Dealership/Shop Probs

[k.g]

You're saying it's ok for the dealer to pay the mechanic less than 20% of their door labor rate?

You're saying it's ok for the technician who has to collect minimum wage because of dealer ass &%$#@!ing is ok.

How would you like to spend $20,000+ in tools, work 60 hours a week only to make that of a Subway sandwich artist? I bet you wouldn't. And guess what, this happens at EVERY DEALER.

 

 

Here's an idea..

 

 

Instead of whining about making so little money, why don't you work somewhere else? Don't cry to me that you spend more than your yearly salary on tools to do your job when there are hundreds of thousands of other jobs out there that you don't need to do that. If I had no drive, no ambition to make any money just so I could go home and sit on the computer and whine about not making any money, I'd quit my current job and do that. Instead, I went to school, busted my ass and got a good job. If you're a mechanic at a car dealership only changing oil and tires, I hate to break it to you, but you are not worth much more than minimum wage. ANYONE can do your job. You are replaceable. You are expendable.

 

Again, nobody is forcing you to work for nothing. Slavery was abolished a long time ago. You're only a slave to your own shortcomings.

 

A business in in business to make money, not be the ethics police and pay way more than an employee is worth. If somebody wants to spend $400 on an oil change, I'd gladly charge said customer for it. It's not like someone is forcing that oil change on customers.

[Ud_Luz]

Here's an idea..

 

 

Instead of whining about making so little money, why don't you work somewhere else? Don't cry to me that you spend more than your yearly salary on tools to do your job when there are hundreds of thousands of other jobs out there that you don't need to do that. If I had no drive, no ambition to make any money just so I could go home and sit on the computer and whine about not making any money, I'd quit my current job and do that. Instead, I went to school, busted my ass and got a good job. If you're a mechanic at a car dealership only changing oil and tires, I hate to break it to you, but you are not worth much more than minimum wage. ANYONE can do your job. You are replaceable. You are expendable.

 

Again, nobody is forcing you to work for nothing. Slavery was abolished a long time ago. You're only a slave to your own shortcomings.

 

A business in in business to make money, not be the ethics police and pay way more than an employee is worth. If somebody wants to spend $400 on an oil change, I'd gladly charge said customer for it. It's not like someone is forcing that oil change on customers.

You beat me to it.

[L. Euler]

Now this is funny for 2 reasons

 

1 Putting a tire on is the most basic of maintenance items and takes less than 10 min with a bit of practice

 

2 Tires get changed a lot, which equals a lot of trips to the dealer

May be funny, but if I need to go to the dealer anyway to buy the tire, the install is mouse nuts compared to the cost of the tire and gas to get there and back.  Might as well just carry the whole tire and be done with it there.  I can and have changed tires, but I absolutely hate to do it.  I perform all other repairs and service myself.

[L. Euler]

Let me guess. You've never worked at a dealership nor have you as a technician under flat rate.

So you have no idea what goes on behind closed doors.

Your homework assignment is to google "flat rate". Hopefully afterwards you can respond with some education.

Hey dude, I hope your getting a message here that is sinking in.  I've worked menial jobs (cook, landscape, construction, mechanic) for min wage, because at the time that is what I was worth.  I recognized the futility early on and made something of myself.  I fully recognize the economics of doing business, ANY BUSINESS, and the trick is to always add value.  Sorry to the others for veering from the topic, but this guy needs some alignment.

[B.S. Proof]

Here's an idea..

Instead of whining about making so little money, why don't you work somewhere else? Don't cry to me that you spend more than your yearly salary on tools to do your job when there are hundreds of thousands of other jobs out there that you don't need to do that. If I had no drive, no ambition to make any money just so I could go home and sit on the computer and whine about not making any money, I'd quit my current job and do that. Instead, I went to school, busted my ass and got a good job. If you're a mechanic at a car dealership only changing oil and tires, I hate to break it to you, but you are not worth much more than minimum wage. ANYONE can do your job. You are replaceable. You are expendable.

