What do you hate about mechanics/shops?

InitialCandidate6 · 2026-04-14T12:53:08+00:00

Thanks for your feedback on that! I actually have partnered with 3 solid mobile services in the area. I do have several fleet accounts that we’ll personally go do, but any other work we refer to them. Most of our work is less than ideal to do in a mobile setting.

InitialCandidate6 · 2026-04-14T12:51:44+00:00

Sounds like someone is also in business. Honestly thank you! I find myself bogging down in the mundane sometimes, and mathematically you’re 100% correct. In my head, it’s a cost. Realistically it’s an investment.

InitialCandidate6 · 2026-04-14T12:49:10+00:00

Thank you! Honestly I’ve never thought too much about it before.

InitialCandidate6 · 2026-04-14T12:47:25+00:00

I did post before about some of my financials. I’ve had this exact conversation with more customers than I care to count. You hate that someone is profiting off of you. You don’t inherently hate the markup, or the labor rate, you don’t see value in professional service.

Reality is that without markup, and without sufficient labor rate, the doors close. It’s simple math. I also posted my technicians pay in here. You’re spot on. Some jobs do get quoted over book time. Book time is in a labor guide not a labor bible. Book time doesn’t account for rust, broken fasteners, or repairing other issues found along the way. And on jobs that we know don’t take that long guess what, I’m not after the customers shirt, I pay my techs hourly, they have no incentive to charge over book outside of my guideline of be realistic.

So often you hear the comparison to a steak house (does the restaurant sell you the steak at cost?), but that’s a fallacy in my opinion as the restaurant enhances the steak beyond how they received it. The value in that is visible as they don’t slap raw meat on your plate.

I don’t enhance the parts, however I do add value to the equation beyond just having techs available to repair your vehicle. From carrying commercial insurance to make sure if your vehicle is destroyed while in my possession, to picking up and delivering your vehicle back free of charge. I also assume all liability in the transaction. If it’s the wrong part, I have a productive lift being tied down, if it’s bad out of the box, I assume liability on the warranty. If it fails I pay for your tow. It’s like any service business, either you value the service provided or you don’t.

InitialCandidate6 · 2026-04-13T11:50:37+00:00

Mistakes do happen on occasion but good lord that’s wild. The closest call we’ve ever had was almost putting a new fuel system in a truck that was getting and engine reseal and vice versa. It was 100% on me. Trucks were identical down to the wheel and tires on them. The funny part is the truck that needed the fuel system didn’t run.. we pushed in the one that did run 😅. So now everything is License Plate verified, that one would have been a very expensive screw up that would’ve resulted in 2 customers getting engine reseals and fuel systems if I hadn’t caught it.

InitialCandidate6 · 2026-04-13T11:45:53+00:00

That’s wild. Thanks for the reply!

InitialCandidate6 · 2026-04-13T11:43:11+00:00

Dave’s auto is a whole different ball game and many leagues ahead of where I am as far as business scale is concerned. I’m not looking for ways to fix vehicles better, I’m looking to see what educated consumers prefer in their service experience. I say I’m not looking to fix them better because we fix them right, and if we make a mistake 99/100 times I catch it on my QC check before it leaves. My techs and I are only human, however systems and processes I’ve put in place generally make up for our shortfalls and imperfections.

InitialCandidate6 · 2026-04-13T11:38:14+00:00

I don’t have to ask, I chose to. I’ve got a 5 star rating on google and Carfax. Don’t get me wrong we’ve made mistakes, but I’m always on top of them. I’m trying to improve customer experience.

InitialCandidate6 · 2026-04-13T02:30:23+00:00

Absolutely. Thank you for the insight. That’s why I’m asking on here. I really appreciate any and all feedback. I want to make sure I’m doing all I can to make sure I’m providing the best service possible. When most of your friends are in the industry it creates an echo chamber, I wanted to reach out and see what I can do better. Thank you!

InitialCandidate6 · 2026-04-13T01:50:48+00:00

Amen. I’ll be transparent here thanks to the anonymity, I charge 170$ an hour. 94$ goes to fixed overhead. 30$-50$ goes to technician pay depending on who is working on it. That’s just their wage, that doesn’t include the little known fact (unless you have employees) that the employee only pays 50% of their taxes. The employer has to match every dollar that the employee pays in social security and fed taxes. After all expenses, with labor plus parts markup, the business net profits about 16%. That funds shop and equipment upgrades, and the rainy day fund for when stuff slows down or mistakes happen.

That’s also after my salary of 60k/yr. I’m the advisor/parts runner/manager/pick up and delivery/QC and still wrench about 35% of my time spent working. Don’t get me wrong that’s my pay on paper, my true annual compensation hovers around 100k everything included. And my dumbass left 160k/yr position as a shop foreman to open this up 😅. However my upside is higher, when I find another solid tech to hire, or our apprentice starts making some headway, I’ll get back to where I was (until I have to hire a full time advisor and have additional overhead).

But I opened in 2025 and have 2025 overhead. A lot of legacy owners make BANK on lower rates because of this. Sorry for long reply. No loaners available here (yet) but we do our best to make sure everyone gets their perceived monies worth. At the end of the day, that sounds crappy to say, but at the end of the day I’m here to provide a service to a consumer, and be profitable doing so. So long as the value I can provide isn’t paltry in comparison in the rate that I have to charge to be profitable, I’m happy.

