Mario

A foreign car dealer here started buying their waiters lunch! It's brings customers in and probably cuts back on waiters hassling the service writer if there car is done every 10 minutes.

I Just read this, I am sure you got it handeled by now. Just to contribute I have done a few of these. Drill just the taper end, then use a air chisel and a punch to break the rest of the bolt off so the wheel will come off. You now have a stud still sticking out of the hub. I hammer a Bolt-Out extraction tool over the remainig stud, heat up the stud with a torch, and remove the rest of the bolt. Rechase threads, if they will hold a properly torqued bolt you are good to go. If not I purchase a new hub.

A lot of snow and cold this winter but it's the busiest winter I have ever had. Economy improving or everybody's cars just failing at the same time?

I like the snapon solus, works on nearly everything with very little to no glitches. I picked up one for $1200 used. I updated I during a sale to he newest version for $700, added euro for another $800 later. It scans everything I have needed. I know you said it's out of yor budget but the autel just seems like a buggy mess. Sure it's probably a great bang for the buck, but if it's limited and unreliable who wants that headache for a primary scanner?

Like I said it have a volvo shop near me, he uses launch. Very busy shop and the go to volvo guy in the area

Volvo independent here uses a launch.

If everything is caught up, I don't mind somebody hoping on their phone for a couple of minutes. We are all adults. I check my phone at work a few times a day.

Service advisors even at the dealers around here make $12-$15 an hour. I have a few friends who work as SAs at dealerships. $50k seems crazy to me for a 2 tech shop. If your advisor is going to make $50k, what are your techs making, $75-100k?

Eh can you have another shop scan it with a snapon solus or something comparable? It might a scanner glitch.

10% discount. Atleast 30% of my business are family/friends/networking. Generally people expect some sort of deal when they go with somebody they know in any profession. 10% doesn't break the bank.

Yes. A lifetime warranty on a $59 heater core from the zone is useless when it's a $700 job in labor to replace it again.

I wouldn't use the word liable. Don't ever make yourself seem at risk. If that customer has a "safety issue" later down the road they may be more likely to looking at legal options.

What are people playing per quart if you are buying a drum? I'm pretty locked in at $1.98 a quart at a national chain parts store for their house brand oil. Is the savings for a drum worth the hassle?

You can offer the customer a promotion/discount/carwash if they leave you a review. A negative review is in the nature of being reviewed. An unhappy customer is normally going to be vocal then a satisfied customer. Any customer with 1/5 of a brain is going to know that somebody with 100% positive reviews are screening their reviews on their website, google, yelp etc... Most people I have talked to do not take reviews/testimonals seriously because of this.

I would have just gave him my best price and moved on. A lot of the foreigners (I know from plenty of experience) are only going to pay so much anyways, and they are not going to be sucked into buying based on value vs price. I deal with a lot of foreigners, many from my church. The rest of the world for the most part has their minds tuned a different way then ours in terms of paying for an item or service. I just give them a price, I don't break down parts or labor. If they like it fine, if they don't, oh well. You may have to knock a few bucks here and there to make the sale, but if a few bucks is going to make or break your business then there are more issues at hand. They are in a pain in the neck to deal with, but they do seem big on referrals and send their family and friends. BTW most of the foreigners I deal with are Macedonians or Serbians. It doesn't matter Macedonian, Serbian, Arab or Indian, they all purchase the same and like to chip away at the price to feel like they are getting a deal. They are generally decent customers once you get a relationship they feel comfortable with going. A lot of them have more cash at hand to spend then you can imagine. They rarely finance anything, pay cash, and work a lot of deals so they are normally sitting on a good cushion of cash.

I sub out our alignments. Going price is $49.95 at 4 shops within two miles of me. I have a speciality shop around the corner that aligns out cars for $30. I can't justify the cost of the machine for what he charges.

I talked with my insurance rep the other day, and brought up this topic again. He told me it is insured as a business opened vehicle, and can be driven by customers as a LOANER, but not a RENTED vehicle. My business insurance is the PRIMARY insurance on the vehicle at all times but there are agreements that can be signed to attempt to have the customers insurance cover it before mine does. However, if anybody calls my insurance to make a claim, it trumps any agreement I may have with the customer.

Depends. I know normally air bag wiring is a harness replacement. What wiring are you referencing?

I add around $120 of my cost to a set of four tires. That is mark up, mount & balance, disposal. Weather permitting we run the car through the touchless car wash a few doors down and apply tire shine to the tires. Putting new tires on a vehicle are one of the biggest improvements any driver is going to notice. You give the car a quick wash and shine the tires up and they love it. As mentioned above it is a good opportunity to find worn front end parts and sell an alignment as well.

No, employees have enough costs to be able to work (tools, training).

I'd comment but your current formula is more then me.

I just add 30%. Very expensive parts i may lower to 20 to not lose the job to a competitor.

What kind of rates do shops get for daily and weekly rentals? I am thinking of just buying a couple of mid 2000 Toyotas here soon to have as loaner cars.

Screw types may be more expensive to repair and the up front cost is much more then a comparable piston compressor. They are quiet and efficient.

Mine is a little dated. 1955 Westinghouse, 80 gallons. A little slow refilling but it is super quiet, simple, reliable, and only cost me $100 from another shop that upgraded.