**Seeking Your Thoughts on Home-Based Vehicle Repair Shops**

Stealerships are called that for a reason. For the exorbitant cost involved, you aren't guaranteed excellent or even good service. While there is some top talent at the dealerships, they are usually reserved for the harder repairs and you are unlikely to be assigned a great tech for your oil change and belt replacement. You are likely to be upsold on services by the service writer who gets a portion of whatever they can sell you. While not necessarily a fraud, they may try to sell you on services you don't need but are highly lucrative for the dealership, and the service writer. The service writer position is where the money is made at a dealership. The mechanic works for flat rate and it's increasingly difficult to make a decent wage as a mechanic/tech. Once a tech gets some experience, it may be best to go to an independent shop for that reason.
I prefer independent shops that specialize in a particular brand. One that has been around for more than a few years and that someone I know has gone to and had good things to say about. I also have no problems with the garage shops.
 
i only use a home based person if they were referred by someone I trust........I did this once, he was a gm tech, did my a/c on a POS car I bought years ago, 30 mins, I bought a new compressor,he installed and I left freezing cold. I started having issues with other vehicles so I bought my own machine and started doing it myself. He is now a master gm heavy transmission guy, owns 2 shops and does about 1000 transmission rebuilds a year in his shop. He uses all gm parts, and has positioned himself to build and install all gm transmissions for a local gm dealership. He's making a flat killing. he started small and just kept growing.

I used a recommended shop when my fuel pump went out on my 03 tahoe prob 4 years ago. had it towed to the shop because they were recommended. pick it up, CEL pops, figured it was just not cleared or something. I get home, get my snap on scanner and turn off the light. drive it that night, no issue, next am bam, back on. call them and take it back. oh its a sensor and we will do it for the part cost. ok go ahead. get it back, bam lights on again. so i grab my scanner and get to work. I finally figured out the pressure sensor on the new fuel pump was bad. I take it back, pull the owner outside, show him my scanner and ask why am I showing YOU what's wrong here? I got my money back on the sensor that wasn't bad.

fast forward, tahoe pump chits the bed again like a year or so later, I call up, no warranty its out. i said that's odd, you didn't even ask my name. oh we pulled it up on your phone number, ok i'll buy that much, when was it installed? you'd need to look at your receipt. had it towed to another shop not far away.
owner is older, race car guy, NOT friendly lol, not for small talk, gave me a quote, fixed it, no issues.
bought a 03 silverado, fuel pump went out, had it towed to him, he quotes me, ok fix it. I go to pick it up, oh hey, you had a different pump, it was 150.00 cheaper.................IF he had stuck to his quote I would have never known, but he didn't, he was honest.
I take my truck in for an a/c issue, he puts gauges on it, puts a little gas in it, all looks good, get it back, about 3 weeks later hi pressure blows on compressor.
I told him replace it all, compressor, dryer, hoses, all of it, I don't want a/c issues. He tells me, just do compressor, so I do, worked fine until I sold it. AGAIN I trusted him.
Now i send anyone who asks where to go to him at his brick and mortar shop.
There's a guy on tik tok I follow that does mobile service, and I sent my buddy to him, had great success, guy fixed his stuff.

But i will tell you this, I wont' spend a dime locally on parts, rock auto all the way. 2 wiper blades for like 50 bucks locally, same blades on rock auto 9.00 each. I buy all 7 vehicles new blades annually, and any parts I need i just plan it out and order from rock.

This week, I needed a hvac guy because I couldn't get to the customer, so I call my normal guy. got the bill, needed a contactor, fix a wire, hard start cap and he charges me 60.00 for the contactor. I have 3 in my box, that I paid less than 20.00 each from the same place he gets them. I know it was an over charge, but I use him because he has taught me so much over the phone on residential hvac, its worth it. I can call him damn near any time, and he will walk me thru troubleshooting a unit. Now I know what to look at and look for. I fix 99% of our units on rentals I oversee. and when he has to come out I don't cry about it............Hell I bought him a case of tecate beer just because I appreciate the hell out of him teaching me. The owners of the properties sometimes question a bill, but I always say to them you have no idea the amount of free help he's given us, and by me doing it, saves them a TON!
 