Again, nobody is forcing you to work for nothing. Slavery was abolished a long time ago. You're only a slave to your own shortcomings.

A business in in business to make money, not be the ethics police and pay way more than an employee is worth. If somebody wants to spend $400 on an oil change, I'd gladly charge said customer for it. It's not like someone is forcing that oil change on customers.

Who says I still work at a stealer anymore? Your reading comprehension skills suck.

Anyone can do it huh? I want you to diagnose why a 45RFE won't engage into low gear sometimes. I want you to overhaul an 5 shaft automatic transmission. Oh wait YOU CAN'T.

Anybody can be an under-the-desk jockey like you, but it takes a special kinda of Charlie Sierra to be proud of it like you are.

[B.S. Proof]

Hey dude, I hope your getting a message here that is sinking in. I've worked menial jobs (cook, landscape, construction, mechanic) for min wage, because at the time that is what I was worth. I recognized the futility early on and made something of myself. I fully recognize the economics of doing business, ANY BUSINESS, and the trick is to always add value. Sorry to the others for veering from the topic, but this guy needs some alignment.

There's one book you need to read.

"Who's gonna fix your car now".

Go ahead and google it.

[L. Euler]

I fix my own cars and two of the four are Mercedes (Go ahead and Google it),  I don't need to read your book.

Edited September 20, 2013 by GammaFunction

[k.g]

Who says I still work at a stealer anymore? Your reading comprehension skills suck.

Anyone can do it huh? I want you to diagnose why a 45RFE won't engage into low gear sometimes. I want you to overhaul an 5 shaft automatic transmission. Oh wait YOU CAN'T.

Anybody can be an under-the-desk jockey like you, but it takes a special kinda of Charlie Sierra to be proud of it like you are.

 

Sounds like you want to play big man on campus. Okay, I'll bike. I'm FAA A&P certified. I can tear apart a pratt & whitney PT6, overhaul it, reassemble and run it in a test cell in 3 days. I've done it before. Done the same with two TPE-331 engines and a J79.

 

(PT6)

 

 

I've diagnosed and fixed electric forklifts, overhauled dozens and dozens of 4 cylinder OHC engines, made unairworthy aircraft airworthy, fabricated from scratch an auxiliary fuel tank and pump system for a 727 APU.

 

 

So don't tell me I couldn't do some high school dropout mechanic's job. I could wrench circles around any dealer mechanic out there. Period.

[B.S. Proof]

Sounds like you want to play big man on campus. Okay, I'll bike. I'm FAA A&P certified. I can tear apart a pratt & whitney PT6, overhaul it, reassemble and run it in a test cell in 3 days. I've done it before. Done the same with two TPE-331 engines and a J79.

(PT6)

I've diagnosed and fixed electric forklifts, overhauled dozens and dozens of 4 cylinder OHC engines, made unairworthy aircraft airworthy, fabricated from scratch an auxiliary fuel tank and pump system for a 727 APU.

So don't tell me I couldn't do some high school dropout mechanic's job. I could wrench circles around any dealer mechanic out there. Period.

So you've built a couple of model airplanes and now you're hot shit?

You couldn't fix a &%$#@!ing sandwich.

[Hans Schmid]

What I don't understand is if the dealers are making all this money, how come everyone isn't doing it? How come your not doing it Nawwal?

What I find comical is this argument is coming from a "employees" point of view, NOT a owner..... If it's so dam easy, go do it Nawwal. I see zero reason why not, that if your numbers are correct the bank would gladly lend you the cash. Hell I would even chip in a couple 100k....

[Hans Schmid]

It costs almost $2,500 per day for the overhead in my business whether anybody works or not, 5 days a week, 52 weeks a year. I never remember "Raking in the dough" as you so aptly put it.

