. Don’t get me wrong, I like the Fair, I think it’s pretty cool, but not from a business stand point that’s for sure… it’s the week to fold your hand. Nothing ever happens Fair week. In my early years there was one Fair week that I’ll never forget. I had one car for the whole entire week… yes… one and only one car. However, it was a super huge job that nearly took the whole week to finish. (Funny how things work out that way.) Temperature and the weather have a lot to do with what cards you’re dealt in this crazy world of auto repair. Heavy snow or monsoon rain means… stay home, fold em’. Now a light rain, one of those steady down pours that doesn’t seem to end has a different affect. The shop slows, but the phone rings constantly. The usual caller will tell me something like this; “Yes, I’m having a problem with my wipers can you fix them?” I’ll answer, “Why yes, we could get you in right now.” “Oh it’s raining, but as soon as it lets up I’ll bring it in.” I know better than to assume they’ll be in on the next sunny day. As soon as the sun comes out they forget all about their wiper troubles. I guess it’s one of those “out of sight, out of mind” things. Although, I’ve learned to get their phone number, and call them the next day and remind them of their previous call and set an appointment to get it in the shop. Surprisingly enough, it works. Now the temperature, that’s a real fickle issue. Too hot or too cold does some strange things to cars. Usually means it’s going to be busy. Then again if it’s a “room temperature” sort of day… it’s probably not going to be that busy. There are the calls of course, there’s the “stop by the shop and chat about it” kind, and then there are the ones that just want to pick your brain and price check everything. When it comes to creature comforts in the car, it’s a safe bet on those high or low temperature days those systems are on the top of the repair priority list. Wouldn’t be the first time someone has come in the shop with their brakes metal to metal, but they’re not worried about that… that A/C is a must. Now in the winter months it’s the heater, or the defroster, or the wiper blades that froze to the windshield the night before and they didn’t bother to clean them off… they just turned them on, and now... oops… they don’t work at all. The one ace in the hole that does take the edge off of the ups and downs of the seasonal changes is to have a back burner job sitting in the corner of the shop. Maybe a restoration project or some personal toy you can pull out of moth balls for the guys to fiddle around with when it’s slow. All in all, doing this job is a great reward; it’s a great career choice. You meet some really interesting people from all walks of life in this business. A lot of them become regulars, and stop by no matter what the temperature is or whether or not the Fair is in town. Ya just got to play your cards right, know when to fold them and know when to hold them. When it’s slow you might tend to dwell on things and think you’ve done something wrong, but then things pick back up and you forget all about those thoughts. You’re taking a gamble in just about any career choice you make, automotive repair is no different, and when someone asks, “How’s it going?” I always answer with, “It’s slowly getting busy or busy getting slow.” A couple of cars in the morning, maybe three of a kind later that afternoon, whatever there is that’s the hand you’ve been dealt for the day. But, in this game of auto repair… nothing beats a full house. View full article

I wish I would have thought about having a business plan when I first opened. Sounds like a good start of a great business. Good luck! Sorry, but I don't have much to add about your concerns though. I do mainly electrical service... I do brakes, shocks, etc... but for me the amount of oil changes I do doesn't add up to buying bulk. I think you're on the right track... keep planning, get as much info as you can, and I think you'll do great!

ah.... let me think about that... ah, that would be a... NO ROFL

Hi Sean Welcome and I think that's freakin awesome that you want to purchase a shop. I've been at this a long time and I don't regret it...OK, there are times... maybe a few...OK...maybe more than a few... BUT, it aint a bad way to make a livng. Learning to do the job and perform the repairs is one thing. Learning to deal with the variety of people you'll meet is another. If you read a few of my articles you might pick up on a few things that you'll run across...sooner or later. Side note... If ya ever thought of moving to Oklahoma... even though I love my job...for the right price you could buy my shop. LOL

Have to agree with ya Joe, listening is a very important part of diagnosing. I tend to correct them when they say things like, "I have a shortage in my car." When what they really meant to say is, "I have a battery drain." For those "listening" occurences at the front counter I want to make sure that both of us are thinking on the same lines well before I get the car in the shop. Too many times the lack of info becomes the issue in the repair. Other times it's too much information. Once I start to investigate a problem I generally can put their story together in an orderly pattern. That's when I go back and ask them something like, "So... when do you install the radio? Or, "Have you been hauling your lawnmower in the trunk? Sure looks like that is what caused the brake light wires to short rather than what you told me about your Uncle borrowing the car." Yep, listening is the best way... it can be entertaining and informative at the same time. Gotta love it... it's part of our job.

