a story on ‘Marketplace’ Independent garages face mechanic shortage, evolving tech
Add to that EVs. Our shop owner complains that EVs require little enough service that they will put him out of business.
Seems that would have the opposite effect on mechanic shortage. Vehicles needing less service means less work for mechanics.
Maybe for the short term, but your shop should look to broaden their horizons a bit.
EVs may not have an engine, but they still have HVAC systems that age and fail, they have steering and suspension systems like a regular car, power windows and seats, tires and wheel bearings and CV axles, lighting, etc. Not to mention that those HV batteries will need service once the 100K factory warranty runs out and the aftermarket is in a good position to offer that.
EVs shouldn’t put anyone out of business, they should change the work the business does.
Rewind 140 years…
Looka here, they done took away the horse and put in this newfangled engine instead. Now what are we gonna do, they done put us outta work fixin’ carriages!
And fewer shops, which was his concern.
I told him that in different words. They could do tires and alignment for me. Also, EVs aren’t going to be the greatest part of the market for a long time. I was actually talking to the owner’s son. IMO it won’t be a big problem for him for twenty to thirty years.
Not that i know a wh
That shouldn’t make a difference. It’s the number of mechanics vs number of jobs. So what if there are 10 mechanics working at 2 places as opposed to 10 mechanics working at 5 places.
I read the article. And I call Beeyess on the idea that modern vehicles are the reason why so many people are leaving the auto repair industry. I would argue that the reason is something different entirely: woefully inadequate pay, and “flat-rate” pay schemes which force the mechanic to either rush and sacrifice quality, or work for free.
I didn’t leave the industry
Rather, I moved from the private sector to the public sector
No looking back
I just took a tour of Porsche Naples today.
Porsche makes EVs. There were several in for significant service… and all torn apart. They were the first Porsche dealer in the US to send one of their techs to EV certification training.
It won’t eliminate mechanics jobs, but it will change what they need to learn.
How did you arrange the tour?
It was arranged by our volunteer group from the Revs museum. We have done it a time or 2.
The dealership is the second largest seller in the US. They serve breakfast every Saturday to their customers and potential customers and they love showing off their facilities. The garage floor is light gray tile with black grout! Picture below.
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A few thoughts . . .
when most guys are unhappy, they’ll just do what they need to do and move on
no videos
When I left the private sector, I just left
no videos
the world didn’t need to know
The people that mattered were told and that’s about it
now, as for that video . . . it’s nothing we haven’t heard before
no offense, @davesmopar but we’ve all been saying this for years
and in a few years time, guys will still be complaining about being paid low warranty book times
seems there’s a few approaches . . .
be more efficient . . . this entails many things, imo
less complaining. the more time you spend making videos and complaining, the less time you’re spending actually doing the repair. Get cracking and move on to the next job. I guess I’m talking about an attitude adjustment
you can leave to go work for an independent, open your own shop, move to the public sector, retrain for an entirely different field, etc.
all I know is that making videos and complaining to the world doesn’t actually fix any of the problems, afaik
and, btw, I’ve never seen a Mr Big in person
And it looks too pristine
most guys I know have tool boxes that LOOK like they’ve been well used. probably because they spend more time using the box and getting it . . . and the tools inside . . . dirty because they’re meant to get the job done, not look good in some video
Maybe they bought used tool boxes to save money. Tools too.
Back in the day, I bought a really beat-up Snap-on box for a great price, from a guy who was leaving the field entirely
A few years later, I was offered way more for it, as a trade-in, on a new box, which I still have, but it doesn’t look like showroom new. It’s there to work, same as me
And I have bought many used tools over the years, btw
I don’t need a Mr Big to “prove” to the world I know what I’m doing
No offense taking… 
Anyway, yeah I knew dealer warranty pay was less, but I always thought it was the 1.4 hours vs the 2.3 hours customer pay as it shows for that vehicle using Mitchel labor guide, and I was OK with that because normally while under factory warranty the vehicle is newer, normally cleaner and overall easier to work on vs the same vehicle with 100K plus miles on it… But that 0.8 is total BS…
So, customer pay is 2.3 hours, warranty pay is 1.4 hours, but the dealership warranty pay is 0.8 hours ??? That is the ONLY reason for the video being posted, that is a huge difference…
I wonder why it took him 11 years to leave the dealer though if that happens often…
Now I have seen labor times that were flat out wrong, meaning, for example, a Taurus vs Sable show different times for the same job, so wondering if that could be the issue here…
But yeah I was taught a long time ago to take the good with the bad, and I passed that along to many younger techs down the road, but that 0.8 is just some major BS…
Anyone else seen that drastic a difference between normal warranty time and dealer warranty time???
I was told when I 1st started out in the automotive field as a mechanic that the tool box only holds your tools for you, it is the tools themselves that make you the money, so put your money in tools not the tool box, back then the cheapest tool boxes (that I knew of) were Craftsman, so I have 3 now, but I have been eyeballing those big 72" HF boxes lately, would be nice to be able to put most of my tools in one big box, don’t even think I could fit them all in a 72" top and bottom box with side cabinets, I would just love to have all my wrenches in one drawer and sockets in another… lol
I’ve looked at some of the used Snap-on boxes on FB market place that would probably hold everything (very nice boxes), but even on MP they are $30,000 for what I would need/want… I do love my Snap-on tools, but I will stick to the cheaper box(es)…
I did buy my big Craftsman box off either the Snap-on or Mac tools truck, it was brand new, the guy had bought it cause it was Black (most were Red back then) and before he had time to swap his tools over to it, a tool truck guy saw the box and offered a trade in for the new Intimidator box, he took it and I got the box for 1/2 price… lol
She selected the wrong labor operation code, the labor op. code to replace the fuel tank is 237011 (1.4). They selected from the “Maintenance” category, not the repair section. My labor guide shows 0.8 in the maintenance section for Fuel Tank - “Clean”.
Warranty companies, even Toyota Extra Care issue labor times when authorizing repairs, it is up to the service writer to agree/negotiate labor times. The technician needs to be a better accountant than the service writer.
This is an illustration from an older labor guide, the basic operation codes stay the same.
Imagine if MR Clean, the shop manager in the video was your service department manager and you had to explain to him the service writer cheated you out of 0.6 hours; he doesn’t understand labor operation codes.