Our main products we sell make very little money. The accessories, parts and service provides almost 80% of our income. The nice thing about America and capitalism is you have free choice of who to purchase from. We're like every other company in that we aren't in it to amuse ourselves. Our employees have families they must support, bills that need to be paid and saving for the future. Add in how much the government charges us for everything. None of this comes free.

PS: I pay $.28 for a telephone jack. We sell it for $5.95, line cord $.14, sell price 6.95. You really don't need to buy from me but my prices on those items are half Radio Shack's prices. Microcenter Computers is even worse. 14' data patch cable from me is $9.95. Last time I was there the same thing was $27.50. My cost on those is < $1.00. I'm guessing with Microcenter's buying power they're likely selling a part that costs them $.25 for $27.50. I can assure you most vehicle dealers don't have these kinds of margins on most items.

Once again, your choice. ?

That's about on par what I pay everyday too. Between the shop, power/heat/water, 10 trucks, lights, equipment etc etc. I ain't getting rich.....

[B.S. Proof]

What I don't understand is if the dealers are making all this money, how come everyone isn't doing it? How come your not doing it Nawwal?

What I find comical is this argument is coming from a "employees" point of view, NOT a owner..... If it's so dam easy, go do it Nawwal. I see zero reason why not, that if your numbers are correct the bank would gladly lend you the cash. Hell I would even chip in a couple 100k....

Cool. At least I have an investor. Canadian currency still equal to or greater than the US dollar?

Alrighty then! I'll let you know where to transfer the funds!

[Theeebalz]

Ok let's see your retarded logic.

Last stealership I worked at had a "dealer logics" system that sold "maintenance packages" that were not in the owners manual nor were they recommended by the manufacturer.

They sold a 15k for $400. All it was, was a glorified Oil change, tire rotation and an engine air filter. It claimed to do all these adjustments, lubrications and inspections which weren't necessary on a car that new.

So after about $25 in parts, and paying the mechanic $15 to do this "service". Where does the rest of this money go? So you're saying it's ok to &%$#@! the customer for $400 for a service that should be less than $100. It's ok for stealers to force wallet flushes on people when their cars don't need it?

You're saying it's ok for the dealer to pay the mechanic less than 20% of their door labor rate?

You're saying it's ok for the technician who has to collect minimum wage because of dealer ass &%$#@!ing is ok.

How would you like to spend $20,000+ in tools, work 60 hours a week only to make that of a Subway sandwich artist? I bet you wouldn't. And guess what, this happens at EVERY DEALER.

So tell me. How should we as technicians and customers feel sorry for these stealerships when they cry "poor"?

I had the dealer owner tell us at a "benefits meeting" that he spends $500/month at Starbucks for coffee and we should be appreciative of our health insurance premiums.

Man you're right, tech wages need to be low and customers need to get raped. It's the only way to keep the dim lights with half the bulbs blown on.

way to put words into someone elses mouth dude.

again how bitter areyou and how shady was your shop? i work 50 hour weeks at 17 as a mechanic and honestly have tools out my ass. see the thing is you're blowing everything out of proportion, i get paid a really hoenst pay for what i do, and you know what? none of us complain where i work, would i like to get paid more? sure! can i? probably not.

i wonder what the sorters and packagers at the motorcycle superstore make an hour, that of a sammich artist?

god i can't get over how shady of dealer you worked at, especially if they're charging $400 something that took a tech at the very most an hour. $79 dollars an hour on any non warranty work. 

[rroeckel]

my friend does, and they charge him 60$ just to check if his valves are in spec (he's not mechanically inclined) they treat everyone like an idiot to,

 

My local Honda/Suzuki dealer estimated 5 hours at @ $100 to check my valves this past weekend.  I've never done it but I figured I'll give it a try.  Oh, and a repair shop that I've gone to have my son's gear shift shaft replaced (he charged $360 for that but what do I know), estimated $300 for checking and another $300 to adjust.

