The Facts about Car Repairs
By Jerry Elman, owner Schoen Place Auto
Standards and Regulations
1. Auto repairs and auto repairs shops have no set of standards to operate under. Every repair shop is free to set their own standards of work
2. Auto repairs and auto repair shops are under no federal and state regulatory control other than the standards required for a state inspection sticker.
3. Auto Repair Shops are “licensed to operate” by each individual state. There are no standards associated with this license.
- No standards for parts quality or sourcing
- No standards for work procedures and quality
- No standards for training and competence of mechanics and technicians
- No standards for how any repair is performed.
4. National Chains and Quick Lube shops employee the least qualified and lowest paid mechanics. Turnover is high as most employees seek higher paid lower pressure work.
5. On average customers pay more money to have oil changes performed (when you add in the extras they hard sell) by quick lube shops with the work performed by laborers who have no automotive repair training.
Pay Systems
1. All dealers, all national chains, and a majority of independent auto repair shops have “flat rate” pay systems where mechanics and technicians are paid by hours billed versus hours worked.
- Flat rate shops have quotas and incentives that must be met. Most flat rate shops target 80 to 100 hours billed out per person in a 40 – 60 hour work week.
- Mechanics/technicians get no pay in flat rate shops if there are no hours to bill.
- There is lots of conflict behind the scenes in flat rate shops and infighting over who gets assigned what work
- Flat rate pay systems drive rushed work, cutting corners, and ethics compromises. If employees don’t meet their targets and quotas they are terminated.
2. A minority of independent auto repair shops pay by the hour worked.
- No incentive to rush and cut corners on work
- No quota’s to meet
- Focus is on the customer and doing the work right.
Parts
1. There is a huge supply of automotive parts from lots of sources
2. Dealer parts are the most expensive with the highest mark-up
3. National Chains and a many independent repair shops use lowest grade Chinese made parts.
- The quality of these parts is poor but the profit margin is huge.
- In many cases these parts come in unbranded white boxes. Within the industry we call them “white box” parts. The shops that use these parts have no clue of the source.
4. Auto repair shops that are focused on quality use only “OEM specification” replacement parts.
5. There is a big difference in the quality of motor oils and other fluids used in cars.
- The difference is in the quality and amounts of needed additives in the oil.
- Additives are as important to the modern engine as the oil itself.
- The longevity of an engine is determined by the quality of the oil used and the frequency of oil changes
- Many dealers, national chains and independent repair shops use the cheapest price oils and fluids in order to offer “cheap” oil change prices.
Labor
1. These are no federal or state requirements, regulations or certifications of auto mechanics and technicians.
2. Every auto repair shop is free to employee any skill level they choose to
3. A large percentage of mechanics and technicians employed have little to no formal education and training in auto repairs.
4. Mechanics and technicians who have formal education and training and independent certifications are highly paid
5. ASE (Automotive Service Excellence) is the most credible independent national organization that formally certifies the competence levels of mechanics/technicians and sets voluntary standards for repair standards.
- A large number of auto repair shops claim they employ ASE certified mechanics/technicians when they actually don’t.
Facilities
1. There is a direct correlation between the quality and competence of auto repairs and the cleanliness, work environment and customer environment of a repair shop’s facility
2. An auto repair shop is a “hospital” for cars! A dirty, unorganized shop usually means dirty, unorganized and poor repair work.
- How would you react walking into a dirty, unorganized, uncomfortable doctor’s office Emergency room or hospital? You need to think the same when it comes to auto repair shops.
You Get What You Pay For
1. How many of you have “low ball” competitors in your area of business?
2. Does it frustrate you when you see potential customers and even friends and family go with the “low ball” price?
3. Why is it that when we know how our “low ball” competitors operate, we ourselves go to low ball suppliers for services outside of our own fields?
4. In the auto repair business I am often amazed at how people are happy with the people and businesses taking advantage of them, only because of the price!
Common Sense vs. Nonsense
“It’s unwise to pay too much, but it’s worse to pay too little. When you pay too much, you lose a little money – – that’s all. When you pay too little, you sometimes lose everything, because the thing you bought was incapable of doing the thing it was bought to do. The common law of business balance prohibits paying a little and getting a lot – – It can’t be done. If you deal with the lowest bidder, it is well to add something for the risk you run, and if you do that, you will have enough to pay for something better”
John Ruskin (1819 – 1900)
Beware of bargains in:
Parachutes
Life preservers
Underwater diving air regulators
Fire extinguishers
Smoke detectors
Surgery
AUTO REPAIR!
Tags: auto, auto parts, auto repair, auto standards, auto tips, car maintenance, car repair, cheap, consumers, ethics, honesty, jerry elman, mechanics, quality, Schoen Place Auto, technicians, women consumers, Women's Issues