Fireballsocal said:
Stealerships are called that for a reason. For the exorbitant cost involved, you aren't guaranteed excellent or even good service. While there is some top talent at the dealerships, they are usually reserved for the harder repairs and you are unlikely to be assigned a great tech for your oil change and belt replacement. You are likely to be upsold on services by the service writer who gets a portion of whatever they can sell you. While not necessarily a fraud, they may try to sell you on services you don't need but are highly lucrative for the dealership, and the service writer. The service writer position is where the money is made at a dealership. The mechanic works for flat rate and it's increasingly difficult to make a decent wage as a mechanic/tech. Once a tech gets some experience, it may be best to go to an independent shop for that reason.
I prefer independent shops that specialize in a particular brand. One that has been around for more than a few years and that someone I know has gone to and had good things to say about. I also have no problems with the garage shops.
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As a dealer tech for near 40 years now…service advisors aren’t the ones who make all of the money at a dealership, finance is where the money is at. It’s not uncommon for a finance person to make 30k/month.
 
KLC said:
As a dealer tech for near 40 years now…service advisors aren’t the ones who make all of the money at a dealership, finance is where the money is at. It’s not uncommon for a finance person to make 30k/month.
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Correct though finance doesn't come into play for repair/service. If a brand has a finance arm, that arm is usually a third of the brands entire revenue. Parts is another third though can go substantially higher in a recession where new sales fall.
 
Ben is right, Parts makes all the coin as Service buys from them. Even sales buys from parts who then pays service to install accessories.
All three feed off each other and all 3 feast on the consumers wallet.

It's the business and it makes dealers bank.
 
What do you mean if a brand has a finance arm? We may be talking about 2 totally different things here.
 
Crusty said:
Ben is right, Parts makes all the coin as Service buys from them. Even sales buys from parts who then pays service to install accessories.
All three feed off each other and all 3 feast on the consumers wallet.

It's the business and it makes dealers bank.
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I'm going to disagree, the Parts department absolutely does not make all of the coin at a car dealer. It is a very small piece of the pie. That might be the perception but it's not the reality of it.
 
KLC said:
What do you mean if a brand has a finance arm? We may be talking about 2 totally different things here.
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An auto dealership uses financing to provide auto loans. Some brands have brand owned financing arms such as GM financing. Smaller brands like Rivian will use outside financing such as chase auto loans since they don't yet have a financing arm. We are mixing dealership (privately owned franchise) and auto brands (do not own any dealerships excepting Tesla).
 
KLC said:
I'm going to disagree, the Parts department absolutely does not make all of the coin at a car dealer. It is a very small piece of the pie. That might be the perception but it's not the reality of it.
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Parts sales is where the brand makes a third. I don't know what individual dealerships make off parts but service and sales are the big money makers for dealerships. I'm sure financing brings in some coin but the majority of financing profit goes to the finance company.
 
Fireballsocal said:
Parts sales is where the brand makes a third. I don't know what individual dealerships make off parts but service and sales are the big money makers for dealerships. I'm sure financing brings in some coin but the majority of financing profit goes to the finance company.
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Agreed sales and service are the money makers at a franchised car dealership (yes Tesla is all Tesla). I have no idea what the profit percentage is for parts sales by the manufacturer, at the dealer level it isn't much of the big picture. All I know is that the people that sit in finance and pitch the extended warranties, the paint protection, the gap insurance etc., they are the highest on the paycheck totem pole. I got almost 40 years of the racket behind me, it's a miracle I haven't washed my mouth out with my pistol yet. 🤯

This has been a good discussion really.
 
