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Posted: 5/30/2024 10:03:51 PM EDT
[#1]
I usually just check one box, quality and tell them to let me know when it's done.
People think yelling and rushing gets you what you want. It doesn't. Saying "let me know when it's done" gets you the best job. And it's on you to figure out the in between time. |
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Posted: 5/30/2024 10:07:24 PM EDT
[#2]
Quoted: Took an old buddy of mine to get his car fixed, he’s kinda a retired hermit type (but a cool hermit type, he’s a former state pistol champ and flies model airplanes as his only social outlet) and keeps an ancient Crown Vic he’s had since new. The battery was giving him fits last year so I helped him get another this spring and noticed his terminals were corroded and the positive side was partially dissolved from lot-rot as he doesn’t drive it much. He was adamant that he was ok to clean up the connectors and tighten them down, so I left him to his devices. Fast forward a month and he’s calling this week me to help him out again because his “cheap Chinese battery took a shit on him!”…. I cleaned his terminals and tightened them as best I could and checked the battery voltage….. 12.67v… it fired right up. He had made arrangements to take it straight to the shop after “I jumped it for him” to get brakes, a front end, and to advise on the battery connections vs. just new cables…… Holy Fuck. They want more than $3,000! For a brake job amd suspension!! I had no idea I was this out of synch with the times, for me, $2k would have been a lot-and thank goodness I told my buddy I would change his alternator if he needed one or he may have asked for that too.. |
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Posted: 5/30/2024 10:08:39 PM EDT
[#3]
Thank brandon for all of this.
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Posted: 5/30/2024 10:09:59 PM EDT
[#4]
I’ve been in the business a long time. Done everything from technician to service advisor to parts counter (currently job) communication and transparency go a long way to making a customer happy. the price of parts and labor sucks but it’s the cost of doing business. You want it done right? We will take care of you with the full backing of Toyota, one of the largest corporations on the planet. You want cheap and half assed parts? Go elsewhere. That’s the bottom line. I have a good group of guys in the shop and I trust most of them to work on my truck. I wish it were that way everything but I’m painfully aware that it’s not the case everywhere you go.
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Posted: 5/30/2024 10:17:07 PM EDT
[#5]
Quote HistoryQuoted: We don't pad slap anything. New rotors and pads for everything. Premium. Just replacing pads is the wrong way. Unless they are also turning the rotors. Which I highly doubt. Quote HistoryQuoted: Quoted: Local place here is $140/axle +tax for just pads. Hell I thought that was high  We don't pad slap anything. New rotors and pads for everything. Premium. Just replacing pads is the wrong way. Unless they are also turning the rotors. Which I highly doubt. I can buy another change of pads (50,000 miles from now) for the cost of new or turned rotors. |
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Posted: 5/30/2024 10:18:56 PM EDT
[#6]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Haha I do the brake pads on my truck for about 50 bucks an hour's worth of time. Brake jobs are the biggest freaking rip off at mechanics. Truth |
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Posted: 5/30/2024 10:20:48 PM EDT
[#7]
Quote HistoryQuoted: I can buy another change of pads (50,000 miles from now) for the cost of new or turned rotors. Quote HistoryQuoted: Quoted: Quoted: Local place here is $140/axle +tax for just pads. Hell I thought that was high We don't pad slap anything. New rotors and pads for everything. Premium. Just replacing pads is the wrong way. Unless they are also turning the rotors. Which I highly doubt. I can buy another change of pads (50,000 miles from now) for the cost of new or turned rotors. Also, it depends a lot on your driving style and where you live and how much weight you have. By the time my pads are done, my rotors are so heat checked that I would never even consider pad slapping them. |
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Posted: 5/30/2024 10:25:10 PM EDT
[#8]
Quote HistoryQuoted: The real truth is it depends on the individual. And management. I have a dude that is just fucking flawless, like zero comebacks, pulls fucking diagrams, the whole nine. Do you think he turns a lot of work? Funniest part, he's absolutely fantastic, but do the customers like it? Nope. Do the customer facing positions like it to explain why their car wasn't ready on time because he found other stuff? Nope. So now we have a fantastic tech, doing a really good job, who the customers hate (despite in all their retard rants demanding they can't find a good one) and who I constantly need to protect from customer facing positions for doing their job. The reality of the matter is most people just don't care and they're clicking fast and cheap of the 3 boxes, then bitching about it. The guys that do cheap and quality are getting run out. Jokes on them, I know who to take my car to for every specialty, including glass and body work. Never choose fast unless it's an emergency. Quote HistoryQuoted: Quoted: Quoted: You mean like actually cleaning mating surfaces on the caliper and greasing the slide/contact points? It takes just a couple minutes but I'd bet 99% of all [paid] mechanics do as little actual prep and cleaning work as possible but they damn well will charge ''shop material'' fees 100% of the time. I'm an anal little shit in cleaning, lubing, and using proper lubes, sealants or antiseize on bolts and such. Bullshit. The smart ones absolutely do it right. Want to know why? Because if it's not done right and it comes back, they get to fix it for free until the customer is happy. The real truth is it depends on the individual. And management. I have a dude that is just fucking flawless, like zero comebacks, pulls fucking diagrams, the whole nine. Do you think he turns a lot of work? Funniest part, he's absolutely fantastic, but do the customers like it? Nope. Do the customer facing positions like it to explain why their car wasn't ready on time because he found other stuff? Nope. So now we have a fantastic tech, doing a really good job, who the customers hate (despite in all their retard rants demanding they can't find a good one) and who I constantly need to protect from customer facing positions for doing their job. The reality of the matter is most people just don't care and they're clicking fast and cheap of the 3 boxes, then bitching about it. The guys that do cheap and quality are getting run out. Jokes on them, I know who to take my car to for every specialty, including glass and body work. Never choose fast unless it's an emergency. |
