LexTech

Thanks guys, I can see there is a wealth of knowledge and experience here on this forum. I am I thankful I found it. I know i might be throwing a bunch of questions out there, but I am just in the beginning stages of learning all I can about starting a business, my head is spinning with questions and what if scenarios.. I guess my biggest decision I have to make is when (not if) to do it. If I do it soon, with my family relying on my income to live, could it be to much of a financial risk to struggle with a new business and pay the bills, insurance..etc.. Or should I wait until my kids are older and less dependent on me (maybe even out of the house) when it would be easier to take a risk like this. I truly am tired and fed up for working for someone else, not to mention I am ready to put down the wrenches.. Im at the stage as a tech where you start looking around to see where all the old techs are, and what shape are they in.. its a pretty bad thought.... If I never try, I may be doing this literally, till the day I die. There is no such thing as retirement for me as a tech. Its a hard way to make a living, as Im sure you all know. I guess what I was hoping to find out when I started this thread was, is it possible for someone to start their own business and still earn at least what they have been earning as a tech. Even if it will be more hours and work. Should I expect a pay cut when I start my own business? I know thats a hard question for anyone to answer, there are so many varibales.... but in general, if a tech openes his own shop, do they typically take a large paycut to keep the business going? I dont want to sound like all Im doing this for is the money.. Im not. I know those who have been succesful have worked their ass off for it. I just want to be able to plan for my familes future at the same time. Im willing to put the work and effort in, I just want to know what to expect. Thanks again for the advice, I will be reading books and learning as much as I can in the near future. If theres any good resources or books you would recommend I would appreciate it.

I have posted a little about myself and ideas, but regardless of what my business model will be or how I plan to run a business, theres one topic that really scares me... And Im not sure how its done, or if I can do it at this point in my life. I am the main bread earner for our family. Im married with 2 children, ages 10-12. I provide the income and health insurance through my employer and need the paychecks that are coming in to pay the bills and everyday living expenses. How do you go from one to the other without losing it all... Which leads into my other question that I have read a number of different opinions about. When I do start a business, how do I pay myself? (I think alot may have to do with how the company is set up) I know I cant just take money out of the till to pay my electric bill at home.... Maybe others can share how they did it when they satrted out... Thanks for the advice!

I posted earlier and introduced myself. Id like to go into a little more detail of my ideas and a little more about myself. Im 37 years old, ASE master certified with L1 certification. Was previously a Master tech with Toyota, I moved to Lexus almost 3 years ago. I am now the Master Diagnostic Specialist at the Lexus dealer I work for now. Have been working in the Toyota/Lexus dealers for just over 10 years now. I have been very disappointed at the level of customer service my dealer has been giving our customers. And also in the attention (or lack there of) that the dealer has been giving to the Lexus side of the service dept. We are, like alot of others, a combo Toyota/Lexus dealer. But we have become the black sheep of the dealer. But I wont go into all those details here. And in my opinion, it is getting harder and harder to make a living as a flat rate dealer tech. (with Lexus anyway). We are seeing alot less customer pay repair and maint work and more warranty work. The cars are becoming more maint free so in response it seems they keep trying to push all of the "extra" maint items to the customers that our parent company Valvoline has available. Like the fuel induction services, a/c system deoderizing and cleaning, fuel aditives, trans additives...etc... Not that there is anything wrong with those products, (I know they have been discussed in other threads) but in a dealer, when the sales dept sells the new car and talks up how low the maint costs are now, than the customer comes back for service and we are ramming all these additives and services down there throats (because the service writers get spiffs for selling them) the customers seem to respond in a negative way. So in turn, our customers are going elswhere for maint. I could go on, but I think Ill stop for now. Like alot of other people out there, I know I can treat these customers better and give them excellent service at a much lower price than the dealer can. My idea certainly isnt original. In fact, one of the reasons for wanting to do it on my own more now is the fact that I have seen poeple do just the same as I am thinking, and are doing pretty well. I want to offer an alternative to the dealer for Lexus owners, Toyotas will also be in the picture, but for the most part it will be aimed at Lexus customers. I know it seems to be the opposite thinking of most independent shops, most people would say that specializing in only one car line is much to limited, and the way to go is to work on everything. But with todays cars getting more and more advanced and harder to diagnose, it seems like a major headache, not to mention investment, to have to learn tham all. I really love the product, and I love the philosophy that lexus had in the beginning. Its what made them such a success. But they are going farther and farther away from that. I would be located near enough to the Lexus dealer to have access to parts. I will use moslty factory parts. Charge less than the dealer. Lexus (and Toyota) have a very good support system with the TIS system that is available to the aftermarket (for a fee of course). Itt has all of the factory repair manuals, EWD's etc.. and alot of other support info. Lexus may be a luxury car line, but our customers are really starting to pay attention to the cost and value of what they are getting for their money. A good example came in today. A 2010 Lexus RX350 came in for its 15,000 mile service. Lexus recently changed the service interval for oil changes to 10,000 miles on vehicles that use 0 weight oil. So this car was getting a tire rotation, new keyfob battery, clean the cabin air filter, and over inspection. Total cost of the service was just over 350.00.... Not to mention if the keyfob battery was to fail within the basic warranty period, it would be replaced for free under warranty. (5 years- 50,000 miles) But we charged them $4.50 for the new battery at 15k miles.... Im amazed they even came in for that...... Could you offer that service at a lower price using factary parts, and still earn a profit?? Its a no brainer. I know the product, I know what the customers expect and deserve.... Why not?

Not sure if you got this one figured out yet, im tryuing to remember twhich system the 96 had, but if it is the system that gets its ne signal from the crank gear, you might want to take a good look at the gear and sensor. If the oil pump was replaced maybe a tooth on the crank gear was damaged when removed, or makesure the wire going to the sensor is ok. again, I might be thinking of the wrong system(different yeara) Im at home, and dont have the repair manual in front of me, but thought i would just throw out a suggestion for you. I can look into it further if you need any help, I work at a toyota/Lexus dealer, so I have some resources there. Let me know if I can help.

Hello everyone. I recently found this forum and have been reading alot of posts. I was hoping to find aood forum site for this part of the auto business, and it seems I have. Im a Master tech at an import luxury car dealer. Ive been turning wrenches since high school, and have been working as a dealer tech for over 10 years now. Ive always had the thought of opening my own shop, but Ive recently decided to seriously consider it and do as much research as I can. I have some ideas of the sort of business model I would like to create, and I know Ill have alot of questions about the process of starting and running a business. Like most techs, I have no formal business training, but Id like to think I have a good head on my shoulders and a decent amount of common sense. Ill leave this post to just an introduction, and I will be posting other questions on the forum as they come up. I know I have alot to ask, so you will be seeing alot of me on here, im sure!