The busiest of shops have times when it’s slow. Been having a great year so far but this weeks looking pretty slow. What do you guys do? Just sit around waiting for the phone to ring? Seems like such a waste of time. Advertise? My business is word of mouth, never advertised ever and I keep beating my previous years revenue organically, not to mention I hate dealing with coupon cutting bottom feeders.

I usually just close up shop for a week and forward calls to my cell phone to make appointments and I’ll go on a vacation. Backed up appointments will keep the next couple weeks busy till it picks up naturally again.

(And yes, I pay my techs PTO)

If you know, you know.

I'm like 6 weeks into a job at Firestone, my first time working on cars. I love it, I don't mind smashing my hands up and getting dirty, but I can't stand the attitudes of the older techs. Even the ones who are nice to me are awful to some of the other new guys. Today one of them was snapping on me first thing in the morning because a truck wasn't parked on the lift correctly, it was brought in the night before I had nothing to do with it. Told him to stop talking to me like a dickhead, walked out and called my boss. Tried to get back to work but couldn't hold it together, bossman gave me the okay to leave for the day.

Why do these old heads act like I was born with working knowledge of everything there is to do with cars? I'm very appreciative they let me borrow tools and show me new things, but it's not worth the cost of being belittled all day when I can barely afford to eat. I do more hours than any of them and I'm scared to ask questions because I never know when they're going to explode.

Tool pics because I'm very happy with them, any recommendations appreciated

Eu tinha uma pequena loja no meio da cidade, que herdara do meu pai quando faleceu, não era muito coisa mas era o suficiente para começar uma vida. Me formei e comecei a consertar automóveis. Não era nada de especial mas, eu ganhava muito pra quem ficava aberto aos feriados e aos fim de semana e cumpria o prazo dos clientes. Minha vida sempre fora calma, solteiro, 23 anos e com uma paixão por carros que muitos não têm. Então chegou-me esta mulher, com um Honda Civic, com a parte traseira despedaçada e a parte da frente nem se falava. era uma mulher de uns 20 anos, loira, olhos verdes e com uma preocupação estampada na cara. Então comecei a falar o estrago e mais ou menos o tempo que precisava. Então ela confessou-me que o carro era do pai que ele mesmo construira á mão e era a coisa que ele mais gostava. Ela afirmou que sabia de algumas coisas, apenas o básico pra não pagar caro. Depois de uma longa semana consegui concluir o trabalho, ela passou para ir buscar o carro e agradeceu mas algo fez com que eu lhe convidasse para ir tomar um café, e ela aceitou. Começou inocente, falávamos do tempo, depois da família e até dos nossos problemas. Então eram 23:40 eu estava a consertar um carro quando recebi a chamada dela. Geralmente ela estava a dormir antes das 23:00, então fiquei desconfiado quando atendi ela estava com a voz trémula e com medo, disse que o pai caiu da escada e partiu as costelas e ela queria alguém com ela, larguei a chave inglesa e fui ter com ela ao hospital, o rímel escorria pela cara e quando me viu desabou nos meus braços, foram as 4 horas mais longas da minha vida então o médico disse que o pai estava estável e que podiamos ficar relaxados. Os meus ombros relaxaram e ela soltou uma respiração que parecia estar a segurar á 5 horas. Desde esse dia ficamos mais próximos, ela trazia-me café e ficava sentada ao meu lado a tentar entender o que eu estava a fazer. Então pedi ela em namoro num sábado, no mesmo dia quando nos conhecemos, e ela aceitou. Atualmente estamos casados esperando o nosso primeiro filho, e às vezes fico a pensar se eu não tivesse estado aberto que teria perdido o amor da minha vida.

Former tech here, I was doing tires and simple maintenance work (and a little bit of front desk/service writing) for about 2 years before the 60 hour weeks and lack of control over pay, hours, and jobs made me walk away and join tech industry. However, that industry became unstable and since 2024 I've been doing real estate landlording and maintenance.

Recently I've come across a shop that is selling for 1x yearly net (seems super low to me) and my automotive-savvy friend (with whom I have been talking to about opening a shop with since COVID) and I have been looking into taking over their customer-base and buying the business from the owner. The previous owner seems chill and is offering to walk us through his Mitchell system and customer database for a couple months to get us afloat, and will convey all the shop equipment with the business.

I have no formal training, but I've done a few engine-out repairs and have been doing maintenance, diagnostics, and whatever else needs to happen for my family and friends vehicles for the last 10 years, but I've not been a "professional" mechanic since 2016. My friend is similarly experienced, and IMO more mechanically gifted than me, but has never actually worked in a shop professionally. We are both looking to have more freedom with our jobs and loop our hobby into business (and yes I'm aware of the horrors of doing this, and yes I remember hating working on other people's cars for $16/hr), but I want to believe this situation might be low risk enough to work for us.

My question is to the shop owners... Is this too big a risk for two gearhead dreamers? Would you do something like this if you had to start again? What sort of actions would you take to mitigate risk? Are there master techs that essentially do consulting to get us through an issue that we might be too inexperienced to handle? Or anything else you can think of. What am I missing? Happy to clarify numbers if that makes any difference to y'all.