It's my pleasure to mess with your weekend Joe. Thanks for the comments... I try to vary the stories each week just so ya never know what I'll write about next. Keeps ya guessing. Keeps ya coming back. Thanks again.

Battin' a Thousand The batter steps up to the plate, takes a hand full of dirt and rubs his hands and the bat. He takes a few scrapes with his feet from the batter’s box while digging in with his cleats. He then gives the pitcher the evil eye and sets his bat ready to take whatever the pitcher is going to throw at him. The catcher gives the signs, the pitcher nods his head. He takes a quick look to first base makes his wind up and then lets the ball fly to home plate. The batter takes a swing... “Pop” the ball is in the catcher’s glove. “Steee---rike!!!” yells the umpire. Somewhere there is an announcer telling the crowd the count while a statistician is writing down the results of the pitch, and calculating the batter's average. With baseball if you can manage to get a hit 5 out of 10 times you’re up to bat… you’re doing outstanding. Achieving a perfect hitting record on the other hand, may never happen in baseball, but in the auto repair business (and most every other field of play) batting a thousand is not a goal it's a requirement. Every job that comes into the service bay is another attempt at keeping that perfect score. Come-backs, bad diagnosis, faulty parts and the like are not what any service person wants to deal with. To keep that perfect score going you have to overcome those obstacles and get the job done right before sending the customer’s car around the bases. Unlike the highly paid professional ball player who is never going to achieve that perfect score the highly trained mechanic has to knock it out of the park each and every time. There's a lot of talk in the industry about how some service advisers/writers and shop owners want a quick “off the cuff” diagnosis and repair rather than waiting for the results of a lengthy-time consuming diagnostic procedure. A mechanic may have a general idea of what is wrong but it still takes proper testing to determine the correct course of action to make the repair. I don't know where this idea came from that every mechanic has the correct answer to ever problem simply by listening to the description given to them by the customer or service writer. It's not like we (mechanics) know what kind of pitch is being hurled at us each and every time. I'm sure the pro ball player could “up” his stats if he knew exactly what kind of pitch was coming across the plate. As it is, he has to make a quick decision, make the right swing, and make contact. In the repair world, analyzing the pitch is the key to a successful outcome. Diagnostics is what makes the difference. Especially on today's vehicles with their interconnected systems, multi-layered computer controls, and the occasional “oops” from a previous botched repair, these all have to be sorted out before the repair is made. This takes time, diagnostics takes time, and time is money. When I hear that a shop isn't charging for diagnostic time it tells me they are either under estimating the value of proper diagnostics or believe they are good enough to read the catcher’s signals and in some way already know what pitch is being thrown. Taking a couple of swings at a repair and not diagnosing anything is like standing in the batter’s box blindfolded. I'd call that a foul ball waiting to happen for sure. It’s important to examine a problem, diagnose as needed and not swing at every pitch that you’re given. In the long run, from the consumers standpoint, a shop that takes the time to diagnose a vehicle correctly may sound more expensive at first when you walk up to the service counter, but chances are you won’t be picked off at 2nd base because you have to spend more cash, buy even more parts that you probably didn’t need, while trying to solve the problem at those shops that don’t see a need in proper diagnostic time. A new player entered the field; it was a job from one of the body shops I do business with. This 2013 Ford Escape was almost ready to go home, however the air bag light wouldn't go off. That's when I was called to plate. “We can sell this job today if you can get this taken care of. We’ve struck out so far,” the owner of the body shop told me. “I’ll see what I can do,” I told him. The first thing I did was check out what codes were in the system. There was only one code. B0095-11 (Right front impact sensor fault – sub code “shorted to ground”). Since it was in a front collision I took my first swing up to bat by checking to see if the wires were smashed or cut. Strike one... the wires are fine, wrong colors though, need to check that a little further. OK, let's try something else... is the connector damaged or the sensor itself in anyway a problem. Strike two... now this is getting serious. Did the module fail? Is there more to this story? Where's the next pitch coming from? A little more snooping around and a bit more in-depth studying of the wiring diagram I think I've got the answer. Very close to the impact sensor is another sensor with the exact same type of connector. The real tell-tale was the wire colors. It looks like when they put the car back together they inadvertently switched the two connectors. (Pretty dumb to have the same type of connectors so close together under the hood... but it ain't the first time I've seen a curve ball like this.) I switched the leads and then went back into the system to clear the code. (With most of these newer systems you not only have to clear the code but you also have to “reboot” the computer by turning the key off before attempting the next “at-bat”.) Well, this batter is ready, the catcher has thrown down the sign, the computers and connections on the playing field are ready to go. All that's left is the pitch. I turned the key and the pitch is on its way. The warning lights come on, the air bag light stayed on for its required amount of time and then.... went off. No codes present and the rest of the systems checked out fine. Yep, I took my swing, and it’s a long, long high flyer… it looks like…yes… yes it is… it’s a “HOME RUN!” Here's a perfect example of the diagnostics taking longer than the actual repair. The way I see it, diagnostic is the mechanics swing at bat, and it's just as important as the actual repair. After spending the time to research a problem only to find out that it was a simple connector doesn’t diminish the time already spent to find out it was just a connector. Mechanics get paid to fix a car, that’s what we do, diagnosing a problem is part of it, and good diagnostic work will keep ya battin’ a thousand. View full article

