Freestate Auto and Truck

Hello, Does anyone currently use TekMetric and do you recommend it? Any glitches, complaints, or concerns or success? If anyone is using a different SMS that you have a great experience with that meets your shops needs? We are currently using RO Writer and Autovitals DVI, but the reliability and capabilities of RO Writer are extremely lacking and frustrating. Any input or advice would be greatly appreciated! Thank you! Michelle

We use Autovitals & RO Writer & just did the update last week to RO 3.1 and had no issues. Your Carfax will stop working soon and you will continue to get error messages if you don't do the update. RO Writers next update will be cloud based thankfully! Since the two systems communicate and both keep time, I personally would perform the latest RO update, then schedule a call with Steve from Autovitals or whichever tech support specialist is available to obtain the reports that you are looking for. We track different metrics and I'm not sure how your system is set up, but I can tell you that Autovitals is able to run more reports on the back end than I personally imagined and those reports can be exported to excel, which can analyze the data and key metrics to give you the data that you are looking for . I highly recommend a training session with them because the data that you are looking for is likely already available on the back end! RO Writers new portal is a great resource as well. Good luck!

What version of RO Writer do you have? Have you created a support ticket on the portal and asked tech support to direct you on how to run the reports?

What matrix are you pricing your parts at? Our company marks up a minimum of 50-65% on aftermarket parts, 30-40% on special order and dealer parts. (We are located 10 minutes from D.C.). We offer a 2 year/24k mile warranty and remind our customers that we offer that warranty only for parts that we supply, no warranty on customer supplied parts. Our labor rate varies from $149-185 depending on whether it's a standard vehicle or a larger fleet vehicle, but we also keep our labor rate a bit higher as a cushion to cover payroll, parts, rent, etc. and also so that we can offer our loyal customers a 10%-15% discount depending on their affiliations. We work with multiple different referral and affiliate programs such as AAA Automotive Program, Costco Auto Care Program, and RepairPal for referrals as well. Maybe try targeting a specific consumer in your area, ex. 1/2 off oil change for local teachers to pinpoint your desired customer base. You could also get certified to become a state inspector, or Uber/Lyft if you have them in your area. Hope 2025 is a great year for you!