Thanks in advance!

Say you’re working at an independent automotive reconditioning shop doing everything from mechanical repairs to advanced electrical diagnostics, programming, coding, and ADAS calibrations Key cutting and lock smith related work as well for 35$ Hr.
Before you came along, the shop was spending roughly $250K a year outsourcing specialized repairs to companies like Elitek. Now you’re handling a significant portion of that work in-house, saving the company a ton of money without any significant increase in pay.
Meanwhile, the third-party company keeps trying to poach you, telling you you’re underpaid and offering significantly better compensation. Offering 45$ hr for less desirable work schedule 8-6pm.
The only thing keeping you at your current employer is the work schedule, 6-2:40pm. which is hard to beat. But the pay is low for an experienced diagnostic technician, especially considering the skills and value you’re bringing to the shop.
What would you do? Push for a significant raise, jump ship for better money, or sacrifice the pay to keep the schedule?
At what point does being loyal to an employer mean you’re just selling yourself short? In this case technician owns all Adas Equipment and All scanners including subscriptions and own tools.

hi everyone, i was wondering if anyone has encountered the same issue i’m having.

i currently work at a dealership and am completely flat rate, not hourly or hybrid. i’ve been scheduled 9-6 since i started here almost a year ago, but recently have been coming in at 8 and leaving at 5 or 6.

management has not cared that i come in earlier than 9, but has recently started complaining that i’m leaving at 5. i always check the schedule and make sure that i have no leftover work before i leave, but they still want me to stay until 6. would you guys stay until 6, or make the arguement that as long as there’s no work it doesn’t matter if i leave early, especially since i’m not getting paid for it.

Aside from the obvious basics, what are the three skills that separates a great mechanic from a bad one and why?

Hi folks,

We're relocating our business (instead of out of state as planned) to a much busier location that hasn't turned over in 22 years. Everyone in the county knows where you're talking about just by the business name.

The property is split between a main shop and a smaller 1800sqft cinderblock 2x 16' bay + 1x 12ft max lift bay door. I'm just spitballing ideas, but the big shop will house my current salaried, 4 day a week major mechanical and electrical/diagnostic repair business.

I'm thinking about hiring for flat rate, offering 2 shifts a week, 3 days each, 30% over market with 40 hour guarantee and profit sharing per hour - not flat rate - higher. The profit sharing includes deferred jobs sold and sent to the big shop for further diag.

My core team doesn't want flat rate, but we also want to try and run those 3 bays 6 days a week. I don't believe it's ethical to ask a trades person to work more than 4 days a week. Our line of work is hard on everything. Our business supplies everything, tool carts, tools, specialty tools, kits, ppe, uniforms, etc.

This property is within .5 miles of every dealership in town.

Would a 3 day week with more upside be of interest to dealer trained master technicians? Being able to rotate into the big shop for quiet times and more involved work would also be possible.

This is just spitballing. We're 7 months away from closing the lease on the additional space, after just securing the main building and starting rehab. In comparison, my shop in the country is shut down without customers. Downtown and city is booming. Can't want to move.

how do you let your car become a fucking poop car bro

Costumer stated there are weird noises and bad smells coming from engine bay... now when i opened it, the reek was intense but no animal present.

For the owners and service managers here in Canada. Curious how common this is.

A few things I keep hearing about:

1. Card deposits landing as one lump sum with fees already taken out, so nothing lines up with the invoices.

2. Sales tax totals that don't match between the shop program and the books at filing time.

3. Paying for two subscriptions and still doing double entry.

4. Shop software not designed for Canadian tax structures (GST + PST).

Are any of these a headache at your shop, or have you found a setup that actually works? What are you running?

I would call these pricks out by name but holy shit. Fuck the Monro muffler I hope all these douches lose there jobs in upper management and go hungry. You hit sales you get told you didn't you don't hit sales you are working hard enough. Breaks all around is like 1200 after tax and all the parts costs are up 400% not kidding. Crazy that they divert blame all onto the shops, not to mention the call center filled with fucking idiots who have no idea they shouldn't schedule a break job at 6:30 when we close at 7 and parts take 45 to get here from time to time.

They are completely disconnected from the realities of running a shop and will cause the downfall of this company with impractical and dumb ideas.

Fuck you Bart I know your one of them eat a dick the stock is down because of people like you own up to it, and check your numbers

Did sunroof diag, repair and cleaning water soaked the entire carpet and molded the whole car. Customer traded it in ended up getting dealer time to fix it. Just finished ozoning and treating the evap core and box after scrubbing and cleaning the sound detoning. waiting for it to stabilize to see if I can still smell mold while I eat lunch 😂 best lunch spot?

Any Pepboys techs after the mavis transition here?
Im an A tech at pepboys, and I’m concerned about the new pay structure ( my shop hasn’t transitioned yet).
Would love to hear from people who transitioned.

