Underbelly Revealed - Auto Repair and Technicians

[asphaltgambler]

Last Thursday, I was forced to quit my position as a auto technician. For the last 6 months I had been comprimising my standards in order to put food on the table. My former manager lied to customers, overcharged them for work done, charged for work that was not done, charged for parts that were used but represented as new, kept small bonuses and gifts that were meant for the technicians, etc, etc, etc, etc, etc

Some insight on how the majority of auto repair shops and technicians make their cake. Technicians work soley by 'piece-work', meaning they receive a set rate per hour for work produced. There are few standard industry 'guides' that determine how many labor hours per repair are to be charged. The problem is that everyone in line above the technician also is paid soley on the labor dollar rate. This outdated system sets the stage for pitting the tech against the service writer, the manager, the owner and everyone in between.

The shop raised the 'door' or customer hourly rate twice in 6 months to $99.00 per labor hour, but my raise was stalled since November.

I am am "A" level ASE Master auto technician with 25 years of highly technical and diverse experience and STILL have to put up with this thieving kind of s--t everday. I've had it. Not sure what my next career move will be.

[bryanthompson]

Start your own place and run him outt'a business. Hurray for capitalism!

[asphaltgambler]

The capital that's required today to open even a small shop is HUGE. Besides been there and done that about 20 years ago.

[notfarnow]

Interesting Opportunity: Work from Home in your PJs talking all day about Porsches!

[widebody911]

You should write one of those expose- books!

[CarreraS2]

That sucks.

But not all shops are like that. I used to work at a BMW/Porsche independent, and I saw everything that went on. They were very honest, never overcharged or did unnecessary work, and always tried to save the customer money.

I think that was not only the right thing to do ethically, but also from a business perspective. I think customers can tell, and word gets around. They've had more work than they can handle for almost 30 years now.

[Neilk]

I think that might explain why the service advisor at VW was recently pushing me to get a new drive belt on my car even though it only had 20k miles on it. I looked at it when I got home and it looked fine to me. I guess the $150 charge would have helped his numbers.

[RallyJon]

Brian, that's a pretty common business model for an honest and talented mechanic. Set up shop near one or more dealerships, undercut their hourly rate and parts prices by a bit and wait for all those ex-warrenty cars to come your way.

My mechanic got started this way. Opened a BMW/Saab independent shop with another guy in a reasonably affluent area and had all the work they could handle.

[djmcmath]

Any chance you could get a small business loan to get started? If you're a good mechanic, and that's what you've been doing for the last 25 years, it almost makes sense to stick with it.

Dan

[dtw]

Why not give European Performance in Raleigh NC a call? They just moved into a brand new facility with lots more bays than their old place across the street, and I don't know if Jim has found enough good techs yet to fill them all.

I've been dealing with them since '96 and they've been honest and fair since Day 1.

[Jims5543]

I have a friend that got out of Auto repair for the exact same reason. For a short time he "played the game" he actually teamed up with another tech in the bay next to him, they pooled their hours and made a killing. But, after a while it really bothered him. He saw a lot of dishonesty and lies. He warned me to NEVER use a dealership.

I believe the honest service departments are far and few between. I serched and serched and found a Mazda tech that was honest and had his own shop. Now I am searching for a Porsche independant.

My wifes Audi is having a CV boot replaced as we speak. The service rep called to tell me the cost will be $300. I laughed at him. He seemed nervous. I told him if that is what his shop charges for a CV boot then go ahead and do it. That will be that last time they do non-warranty work on my wifes car.

[asphaltgambler]

Thanks for all the advice. My current situation. I have parents who still live on their own but their health is declining and my mom is succumbing to the early stages of alzheimers. I'm the youngest of 4 and we all help them when we can so they can maintain some independance. 3 of us (including myself) live within 10 miles so if aything pops up one of us can run over there. So at least now and in the near future re-location is not doable.

The other part is I'm 45 and am somewhat...........................Ok .............. a lot......... burned-out by the business. In many aspects I feel that I'm a 45 yo stripper with lines on the face, a saggy a$$ and floopy t-ts that is well past 'her' stage time. I did own my own shop in the mid- 80's and one thing I know for sure. Today there are a lot better ways to make $$$ with-out the huge overhead.