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Posted: 5/30/2024 10:26:51 PM EDT
[#9]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Truth Quote HistoryQuoted: Quoted: Haha I do the brake pads on my truck for about 50 bucks an hour's worth of time. Brake jobs are the biggest freaking rip off at mechanics. Truth |
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Posted: 5/30/2024 10:33:32 PM EDT
[#10]
Quote HistoryQuoted: wait until you see body/paint prices. boomers are the worst at this and still keep talking about stupid fucking earl schwab There is one right down the road from my house. Comparatively their prices are not bad. I'd bolt the new panels on and drive it down there if my truck got damaged. Their paint looks decent and roughly half of what other body shops charge. |
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Posted: 5/30/2024 10:36:36 PM EDT
[#11]
Quote HistoryQuoted: 2015 Mustang GT. A/C compressor shit the bed last week. $1800 at the dealership. Not a whole lot of other choices in my area. That's maybe a $300 part and $30 in freon. Unless it exploded internally I'd replace it, blow the lines out and ship it. No wonder GD hates mechanics so much. |
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Posted: 5/30/2024 10:39:14 PM EDT
[#12]
Quote HistoryQuoted: What's your time worth to have to mess with it again? Also, it depends a lot on your driving style and where you live and how much weight you have. By the time my pads are done, my rotors are so heat checked that I would never even consider pad slapping them. Quote HistoryQuoted: Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Local place here is $140/axle +tax for just pads. Hell I thought that was high We don't pad slap anything. New rotors and pads for everything. Premium. Just replacing pads is the wrong way. Unless they are also turning the rotors. Which I highly doubt. I can buy another change of pads (50,000 miles from now) for the cost of new or turned rotors. Also, it depends a lot on your driving style and where you live and how much weight you have. By the time my pads are done, my rotors are so heat checked that I would never even consider pad slapping them. I'll feed pads to my car until the rotors MUST be replaced. My time to do a pad swap is minimal and gets my car rolling again. |
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Posted: 5/30/2024 10:39:47 PM EDT
[#13]
“If my lunch at mcdonald’s costs $20 the day I am working on your car, I’m adding an extra $60 onto your bill. Because somebody has to pay for all this shit!!!”
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Posted: 5/30/2024 10:47:30 PM EDT
[#14]
Quote HistoryQuoted: We don't pad slap anything. New rotors and pads for everything. Premium. Just replacing pads is the wrong way. Unless they are also turning the rotors. Which I highly doubt. Meh. I've changed just the pads numerous times without issue. |
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Posted: 5/30/2024 10:50:14 PM EDT
[#15]
Saved my g/f about $350 just doing the maintenance myself.
Oil and filter - $130(includes labor) Rotate wheels/tires - $50 Alignment - $150 
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Posted: 5/30/2024 10:56:06 PM EDT
[#16]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Old Crown Vic is still very DIY friendly. Now you need a Bachelors in Computer Science with a minor in Electrical Engineering, just to diagnose. Actually, with the current technologies in the OBDII scanners it is easier to work on cars than it was when they had a rat’s nest of vacuum lines. Plug the scanner in and it will tell you why the car is pitching a fit. My scanner walks me through the most likely problems and even provides links to buy the parts. |
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Posted: 5/30/2024 11:37:07 PM EDT
[#17]
Quoted: Took an old buddy of mine to get his car fixed, he’s kinda a retired hermit type (but a cool hermit type, he’s a former state pistol champ and flies model airplanes as his only social outlet) and keeps an ancient Crown Vic he’s had since new. The battery was giving him fits last year so I helped him get another this spring and noticed his terminals were corroded and the positive side was partially dissolved from lot-rot as he doesn’t drive it much. He was adamant that he was ok to clean up the connectors and tighten them down, so I left him to his devices. Fast forward a month and he’s calling this week me to help him out again because his “cheap Chinese battery took a shit on him!”…. I cleaned his terminals and tightened them as best I could and checked the battery voltage….. 12.67v… it fired right up. He had made arrangements to take it straight to the shop after “I jumped it for him” to get brakes, a front end, and to advise on the battery connections vs. just new cables…… Holy Fuck. They want more than $3,000! For a brake job amd suspension!! I had no idea I was this out of synch with the times, for me, $2k would have been a lot-and thank goodness I told my buddy I would change his alternator if he needed one or he may have asked for that too.. Damn, all of a sudden I feel like I got off cheap for $3k on Desmo, fork seals and a coolant bottle. |
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Posted: 5/30/2024 11:40:18 PM EDT
[#18]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Local Chevy dealer gets $225 hr. shop time. Called about a rear main seal replacement on my Tahoe. $2300 with tax and parts... Paid $1420 to repair shop...And today's kids want to go to IVY League schools so they can make far less than a Trade Serviceman position...Go figure... Depending on what level that tech is at he's only getting $25 to $35 an hour flat rate at most shops. It's back breaking work and you have to be fast of you lose your ass. I've worked Dealerships and Fleet Maintenance. |
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