5 Star Auto Spa

We just got this scanner dropped off for a test drive for 2-3 weeks from our local Advance Auto. Will let you all know how it does.....

So you guys are saying that you DO charge for each item separately and let the customer decide if he wants all of the items diagnosed or just one?

When you have a customer that comes in to have multiple items diagnosed on their vehicle, do you charge each diagnostic item as a separate charge or do you lump them together into one charge? Example - Customer comes in with ABS Light, Check Engine Light, and Inoperative Gas Gauge. Customer wants all three items diagnosed. We typically charge $80 for computer diagnostic and would charge $80 for Fuel Gauge Diagnostic. The total charge would then be $80 * 3 = $240 for diagnostic of all 3 issues. This seems high but I wasn't sure if other shops charge in this manner or just group them together and charge a discounted diagnostic because there are multiple items that are being diagnosed - maybe a $160 charge?

There has to be strict guidelines as to when the truck can come. Let the driver know that you only want him to stop by on this certain day at this certain time (which of course will be the slowest day and slowest time). If he can't make it at that day/time, do not come that week and come by again the following week. Also, if a tech is working on a vehicle and the driver comes, he has to WAIT until the tech is done with the customers car. The tech cannot stop in the middle of a customers car to go to the tool truck. You have to have rules set in place or the tool truck driver will come whenever he wants which is always at the busiest hour of the busiest day. Also, your techs need to understand the customer comes first, not the tool truck driver.

What we see happening here at our facility is vehicle is diagnosed by our tech either through an oil change or the customer coming in for a diagnostic. The customer does not have the vehicle repaired that day of the oil change or diagnostic and leaves with an estimate. Then on a later date, the customer tries to bring the part that we have recommended by purchasing it at a local parts store or online. We do try and push the warranty aspect of it but for some people, they can only think of right now and not in the future. As I said earlier, we currently charge the same labor as if we were purchasing the parts but I'm seriously thinking about changing that and increasing the labor rate. Is 25% the amount of labor increase you guys typically increase?

xrac, do you just flat out deny customers that ask to have their parts installed? Do you feel like you are losing out on revenue from these customers or do you feel as though this is the type of customer you don't want anyways? Its tough because you don't want to lose out on any business but at the same time you want to have a complete sale for each customer.

Will you install parts for a customer that supplies the parts? If you do, do you mark up your labor to compensate for the lost revenue from parts? If you do mark up your labor, how much do you mark it up? We currently just charge the labor and do not mark it up at all but I would like to eventually get rid of these types of customers by marking up labor but I don't know exactly how much to mark it up.

I agree with both sides. We use house oil on 75% of our customers vehicles as they do not a preference on what type of oil goes into their vehicle. That being said, if the vehicle calls for a specific spec to be met, we verify that the house oil meets this spec. If it does not, we inform the customer and let them choose whether to use the house oil which does not meet the spec or use a synthetic oil that has been verified to meet the spec. If the customer chooses to use the house oil, we notate that the customer was given the notice and denied the oil that was manufacturer recommended. Many of todays consumers do not care or have allegiance towards a specific brand of oil like some older people would have with Penzoil or Mobil. I do agree with everyone that is stating that doing service, whether oil changes or any preventative maintenance service, on time is most important.

I think our rate is as follows: No ASE Tire Tech - $9 No ASE Diag Tech - $14 No ASE Dealer Tech - $18 All ASE Master Tech, Independent - $20 Just to clarify, this is an hourly rate and NOT flat rate hours. We also offer an incentive program based on recommendations that are made and sold to customers by the technicians. The recommendation is made by the tech but sold by the service writer. If sold, the tech receives 3% of parts and labor off of the recommendation.

PHYNY, I would be interested in how your hourly/incentive pay plan works as well. Here at our shop, our hourly labor rate is $80. Estimated median household income in our area is $45,032. Its sometimes difficult to identify what the pay rate should be for new techs that we hire based on their experience. I want to obviously pay the tech what their worth but also not overpay them. We currently pay an hourly rate plus a commission. We do not pay flat rate currently. All responses greatly appreciated!

What's the going hourly pay rate for a 10 year tech with an inspectors license but no ASE certifications? I'm trying to get a feel for the rates for this type of tech. I'm curious to see what the rates are compared to our area.

We actually have it the other way around here. We are a car wash, with a full service auto repair shop as part of the car wash. The car wash is definitely the larger part of the business compared to the auto repair shop. We do a ton of full details at our auto repair shop but I think this is because originally the entire building was a full detail shop that was partially converted to an auto repair shop, not the other way around.