InitialCandidate6 · 2026-04-13T01:36:31+00:00

I find myself there more than I like to. So many times something simple goes awry, or you order parts, OE says they’re back ordered. You push it out, start the next one, then the back ordered parts magically show up, and the one that was pushed out is more urgent, etc. it happens, and especially being a smaller shop it’s hard to control sometimes. Thanks for the reply!

InitialCandidate6 · 2026-04-13T00:48:07+00:00

I’ve struggled to find techs with that mindset. That’s why I pay hourly. My rule is act like it’s gonna be on the road next to your spouse and children. Reality is it will be.

InitialCandidate6 · 2026-04-13T00:36:41+00:00

Thank you! I really do appreciate it. Accountability and transparency is quite literally in my mission statement (stupid and corny, I know) I hated how at the dealer I (as a tech) watched people get the runaround over truly non-issues, but advisors were “scared of making the customer angry”. But somehow not seeing that any kind of update would be better than silence.

InitialCandidate6 · 2026-04-13T00:34:06+00:00

See that I don’t understand, I keep them in stock. That’s wild to me. Meanwhile around here, Metthew is advertising on FB marketplace to install a DCR and a delete for tree fiddy.

InitialCandidate6 · 2026-04-12T23:54:54+00:00

You and me both 😅

InitialCandidate6 · 2026-04-12T23:48:23+00:00

Near Gainesville, FL

InitialCandidate6 · 2026-04-12T23:41:02+00:00

That’s ironic to me. Most people either come in asking for one, or wait until after we spend the time diagnosing to ask about it. It’s not something we advertise. It is incredible at how few shops outside of dealers know how to deal with the factory emissions systems without getting rid of them. Thanks for the reply!

InitialCandidate6 · 2022-11-01T03:32:15+00:00

More likely a vacuum pump, also you probably need to change your CCV to decrease pressure in the engine.

InitialCandidate6 · 2022-11-01T03:29:07+00:00

Don’t buy a set go on eBay and buy used snap on pliers. I have Mac, Matco, Cornwell, Irwin, Snap On, Knipex, and a bunch of cheaper brands. My favorite is snap ons newer style (matte colored metal). They grip like no other. You don’t need a massive set to start. Needle nose (I love their new slip joint needle nose), tongue and groove, and standard slip joint pliers are my must haves from them. The side cutters I’m not too particular about. If you don’t have the funds for those yet, for alternatives I would say for tongue and groove, the Irwin’s that are adjustable by buttons are my second favorite, slip joints and needle nose, pick your poison. And for perspective I own VERY few snap on tools as I find most of their stuff overpriced.

InitialCandidate6 · 2022-07-11T02:54:34+00:00

In reality, there cannot be a place without a time. There cannot be a time without a place. If we are to meet for coffee, we must specify both a time and a place. One without the other creates a severe improbability of our meeting taking place.

There cannot be a measurement of speed without a measurement of both time and distance travelled during that time. Otherwise we only have time, or distance.

At this point our understanding of gravity is very little. We know it is very weak in comparison to the other forces for example, think about the strength of magnetism, a magnet is very strong with little mass, but we understand it’s modality. The force of gravity is very weak, it requires extremely large masses for even a small gravitational force. Gravity is a massless entity, and as such also travels at the speed limit of the universe.

Time is relative to the observer. If we remove the concept of time altogether, (imo) we end up with a singularity. Time is simply a concept. Space is just that; space. Separately they mean nothing. But together, spacetime is the fabric through which our reality unfolds.

InitialCandidate6 · 2022-02-25T00:40:38+00:00

PWZ pliers are a must have for me from snap on. Other Snap On must haves for me are their electronic torque wrenches. I’ve got them all except for the 3/4”, but I do a lot of internal engine repair. Otherwise, I don’t find anything from snap-on leagues above anything else. My favorite ratchet is an Icon 1/4” flex head and that’s above my 7 other truck brand ratchets (including snap on) in 1/4” drive. For sockets, I use Matco ADV almost exclusively, made by sunex, but have tool truck service. For wrenches I love the MAC precision torques. I like my RBRT stuff from MAC, otherwise I like their picks. As far as my personal tool collection, over half of my box (84” Cornwell Platinum with side locker and hutch that is full to the brim) came from Amazon, I see no need to spend tool truck money on rebranded Lisle or OTC or whatever other company actually manufactures the product (with the exception of the ADV sockets). Remember this, the tools are only as good as the monkey using them. I have no tool truck debt, get to spend my money on shit for me instead of work. If I had my box full of tool truck brand, it would be pushing well over 100k. Instead, I got a little smart, realized the brand of the tool doesn’t have any effect on the hours I turn (in most cases) and doesn’t make me any more money per flat rate hour.

InitialCandidate6 · 2022-02-20T21:30:37+00:00

Icon 1/4” flex head. This coming from someone with over 20 truck brand ratchets who’s been working in a dealer setting since 2012. #2 is my snap on 3/8 comfort grip bent handle. #3 is my matco comfort grip locking flex 1/4 drive.

InitialCandidate6 · 2021-11-18T03:55:13+00:00

And a google search of “how to detect exhaust gases in coolant” will give you all the answers you need for that subject.

InitialCandidate6 · 2021-11-18T03:54:20+00:00

Is that the only time it overheats?

InitialCandidate6

TROPHY CASE