 

I'd love to have a sticky of shops by region where readers feel comfortable with the dealer/shops.

[Hans Schmid]

way to put words into someone elses mouth dude.

again how bitter areyou and how shady was your shop? i work 50 hour weeks at 17 as a mechanic and honestly have tools out my ass. see the thing is you're blowing everything out of proportion, i get paid a really hoenst pay for what i do, and you know what? none of us complain where i work, would i like to get paid more? sure! can i? probably not.

i wonder what the sorters and packagers at the motorcycle superstore make an hour, that of a sammich artist?

god i can't get over how shady of dealer you worked at, especially if they're charging $400 something that took a tech at the very most an hour. $79 dollars an hour on any non warranty work.

You get $17 an hour? That seems really low for a mechanic....

[William1]

my friend does, and they charge him 60$ just to check if his valves are in spec (he's not mechanically inclined) they treat everyone like an idiot to,

 

My local Honda/Suzuki dealer estimated 5 hours at @ $100 to check my valves this past weekend.  I've never done it but I figured I'll give it a try.  Oh, and a repair shop that I've gone to have my son's gear shift shaft replaced (he charged $360 for that but what do I know), estimated $300 for checking and another $300 to adjust.

 

I'd love to have a sticky of shops by region where readers feel comfortable with the dealer/shops.

Depending on the bike, a valve check can take from 45 minutes (typical dirtbike) to several hours (like on a body work challenged sport bike). Once checked, add 45 minutes to one hour for ANY bike to also adjust the valves. Most of the work entails pulling cleaning the bike (many people bring them in filthy), remove the tank, seat and anything else 'in the way'. Remove the spark plug, remove the valve cover, roate to TDC on the power stroke, slip in the feeler gage, write down what you get. Compare to the book. If the clearances are off, then you should see if they have been done previously (to determine if a adjust or service is called for).  If just an adjustment, remove tensioner, remove cam caps, remove cames, remove buckets. Note shim numbers. Do the math. Swap out shims as needed. reassemble.

[Theeebalz]

You get $17 an hour? That seems really low for a mechanic....

17 years old said nothing of money per hour.

[Hans Schmid]

17 years old said nothing of money per hour.

Ahhhh, yes, sorry, it just looked like $17hr....

[Dragon67]

On a more cheerful note . . .

 

So, I'm driving my wife's Civic to a car dealer last week to hopefully trade the thing in if the price is right.  I'm in a suit, my wife is sitting next to me.  All of a sudden, the thing starts running a little strange.  Look down and see the temp gauge is maxed out.  So I pull into a gas station to see what's up.  No coolant in the rad.

 

So, I buy some 50/50 and start pouring it in.  The redhead says "honey, look down".  Sure enough, fluid is pouring out the bottom where the hose connects.  The hose clamp broke.  Son of a  . . .  Talk about bad timing.  

 

It takes a half hour for the thing to cool down, and I know I can't make it to the car dealer.  Besides, it's harder to trade in a car that doesn't exactly work.  I could make it a few miles to my Kawi dealer, though, and they were right on the way.

 

So I pull in the Kawi lot as the manager was pushing a bike out.  He says "What's up Jeff?" and I say "I need a favor!"  That's all I had to say.  Car was fixed in seconds.  I gave them a few bucks to buy lunch, had to force them to take it, and went to the car dealer and got a great trade-in deal.  I'm guessing hundreds more than I would have been able to get with a car that had no coolant, right?

 

The Kawi guys in my neighborhood do some pretty cool things at the races, too.  They just choose to be exceptional.  That is a choice any dealer, or any person for that matter, can make.  I think it's good for business, but I also think it's just good.  

[k.g]

I called my local dealer needing some spoke nipples. He looks around and finds some broken packs, says I can have as many as I need for free. Dad works on their forklift, so we take care of them, they take care of us. They always hook us up with parts and sx tickets.