PTEN Blog

Posted by: PTEN editor

My boss is wondering about flush/fill machines based on a recent recommendation from his regular repair shop. I didn’t have a straight answer for him because I don’t have a formal opinion yet, but what are your thoughts on  these machines? Do you use them in your shop?

So do you sell the value-added flush of tranny, power steering, etc. fluids because you feel these machines that you hook-up and can let go while you work on something else are really doing valuable preventative maintenance?

Thanks!

I will single out the best response I get and send the writer a gift:
the Genius Tools 44-piece Metric and SAE ¼”-drive chrome-vanadium steel socket set with 5.5mm to 14mm six-point deep hand sockets, 3mm to 14mm six-point hand sockets, ¼” to 9/16” six-point deep hand sockets, 3/16” to 9/16” six-point hand sockets, two extension bars, a reversible ratchet handle and a plastic blow-molded case.

** Congratulations to Harry Zier, whose comment was picked for recognition. Harry will receive the Genius Tools socket set.**

Posted by: PTEN editor

I’m curious about your business. Not in the general meaning of the car repair profession, but your particular shop. The reson I’m curious is that recent news reports and studies point to factors that seem to indicate repair shops will be seeing an increase in business in the near-term. Reports show gas will likely be at $4/gallon by Spring, that Americans are holding onto their cars longer and more.

The gas price news stories always have a line that says something like, “With prices so high, most drivers are making sure they are up-to-date on maintenance to keep their cars at maximum mpg.” But are they? Or are the gas prices getting so high they are deciding on a full tank and putting off the oil change for an extra two weeks? What have you seen in your shop as far as increased maintenance service?

The fact that cars on the road are older also indicates Americans will be spending more time with regular maintenance. But again, are they? Or with the rising prices of everything and the constant news we are either in recession or about to be in recession, are car owners not buying new cars and driving their older cars with white knuckles hoping nothing breaks?

As I said, I’m curious about the specifics of your shop. How’s business been, really? What are you expecting over the next few months? This year?

Posted by: PTEN editor

I wrote a few months ago about some perceptions that make it tough to keep your head when dealing with some customers here: http://www.pten.com/interactive/2007/10/12/fixing-cars-is-a-tough-business/ 

Perceptions keep hurting the business. A wonderful piece on maintaining a positive image and fighting stereotypes, one customer at a time, is here:

http://amialumni.blogspot.com/2007/12/professionals-enhance-industrys-image.html

 In addition to all his examples from the media and corporate ad campaigns falling back on ‘greasemonkey’ stereotypes, I’ve noticed another campaign from Chicago-area new car dealers trying to increase repair/maintenance business. The commercial features a mother berating her son when he asks why she takes her car to the dealer when he also has a repair shop. She replies that a weekend correspondance course on quick oil changes doesn’t make him a mechanic. Nowhere in the commercial does it say he’s a quicklube owner vs. an independent repair shop owner, leaving that part of his qualification ambiguous.

Posted by: PTEN editor

What have you got going on in your shop to help benefit local charities or generate other good will? Aside from generating a warm, fuzzy feeling in your shop about helping others, it can help draw in more customers as positive word of mouth spreads. And, occasionally, the local newspaper will want to do a feature on what you’re doing that will be good PR.

Two recent examples I read about online included one shop owner who is teaching at the local vo-tech to teach incoming techs about “doing good in the community”  when they enter the repair business full-time. Click here for more.

The other story followed a shop that is  exchanging an oil change service for donations to the USMC “Toys for Tots” program. Read about it here.

Posted by: PTEN editor

For those of you who weren’t able to come to auto aftermarket week this year, let me just say there are plenty of new tools and equipment out here at AAPEX you.

 My feet are killing me (not that you care) — and I can’t believe how much new stuff is here, whether in power tools, specialty tools, fluid exchange equipment and more. Watch pten.com for updates in the news section, and always watch for more in the coming print issues of PTEN, including the Dec. issue for my picks of show standouts.