Grease Monkey said:
I used a home garage shop in the past for my sandrail and it cost me money. GD member to boot. No integrity and no culpability. Guess I expected the same professionalism as I provide in my line of work but no. Instead I got a bull shit answer to what went wrong and a bull shit offer to make it right.

You get what you pay for and if you need a leg to stand on when shit goes bad, forget it from a home garage or mobile person. You won't be made whole. Won't happen and just chock that up to you got effed. You wanna fight it. Go for it. I would rather eat it and if asked about that garage, provide my experience.

Your mileage may vary. Just my real experience.
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I try and use "referred" shops for my automotive needs. Would you mind sharing?
 
Snappy said:
I try and use "referred" shops for my automotive needs. Would you mind sharing?
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Sure, I prefer using Funco and Kali Kustoms for my sandrail needs. Delivery services, pick up services, prep services, parts, engines, wiring etc. Between both of them I'm 100% covered with zero bull shit.

I've enjoyed working with,
Outfront John
CBM Bruce and Chris
Parker Gear One
Grey Area
Sean (Weddle)
Kartek
Buggy Whips
Jet trim
And of course, wouldn't be enjoying all this without Grant at Funco and Kali Kustoms.

I've owned 6 or so Funcos and few early on beam cars. 25+ years doing this and I've been thru a lot with a few others. I've found the team that works for me.

On my work fleet vehicles. They are all Chevy's. I use the local dealer. We've worked out a parts deal and service deal. From basics to brakes and tires.
You'd be surprised how much your dealership will deal if you shop around then present the pricing to them. They want the business.
Personal vehicles all Chevy as well. They also go to the dealer. Pass on the same fleet pricing.
 
Just for clarity my example was an independent powersports dealer in So Cal, but they ALL used the same business model and the 3 entities sales, parts and service all feed / ate from each other. Cross charges that all got passes onto the consumer at the end of it all.

Berts, Chaperrlle, Mid Cities, Le Bart Underwood....they all used the same "system" cause it worked.

My best two clients were a foreign account that shipped overseas and CT Racing that only bought OEM Parts in bulk...

Loved that business and that period in my life.

"Crusty Demons" on constant video loop, thus my screen name LOL
 
KLC said:
I'm going to disagree, the Parts department absolutely does not make all of the coin at a car dealer. It is a very small piece of the pie. That might be the perception but it's not the reality of it.
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When I was still living the dealership life, the number running around was that the back of the house (service) was 75% of the revenue the joint made. Sales was just to get mufkers in the door.
 
Kraut_n_Rice said:
When I was still living the dealership life, the number running around was that the back of the house (service) was 75% of the revenue the joint made. Sales was just to get mufkers in the door.
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Yep!
 
KLC said:
Yep!
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Shitty techs, shitty reputation, low service volume.

When Honda released the "new" Odyssey in '99 they were riddled with issues. Mostly the power rear doors. Nobody in our shop wanted to F with them. Myself being the "kid" in the shop was handed the shitstorm that followed them. I eventually figured out all the ~nuances~ of them and made a bunch of money fixing them, even on warranty pay. I had the doors issues dial so much so, that when disgruntled customers in the Phoenix area would call Honda customer service and bitch, they would "suggest" they try the dealer I worked for. My CSI was 99%, always has to be one asshole...

One instance, I had taken a few days off go to Sturgis with my dad. I had bought a new header setup for my Harley but needed my tools at the work to put it on. Went in on my day off to do so. While I was in my stall working on my bike one of the service writers comes up to me and say, "hey, I got 2 vans that need the door shit. Please...". Flagged 10 hours before lunch, new headers done and bounced.

If you do it, and do it well, it will find you. Don't look for work.
 
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Kraut_n_Rice said:
When I was still living the dealership life, the number running around was that the back of the house (service) was 75% of the revenue the joint made. Sales was just to get mufkers in the door.
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I wonder what the EVs are doing to this business model.
 
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