We currently are signed up for IATN but not Identifix. How different is Identifix compared to IATN?

We currently use All Data Manage along with a program called Sage for shop management and use All Data Repair for vehicle repair/maintenance information. The reason we are using two different shop management software programs is because we are a newer shop (less than 3 years old) and we currently do a lot of oil changes. All Data Manage is very cumbersome in terms of the customer input process (there are a number of steps you need to perform to add a customer/link the car to that customer). Sage, a program made for quick lubes makes this process much quicker. Also, looking up quick information (oil filter, weight of oil, tire pressure, etc) can be found in All Data Repair, but once again you have to step through a number of steps to access this information where as Sage you just click one button and have access to this information. If you're wondering why we don't just completely go to Sage, it also has its own deficiencies. Because it is geared towards quick lubes only, for repairs that are more than just oil changes, it is a pain to be descriptive in explaining what was performed on the vehicle. I was hoping that ADP would be the solutions I'm looking for but we aren't even allowed to purchase it even if we wanted to because we are not a franchised dealer.

I called ADP today and was told that they do not sell to aftermarket repair shops, only to dealers. I thought that was somewhat strange to turn down business but I wasn't even able to get a quote because they only sell to franchised dealers. What shop management software are you currently using nmikmik?

Is anyone using shop management software that dealerships currently use such as ADP or Reynolds & Reynolds? We are currently using All Data Manage and I've read on auto shop owner how others are using Mitchell, RO Writer, etc. Is there a reason no one uses ADP or dealer style shop management software? Is it really expensive compared to Mitchell/All Data, etc.? Any input would be greatly appreciated!

We have also always used a house brand as our first level of motor oil. We also have never had any issues using this type of motor oil. Wes what oil distributor are you using? Are you getting the bulk oil in 55 gal drums?

That was written like a pro. Only if the general public understood diagnostic procedures like this person.......

That's a pretty amazing story. I can see why your customers would keep coming back to your shop Joe for service.

Advance auto parts and CARQUEST are our main 2 suppliers currently for parts. Both seem to have their pro's and con's. Hopefully a merge with these 2 companies will get rid of some of the cons from both companies and reinforce the pros. Just from reading a little blurb from the link to the article, I never realized AutoZone was such a big player in the aftermarket parts. We rarely every purchase parts from AZ.

Joe, Since you do the following for free: pull codes, test drive, and visual inspection, do you ever have issues where after the test drive and putting it on the lift to do the visual inspection you are able to find the issue without charging the customer for diagnostic testing? I think people are getting confused here as sometimes a test drive and visual inspection is all you need to find the problem but time is still spent in performing the test drive and putting the car on the lift and doing the visual inspection. To me, obviously this is part of the diagnostic process, and requires time and money to be completed even through a lot of the general motoring public does not think the same way. How do you handle these types of diagnostic charges?

We also have the Car Fax integration in a program called Sage that we currently use but we never signed up to have the repair info sent to Car Fax. They have contacted us on 3 different occasions to sign up but we have just never gotten around to actually doing it.

Hey Joe, in that situation you described above with the broken valve spring, do you charge the customer a diagnostic fee to find the "real" issue or just the parts and labor required to fix the issue after you have found it? If you do charge a diagnostic fee to find the issue in these type of situations, do you think you lose out on some customers who feel as though they do not want to pay for the diag. fee because they THINK they already know what the issue is?

Wes Daniel, do you work on a lot of VW/Audi's? My lead tech talked to me the other day about the Ross Tech VAG-COM software. He said the same things as you, for the price you just can't beat it. The only reason we haven't already purchased it was because we don't really do a ton of VW's or Audi's. On a side note, we haven't really purchased any new tools but we did upgrade our flash lights from the battery operated ones to Stinger Stream Light LED rechargeable flash lights and they are GREAT!

We have somewhat of a different background. We were initially (and still are) a car wash with a detail center that actually added repair versus the other way around. The car wash portion of our business is still the "main" business. Our full detail shop which is located on the same property but in a separate building is an 8 bay garage that just never had all 8 bays occupied at the same time with full details. That was the main reason we installed lifts and added auto repair. We now have 4 lifts installed and are a state inspection facility and a full service auto repair shop. We still do a lot of full details as this building and business is known more for the car wash and detail side but we have increased our car counts from 0 initially to about 25 cars a day for auto repair/maintenance services.