Last to work on it

We are doomed!

In automotive, there is such a thing as "the last one to work on it'
This is what it means, the last person or repair shop to work on the vehicle will get blamed for everything else that fails on such vehicle. With any luck, it will be for a period of time. With no luck, it could be for the rest of the natural life of the vehicle and or client combination.
Makes no difference if there is a connection or not. We have been blamed for brake lights that failed after we replaced the serpentine belt on the vehicle, connection,,,,None!

Recently, we changed the oil on a Mercedes C 300, it all went well with a single exception. Our technician managed to spill oil atop the valve cover and it must have gotten down to the exhaust manifold. Fast forward to a few miles and the vehicle came back with lots of oil smoke under the hood. He thought he had cleaned up all the oil he could see but, obviously he didn't.
Three weeks later and 2500 miles down the road, the same Mercedes C 300 is back. The client is claiming the battery light that is now appearing on the dash, it related to the oil we spilled and would like for us to take care of it at no cost to him.

Some background, vehicles are designed to be able to run almost indefinitely with oil leaks. Alternators are made to run with all kinds of spills around them without any loss of performance. Truth is, if alternators failed every time  they come in contact with oil, we'd be incredibly busy replacing alternators. No such luck though!

I told them we would remove the alternator and have it send to a place of their choice, if they said it had failed due to oil intrusion, then we would put an alternator at zero cost to them. However, if such wasn't the case, they would have to pay the quoted price.
They wouldn't agree to it and towed the car away.
I've learned there is no such a thing as impossible in automotive but, I'm 99%+ sure the oil spill had nothing to do with the alternator failure. The 120,000 miles on the odometer were the most probable cause I can think of.

This is only the prelude to the real story. It really starts here.

Four months ago, we did a front brake job on a dear friends vehicle. He happens to be extremely knowledgeable about cars as he has worked in the trade his whole life.
He came by last week and told me he didn't want anything from this but, I needed to know so we wouldn't do the same thing when we had an expensive vehicle.
He showed me the front wheels on his vehicle and told me, when we did the brake job last October, the mechanic must have had brake fluid in his hands, touched the front wheels causing the paint lacquer to damage. As further proof, he pointed to the rear wheels letting me know only the fronts were damaged.
Here are pictures of both front wheels(allegedly damaged by brake fluid) and the rear wheels as well, the ones presumably okay. You decide!

Case and point. There are many assumptions made. First, wheels are removed and installed being handled by the rubber part of the tire (the contact portion) and not the wheel part. Second, if we had to add brake fluid, we do it after all the brake work is completed. The reason being that you have to compress the brake calipers to install the new brake pads in them. Once you pump the brakes, then you check the reservoir and add fluid if necessary. New technicians may do this backwards once or twice, then they learn and probably never do it again! The technician who did the work has been with us for 15 years and he is my most motivated tech. Also the most knowledgeable, most up to date and the most read.

But in the end, the reason I think we are doomed, is because if, a guy with lots of automotive
knowledge and training can quickly jump to conclusion,  then we should expect someone with no formal automotive training to do so as well.

What's your labor rate?

The voice comes over the phone, the question  simple and to the point. "What is your labor rate per hour?"
Generally speaking, when the conversation starts like that, it's already bypassing all the relationship building, the trust added value you bring to this repair is absent as well.
I dislike starting out like that. It puts me on the same category as everyone else, good bad or indifferent, just answer the question!
I wouldn't  mind is so much if it weren't for the fact that a lot of the people who ask, are the ones who make more per hour than what you are charging ourselves.
Have you ever noticed that?

In this case, the question came from a local divorce attorney. He was trying to figure out if he should take on the project himself or farm it out. It was the valve cover gaskets on his Mercedes that he had considered taking it upon himself.
Out of frustration and not really even knowing why, I asked him, "Since you are asking me what my labor rate per hour is, what about yours, what is your labor rate?"
He was so proud when he told me he'd been a lawyer for  6 years now, and his labor rate was $475.00 per hour. Lest we forget there is a minimum retainer of $5000.00 he said!
I have to admit I almost lost it!
The people who bitch the most about your rates already make more per hour than that which you quoted. Why is that?
For the record, the average labor rate around Ventura is $120-148.00 per flat rate hour. Add another $25.00 to that rate for European vehicles.

I've talked to other repair shops that would quote $90 over the phone only to bill every hour at 1.5 times the actual labor and in essence, making that hour be worth $135.00 which is the going rate.
But why is it that some people in our trade have to resort to hiding the real number? The short answer is. PEOPLE!

They understand McDonald's cost to produce one 32 oz of soda is around 4 to 5 cents and yet, they are okay with paying $2.75 for that drink.  They know Starbucks famed Latte cost them less than $.25 but they consider $4.25 a fair price for such luxury. I wish they could understand we need to make a fair mark up on our parts so we can continue doing business. You can do it for less occasionally, but you won't last long if you do it long term.  If you fail to meet that formula consinently, we are certain to close the doors in a near future. Unfortunately, so many business owners do not have the discipline nor the training to understand, you have to uphold those prices in order to be around to provide a service to your clients.

  I'd like to see someone going to a hamburger place and tell them they are bringing their own soda mix, "Can I just get the cup and water to mix it with?"
Apple didn't get their trillion dollar evaluation by charging you a fair margin for their famed X iPhone. Their times 3 or 4  formula works great for their sustained growth.

Impossible expectations.

Impossible expectations:

The phone rings and I am the next in line to pick up a call…

On the other end, the caller starts by telling me he is an auto mechanic (RED FLAG NUMBER ONE) who does his own work and was recommended to us as a shop that “wouldn’t rip you off” (RED FLAG NUMBER TWO).

Anytime I hear the conversation start like that, I know I’m dealing with someone with severe trust issues.  They were hurt before or felt they were and now they tend to measure everyone with that same judgmental stick.

He proceeds to tell me he has a 2008 Subaru Impreza WRX and has done everything to the vehicle under the sky in order to try and correct an engine misfire.

He has replaced the injectors, the ignition coils, the spark plugs, the camshaft and crankshaft sensors, the oxygen sensor and the mass air flow sensor for good measure.

He has removed the heads and replaced the head gaskets, did a valve job (sent it to a machine shop) to no avail. The intermittent engine miss continues to pop up from time to time. That miserable check engine light continues to haunt this self-proclaimed auto mechanic.  Then, he wanted to know exactly what it was and how much it would cost to fix.

I don’t know about you but, I fear working on an auto mechanic’s car.

By the time you get it, every possible thing that could be easy has already been done. What remains is the near impossible.

I first thanked him for calling us and proceeded to tell him we would not be able to take the vehicle. That it was not a good fit for us at this time. My explanation was that it was more work we had time for at this time of the year. I did not want to lose one of my mechanics for that long of a period when we were filled with other jobs for clients who would continue to support us with all their work and not only the difficult to find, fix and quote.

I can’t print here what he said to me. I got a verbal barrage due the fact I was completely honest with him. It wasn’t the car we couldn’t deal with, it was the owner!

Next time I get a similar call, I’ll just give them a six-month appointment. 

Maybe they’ll get the hint and not be so hostile.