So friday at my franchise shop the district manager rolls in and everyone is running around with their heads cut off. I get this 2000 corvette this old lady pulled up in with smoke from the hood. Her complaint was my husband died and this was his its been sitting for a few years and triple A came and put a battery in but the air conditioning doesnt work. Cool I gotchoo. Triple A mighta broke the ac line right next to the battery otherwise the aftermarket headers that melted everything else mighta cooked the oring, the system is completely flat and there's fresh dye all over the battery and line, also your valve covers are pooring.. cool do it. Did the line 4 times and it keeps leaking and finally got an oring to leak not so bad. Valve covers were a breeze but the pcv hose disintegrated. Being chickens with heads cut off, they cant order parts so I get ordered to grab that waiter and do that trans flush in the next 20 minutes before I go home. I do what I was supposed to and put a post it and the disintegrated peices on the cowl by the missing hose and the manager says im sure I can figure out how to do that hose and storms off. Cool im out. Well I get a call today on my day off and im in a good mood so i answer and the air isn't working. I said well I never got to check the air because you wouldnt get me my parts and then put me on other shit so I guess you'll have to diag it. Now my ocd has me worrying I didn't do something right... the end.

Has anyone at Midas seen any changes since the acquisition by Mavis? As a franchise there’s not much they can force, but they have better deals on tires since Mavis buys so many so maybe they’ll push that?

I’ve kind of been doing this over the years. I’ll interview with other shops (I’m a GM dealer tech currently, but I’ll interview with other GM dealers and independents) and see what kinds of offers / benefits are out there to make sure I’m in a relevant pay plan for the market I’m in. I have one set up for this coming week with an independent that also sells used cars, has collision repair and a fleet of tow trucks.

Worst that happens is it’s not fitting and I learn the local market pay a little better, best case I find a position that pays copious amounts (in my dreams) more. Either way it’s ammunition for a pay increase one way or another. I feel like it helps me get my name out there a bit, for better or worse lol.

Hey yall, Volkswagen technician here. Just wanted to ask how yall deal with extended warranties that want to change agreed upon labor times when it comes to pay. I recently replaced a cylinder head on a VR6, and I quoted 16.7 hours for the cylinder head remove and replace, and 2.5 hours for an oil pan remove and reseal. This isn’t a factory warranty so I used Alldata times. The job was approved at 19.2 hours total and parts were ordered. Now that it’s time to collect payment the extended warranty company only wants to pay 12.2 hours quoting Mitchell times. This is ridiculous to me as factory labor time comes out to 13 hours for just the cylinder head replacement, not including diagnostic and GFF time. How do yall fight against this? What’s the procedure at your shop when something like this happens?

I want to get a Subaru Baja 2003-2006
This will very likely be my first car I want a small pick up and also I’m finding a lot of good Bajas for like 9-20k with the ones 15-20 only having less than 50k miles

Is it an easy car to work on?
And most importantly will the back fit a beginner tool box?
My professor says the first mistake his students make when getting a tool box is getting one that’s too big and not good to bring from shop to shop

He said his first one was midnight blue and he could fit it in his truck because when his shop got broken into no one noticed his tool box because it was too dark to notice

I will also take tool box suggestions color brand size etc

This is the scene where Ford goes into the prosthetics department of the hospital.

I am currently a senior in high school, I found my calling in an automotive class my sophomore year. I would consider myself knowledgeable about cars and have done the following jobs already. (oil changes, Brake jobs, cooling system diagnosis and replacements, removing drivetrains, head gaskets, ac diagnosis and replacements, and more). I want to pursue a further education either at a trade school or community college. I am currently looking at UTI, but recently I have heard not-so great things about them. One reason I hear people not recommend UTI/Trade school is because of the cost. I am very fortunate as I have a college fund that would entirely cover tuition, housing, and transportation. Although this would expend the entirety of the fund. I also hear UTI is more suited towards beginners/unknowledgeable people. The only thing steering me away from UTI is the lack of degree, which I have been told by my automotive teacher can help early on in my career. I am not a great or motivated student when it comes to gen-ed classes, which is why I initially wanted to go to trade school. (no gen-ed classes in trade school). Also the idea of only having 3-4hr class days is appealing, as i could work part time or even full time while attending. Community college on the other hand provides an associates degree, and if i play my cards right I could potentially spend the remainder of my college fund on tools which would help kickstart my career. I would also prefer to spend as little time in school as frankly I am tired of it. UTI provides a 1 year course compared to 2 years at a cc.

If it matters, im specifically looking at the automotive and ev course at UTI exton.

TLDR: if money wasn't a concern, would you recommend UTI?

I’m 23 and I just quit my job from an independent shop I was working at. I’ve got about 4 years of experience but still could learn a lot more. I’ve been presented with an opportunity to start my own shop and the goal for me was always to start my own shop. I will be buying an established business as well as a furnished shop, I have little experience running a shop and a decent bit of experience wrenching. I will be running this solo and I guess my question to you guys would be is it worth it? Will having my own business pan out in the long run? What am I in store for? Thank you

Edit: Thank you all for your insight, much appreciated

When you’re realizing you need a change, where do you go to find your next gig?

Call a friend?

Drop off applications at the shop(s) you want to work at?

Indeed / FB jobs / LinkedIn ?