- Brendan

Posted by: PTEN editor

Enjoy this spooky tale of a college art studio apparently haunted by a mechanic crushed under a lift 50 years ago (maybe).

“Before the union hall was built, 65 Lodge Street was the address of an auto service garage. Stories vary, but a recurring story tells of an auto mechanic — possibly named Hanson — whose legs were crushed by a car on a faulty hydraulic press. …

“It was near the sink in the windowless sculpture studio where several of my students have reported seeing a fleeting but distinctly human shape of a man with no legs.”

Read the rest here, if you dare!

Happy Halloween –

- Brendan

Posted by: PTEN editor

Be always vigilant. 

An account of a recent repair shop fire in DeLand, Fla., points to a few areas every shop should be concerned with — safety procedures and insurance.

The shop owner said the fire was started when gasoline dripped onto an electric lightbulb during gas tank repair/installation. It serves as a reminder on the importance of reviewing safety procedures, and keeping the shop clutter-free.

Two bays and five vehicles were damaged in the fire. Thank goodness no one was hurt.

Additionally, the owner said there was no business insurance. I guess that makes it an extra good thing the fire didn’t spread to nearby homes and businesses and the only loss is shop equipment and a few customer vehicles.

For the full story, click here.

Posted by: PTEN editor

A recent article in the New York Times offers a sharp account of an auto repair vocational high school in Brooklyn, N.Y., that was on the verge of closing in the 1990s, and current efforts to keep the school going. The principal, who does not own a car, is trying to increase appeal for the repair trade among N.Y.C. middle schoolers. The story highlights a growing need for mechanics/techs in auto repair.

Shop owners: How is your shop doing — do you have enough techs? Are they coming from high school or other vo-tech programs with enough training to get to work?

Techs: Is there anything you would change about your training/education? Do you feel you came into the working world with all the skills you’ll need, or is continuing education (ASE and more) on your mind?

From the article:

“Besides training in repairing cars and other aspects of the industry, Automotive offers a regular high school education. “But it’s far from a regular high school. The first thing students see after passing through metal detectors at the main entrance is not some bright, chipper mural about school pride or trophy case trumpeting academic or athletic achievements. Rather, it is a display model of a Toyota Previa LE supercharged engine.  “As for the trophy cases, they are down the hall and contain awards from automotive contests stretching back decades, to 1937, when the school’s present building opened. There is a three-foot-high award, for instance, for fifth place in a 1971 Plymouth troubleshooting contest. At a time when many schools across the country are trimming their auto repair programs, Automotive is trying to build its car curriculum back up after it suffered severe cuts in the 1990s.” The principal says in the article that “Auto repair is no longer a grease-monkey industry. Take a look under any car today — it’s a computer — and the industry is looking for people who can fix them and work with the public and know the business of fixing and selling cars.” Read the whole article here: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/24/automobiles/autospecial/24school.html?_r=1&ref=education&oref=slogin

If you are an alumni of Automotive, I’d love to hear about your experiences and outlook, good or bad, on the school. Just click at right to leave a comment.

- Brendan

Posted by: PTEN editor

With the rapid advance of technology, it appears to me that car repair is becoming much more technical and very much less intuitive, even for the mechanically inclined. As an added bonus, the public view on repair shops and professionals always seems to be fairly low in the polls that the newspapers put out every so often.

It seems that for every good story about a repair shop, like this one (green shop celebrates anniversary), there are five bad stories about the repair business, like this one (insurance fraud at group of body shops).

How much of your time do you feel you spend maintaining or repairing your image and/or your industry’s image, on the job and off. Any specifics come to mind?

 - Brendan

Posted by: PTEN editor

I read recently an account that Jesse James is moving his presence to Spike TV. The article called him “the most famous auto mechanic in the U.S.” But who cares? Do you get a kick out of watching a Gremlin get morphed into a snowmobile? Is he really a mechanic, or more of a guerilla-welder? Just curious as to what you think.

- Brendan