So much of what we do is just like you said Joe. When a customer can't explain things or thinks all things will be taken care of with one repair there is a lack of communication. The lack of communication also leads to a lack of understanding on their part. It just adds to the frustration level. Like I said in the article.. Explain everything.... And for shop services writers.....listen to everything.

This has always been a subject line that I've never understood. For some people going to a mechanic is like going to a restaurant and not liking the food or the service. Some will complain about, some will just not go back to that restaurant ever again. It's the only comparison I can make about this "shop swapper" stuff. My point of this whole story is to make clear to the consumers out there (and repair shops) that the best course of action is to go back and confront the shop that didn't do the job right. I know, I know... we're all in this to make a living, however, from a consumers viewpoint the next shop they are going to try (in their mind) can't be any better than the shop they just came from. I think this is where the mistrust of the auto repair business starts with the consumer. If more shops would tell that prospective customer to return to the place they were at originally before getting into making the repair I believe more people would have MORE respect of you and the shop. If they insist on having you make the repairs and all goes well... (hopefully, ie... did they explain things thoroughly, do they understand the charges and are not going to throw a fit at the cost) then at that point tell them to go back to the original shop and see what compensation they can get out of them. The whole goal of this is to get the consumer to face the fact that all shops are not the same and that all mechanics are not the same. Just as in the case of the bad restaurant if nobody goes back and tells them they suck it's going to take a lot of "no shows" at the restaurant before the owner gets the hint. Same thing at the repair shops. If we as shop owners don't inform the consumer ... who is?

I've seen resto shops come and go for a long...long time. They'll do good for a few years BUT only when the economy is good. The kind of people you are thinking of working with are people who have the extra cash to put into a restoration project. When the economy tanks so does that "loose change" and you're out of business. Car sales, what lovely fun that is. Did ever wonder why most used car (only) or note lots are only so big? Money... that's the real reason. It's hard to make much on a car when you have such a large inventory. A couple of cars here or there that you're going to flip is one thing... doing it full time... maybe. Some people have run a used car sales shop for a lifetime, your results may vary. Buying a bodyshop or repair shop is probably a good first step (if ya got the cash) I would try to find one where the owner is slowing down, getting ready to retire, has reasonable working equipment, and most important something you can take a run with. Something that you could get started in, start doing some ads, and beef up the business. Good luck...