05-17-2005, 04:31 PM
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Mein Name ist Dieter.
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Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: Pearland, TX
Posts: 174
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Newer cars are disposable...
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Originally Posted by PJG56
You can believe this or not, but the primary focus in running our shop is to get the job done right and not have the customer come back because we missed something or screwed something up. Everyone who works for us is on hourly compensation, versus flat rate. A lot of that probably has to do with me being a poor manager, but I never want a tech looking at the clock, worrying that he might be losing money. Alas, it is always me who loses money, but that goes back to my managerial problems. There are a vast majority of people out there who don't know a wheel from a tire who depend on our expertise to safely and competently repair their vehicles, and I take this very seriously. In all honesty we have never, in 22 years, done what you could call a perfect job,,,, but I have never seen the factories make a perfect car either, so if we can do as good as the mega corporations, I can live with it. It is getting harder and harder to make a profit in this business and I am sure everyone is getting squeezed to the breaking point. This leads to shortcuts and incompetent and underpaid help, but I swear I would close my doors before I would ever cheat or shortcut a customer. Just my .02.
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I believe a big problem is that car manufacturers offer such appealing lease terms that at the end of 4 years, the car has been whooped, scheduled maintenance hasn't been done, most mechnical repairs are under warranty and upon return, the leasee is offered a new car to continue the cycle. Of course the dealer will make the car saleable with touch-ups here and there and sells/leases it again with an extended warranty. This is where it leaves indy shops in a bind because they have nothing left to repair except for beaters and the die-hard car owners automobile.
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