You guys need to come by. Make sure you need those high profit, dont take much time jobs (brakes, trans service, induction cleaning, brake fluid service, etc).

blacksnapon said:

You guys need to come by. Make sure you need those high profit, dont take much time jobs (brakes, trans service, induction cleaning, brake fluid service, etc).

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Any they can bring me there warrenty diesel work. LOL, I don't get to see any of that gravey work....

i would be happy to see a econ engine job right now. 6 hours in 2 days.

Guess I need to upgrade the turbo and injectors again for you Vince. I can blow her up in a hurry and let you replace the engine under warranty. That should keep you busy for a while.

bowtiehatr said:

i would be happy to see a econ engine job right now. 6 hours in 2 days.

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Ouch, things must be bad if your wishing for that. Move up north theres always plenty of diesel work here.

How are your hours holding up? We're down about 20% overall in the back end this month so far.

The curse of being a Ford mechanic, I guess...

The damn things don't break...

We run 6 guys here all day everyday. Were straight out busy for the most part. Im swamped myself..

We never have had a real problem with the diesels. They're just not tearing up.

well let me ask this question of the mechanics (and Ernie) here.

What are the reasons you guys think business is down?
naturally slow season (summer),better quality product? better educated consumers? (driving habits, maintance and such) economic reasons (egeople not doing small repairs because funds are low and only doing "Must Do" repairs, people doing more work themselves)

I mean lets face it, everyone drives so the cars are out there and being used, why not repaired?

Observations from our Service Manager- folks are shopping price harder than before, spending the minimum the keep stuff on the road, and deferring some maintenance. Sounds like folks are hunkering down for the short-term.

CaFordDude said:

(egeople not doing small repairs because funds are low and only doing "Must Do" repairs, people doing more work themselves)

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First of all where did that dang smile come from????

Well that's too bad.. I hate vehicle maintance with a passion. Mechanics love to see me coming because if they say it needs getting done I just have them do it. I do not want to be broke down on the side of some road some where because I didn't want to spend $300 on something. That's just me. Maybe I'm throwing money away but I ALWAYS buy 4 new tires. never 1 or 2 or 3, always 4 I figure they last longer that way. I have a new air filter put in every other oil change cuz I don't want it gettin gummed up. I would rather prevent then repair.

CaFordDude said:

First of all where did that dang smile come from????

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: + p =

If you had put a space in, it wouldn't have done that- : p

CaFordDude said:

well let me ask this question of the mechanics (and Ernie) here.

What are the reasons you guys think business is down?
naturally slow season (summer),better quality product? better educated consumers? (driving habits, maintance and such) economic reasons (egeople not doing small repairs because funds are low and only doing "Must Do" repairs, people doing more work themselves)

I mean lets face it, everyone drives so the cars are out there and being used, why not repaired?

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I think the cars are being better built now, people are also shoping around for the lowest labor rate, which usually means taking it to an indepenednt shop. The problem is the people are always thinking the dealers are out to rob them, some do but not all are like that, and word of mouth travels fast and far. We see alot of warrenty repairs, after there warrenty is gone they don't come in much unless theres something the "other guy" can't fix.

d-kuzmen said:

I think the cars are being better built now, people are also shoping around for the lowest labor rate, which usually means taking it to an indepenednt shop. The problem is the people are always thinking the dealers are out to rob them, some do but not all are like that, and word of mouth travels fast and far. We see alot of warrenty repairs, after there warrenty is gone they don't come in much unless theres something the "other guy" can't fix.

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We're being pro-active about it- (coupons, mailers, emails, etc), but in the land of Chebbie the average new car generates 75% less warranty dollars in repair than it did five years ago. That's huge when you think about it.

polarbear said:

We're being pro-active about it- (coupons, mailers, emails, etc), but in the land of Chebbie the average new car generates 75% less warranty dollars in repair than it did five years ago. That's huge when you think about it.

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We've been sending out coupons and such to all of out customers, $9.99 oil changes, with hopes of some upsell at the same time, but again these people are just here for the cheap oil change. Tell them anythings wrong with there car they don't want to hear it. It all comes down the the all mighty dollar. I ask why we even bother with the coupons if the public is only gonna come in for that item and not spend a penny more, were loosing money.

My brother is a certified ASE Master mechanic that owns his own shop. His rates on jobs are comparable to local dealerships, in fact he does contract work for several dealerships in the area. I still go to the dealership because I just feel that people that ONLY work on Fords are gonna be just a bit better at diagnosing problems with my Ford.

My brother is cool with that as he has more work then he can do anyways. At least when I have a problem I can call him and get his opinion for when I go to the shop and talk like I know something.

It must be hard in service industries. Nowadays the cheaper/faster/better mentality is so prevelant people sometimes forget the old saying "you get what you pay for"