Most all repair shops today are hiring/ training very young guys and not paying them squat and have just a few older, experienced techs to oversee them and problem solve. This in itself would not be an issue except the way in which techs are compensated.

No doubt that auto repair is expensive these days but the $$$ disparity between what the customer pays and what the technician receives is getting wider and wider. 25 years ago the commission 'split' was 50/50 of the paid customer hourly rate between the tech and the shop. That INCLUDED at least some basic benefits too.

Today the split typically hovers around 24-28% of the door rate for the tech INCLUDING marginal benefits. You do the math

The Flate Rate Pay System looks ideal to everyone......................on paper. In an ideal world it does actually work................................for a while......until someone in the labor $$ food chain decides that someone else is making too much. In the end all the parties involved think that EVERYONE ELSE is making too much. At that point the work environment is akin to a pack of dogs fighting over a scrap of meat.

[MotoSook]

Too bad you are not in the Chicago area. I'm barely in business, and I have to turn away work because I don't have time to work on more than one client's cars at any one time. I'm working two jobs really, and I would love to cut a master tech into the biz with a share of the profits, not just the hourly rate, so I can free up my time for more of the engineering type work.

Ever since I started visiting shops with my Pops when I was 8 or so years old (Pops always had a beater that needed work), I started developing a sense of the environment and since then I've never paid a wrench to fix my cars. Pops became friends with some of those old time wrenches, and we got to know how those guys were treated.

Good luck with what ever you decide to do, and best wishes for your parents. I know what it's like to care for elderly parents.

[Overpaid Slacker]

Check out this thread and consider going "mobile" as they say...

JP

[john walker's workshop]

a lot of the overhead in an independent shop is employees. don't have any. rent a 2 bay shop and do it all yourself. just narrow down what makes you money and what doesn't, what you WANT to do and what you don't want to do, and life gets a lot easier. know what jobs NOT to take in and refer them elsewhere. specialize in one or two types of autos that you know like the back of your hand and you'll do fine. it's hard not to be a mechanic after so many years in the trade, and starting as an apprentice at low pay in a different field is out of the question, so what choice do you have? you'll get over the burnout when you call the shots again. total control over your future, other than the rent, utilities and taxes. and no partnerships!! they rarely work out.

[einreb]

Originally posted by john walker's workshop
a lot of the overhead in an independent shop is employees. don't have any.

They're not just overhead from a $ standpoint, they're also a hassle.

There's a lot to be said for 'hanging a shingle' if you can find a way to do it. Honest mechanics are an absolute gem to find and I am fiercely loyal to the few that I know.

There's a market for your services.

[wludavid]

I always hear about the 'book rate' but I've never seen any book. The shop I take my car to charges $95/hr which is a little higher than average around here, but I trust that they do good work and they support the local BMW club chapter. I've accepted that when the charge me for 3 hours of labor, they aren't actually spending 3 hours on the car; I just wonder how much extra they are charging and what those standard flat rates are.

Does anyone know of a good resource?

[RickM]

I knew a guy who quit being a service writer for dealerships because every place he worked at forced him to charge for work he knew was not done. He finally got into another career.

Unfortunately this is more common than most think.

[RallyJon]

One huge problem is that the SHOP charges a given rate per hour, not the technician. While the senior guru may be worth $100 per hour or more, the fresh-from-trade-school monkey is not.

Maybe shops should charge like law firms? Want the senior partner--you gotta pay. But when the paralegal's doing the work, it's spelled out on the invoice and the hourly rate is much lower.

[SLO-BOB]

Both my BMW mechanic and my Porsche mechanic were once dealer wrenches. They experienced the same crap you have. Now they are both way better off on their own. Yeah-it's hard work. But it's different-you know that. Work sucks no matter what, but at least when you're in business for yourself, you get to choose your poison. It's certainly not for everybody. You've tried it before. Maybe it's still not for you, but one things for sure- Nothings gonna change working somewhere else. Same ***** different day as they say.

You may want to reconsider.