Hey Scotty,
Been watching you for a few years now and I am a big fan! I've been a motorcycle technician and owned a small repair shop in San Diego for a few years and currently not in the industry. I'm working for a commercial real estate firm as a maintenance engineer thanks to my background and have notice other quality technicians leaving the auto/moto field to chase guaranteed money because the flat rate system being their main complaint-and of course warranty work. Do you think the auto (motorcycle) industry is viewing this as a real problem? Or are they hoping for the best? When I had my shop, I couldn't find quality help which had me wrenching instead of growing the business which I have now converted to a part time online site. I felt some backlash with longtime customers feeling abandoned and the local dealerships have B-level techs at best with a lot of comebacks. As much as I want to help people, it's just not worth it for me anymore financially. Can the industry change their view on flat rate as cars and motorcycles become more tech oriented requiring stronger talent?
I don't think anything will change until it starts hitting somebody's bottom line (ie sales figures).
Unfortunately, people need cars. They're not optional, so the auto industry has us by the short and curlies.
The other problem is that reliability or quality of service and workmanship don't really factor into people's decisions when they decide which car to buy. And when they do buy new cars, they don't keep them for very long. So the rest of us are stuck buying whatever is trendy.
You can't win. You probably made the right choice getting out. Scotty has earned his living from Youtube for some time now.
What can ya do? It's just another challenge in life.
{black}:idontknow:
For sure. Been banking videos of all my work to release and perhaps that can generate views and people can learn on their own. Just sucks that quality talent is out the door.
It sure does. And the auto industry is just a small sliver of the problem. It probably doesn't bode well for America.
And the ultimate ramifications won't be felt by me. Maybe the next generation or two.
Can the industry change their view on flat rate as cars and motorcycles become more tech oriented requiring stronger talent?
What’s wrong with a flat rate? If a job is based on a set book time (say 14 hours to replace an engine) and a technician finishes the work in 8 hours he is essentially getting paid for 14 hours of work. This is especially true if he owns the shop and it’s a one man shop, which is the case with the mechanic I usually go to. His decades of experience allow him to consistently beat the book time and reap the rewards, whereas the newer guys will take longer and not benefit as much. I think book time is just fine versus based on how long the job actually takes.
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Also, it protects the consumers although 99% are not aware how long a job is supposed to take. So, if a technician takes 20 hours on that same 14 hour engine job the customer is charged 14 hours and it’s a loss for the technician (but that’s where years of experience benefit them).
I agree and slightly disagree. I've been doing the solo game for years and efficiency(as mentioned above) goes down with typing up repair orders, talking with customers, picking up parts, then the actual work that needs to be done-in my case a wife that finds every reason to interrupt me along with other customer calls... it's not an ideal system for most and bottomline, you take all the liability if something goes wrong. Not to forget the lack of markup on parts you can charge if you don't have a dealer account. BUT, yes, in a busy shop environment where a good tech with the right support can clean up on flat rate. With the industry the way that it is (from my experience at good and bad shops) it doesn't incentivize new talent to succeed off the bat and really, most shops have older techs working that can produce because of a hustler generation to pump out work. I've been flat rate where my parts people suck and I prefer to write my own tickets, but even pricing things appropriately on parts and sales where it becomes lost time picking up the slack. There will always those for an against flat rate, but i can see the argument from both sides and how it doesn't favor new techs overall.
I have ALLDATA already and it is helpful!
I took my Catalina to the shop I use when my own wrenching skills won't cut it. The mechanic there couldn't figure out the rear main seal and it took almost a month before it was ready to go again. I was expecting to pay an absolute arm and leg for that. He only charged me $650 for labor. Like 5 hours worth. I was shocked.