Auto dealership ethics and a question

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Originally Posted by tmleadr03

Flat rate is basically incentavising short cuts and outright larceny. That is what I have seen 99% of the time in the shop. Is it slow? Up sell crap that doesn't really need to be done. Base pay on how fast someone does a job and they will cut corners to get the job done faster and the job will be only done "Ok". When I finally hire someone they will be hourly. Decent pay, but hourly. I would rather a slower tech who does the entire job then one who is going to rush and up sell crap that isn't needed. And that last thing I want is to find parts that were supposed to be hung on a car that are tucked behind a tool box.

And I have seen that. Lead tech in a shop who turns 60-70 hours a week leaves for some reason and when he moves his box they find piles new parts behind his box. And those are the ones he stuck back there because he didn't want to try to use them in side jobs or sell online...

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Yep I've seen it too, we had a guy at a former shop that kept having axle seals, oil pan gaskets, etc coming back leaking, come to find out he was just spraying off the leaks and when the vehicle came back leaking "again" he was warrantying the gasket / seal. The boss caught him on it eventually and he got fired.....good luck explaining that at your next job. The best month I ever had was back last May, pulled off over 350 hrs. I was working from 7am to when they would kick me out around 9pm, Monday - Saturday. All I did then was heavy too, so it wasn't flushes and brakes, and you can't take shortcuts at that point, if you do, you're asking for something to come back and bite you in the ass. My body hated me for it, but I was able to pay cash for my wife's engagement ring.....but I'll never do it again.

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Originally Posted by dirtrulz

If you want you can even get into field work, which is nice for getting out of the shop and being your own man a little.

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That's what i do. And it sucks.

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Originally Posted by tmleadr03

Flat rate is basically incentavising short cuts and outright larceny. That is what I have seen 99% of the time in the shop. Is it slow? Up sell crap that doesn't really need to be done. Base pay on how fast someone does a job and they will cut corners to get the job done faster and the job will be only done "Ok". When I finally hire someone they will be hourly. Decent pay, but hourly. I would rather a slower tech who does the entire job then one who is going to rush and up sell crap that isn't needed. And that last thing I want is to find parts that were supposed to be hung on a car that are tucked behind a tool box.

And I have seen that. Lead tech in a shop who turns 60-70 hours a week leaves for some reason and when he moves his box they find piles new parts behind his box. And those are the ones he stuck back there because he didn't want to try to use them in side jobs or sell online...

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Yep, been there, done that. Those of us who've been in the business a while have seen the greed and scamming from flat rate. There is a local 2 shop business that pays salary, though I don't know how well they pay. Hoping one day I'll land a cozy gig like that. I just don't have the capital to open my own shop, and I frankly don't know if I have the patience for it now. Wish I could get into a little less physical line of work that would bank as good or better money.

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Originally Posted by streetglideok

Yep, been there, done that. Those of us who've been in the business a while have seen the greed and scamming from flat rate. There is a local 2 shop business that pays salary, though I don't know how well they pay. Hoping one day I'll land a cozy gig like that. I just don't have the capital to open my own shop, and I frankly don't know if I have the patience for it now. Wish I could get into a little less physical line of work that would bank as good or better money.

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I could tell you what I would do it if I started again. Capital would be easier then what I did and I would be pulling a paycheck by now.

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Originally Posted by tmleadr03

I could tell you what I would do it if I started again. Capital would be easier then what I did and I would be pulling a paycheck by now.

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I'll bite... do tell? Here or PMs, doesn't matter. Other than approaching burnout at the moment....

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Originally Posted by redneck122

That's what i do. And it sucks.

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To each their own, I didnt mind it, it takes a different way of thinking to be a field mechanic. There is nobody to help you figure things out. The only part that sucked for me was the heat and having to deal with large parts and not enough truck.

If my body didnt start falling apart I would likely still be doing it on farm equipment.

Years ago I took my Yukon to elway gmc in Lakewood for warranty work. Driveshaft noise. $1200 in parts and labor covered under warranty. A month later the problem came back. Went to century Chevy in broomfield. Told me the exact same parts need replacing. Showed them my Elway paperwork. Elway did NONE of the work they billed gmc for ! Not one part was replaced. They simpleycovered the problem area in grease. The shtf at Elway.

Yep. GO Nissan on Wadsworth fisted me hard on a used GMC Jimmy they sold me. That thing was one giant POS. They did the absolute bare minimum to fix the vehicle (which I ended up still paying for) and that lasted just long enough to get past the warranty I paid for. No more dealerships for me. I had bought cars in the past from Enterprise and had nothing but great results. I was a fool to break the habit. Lesson learned.

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Originally Posted by Squeeze

I had bought cars in the past from Enterprise and had nothing but great results. I was a fool to break the habit. Lesson learned.

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Be careful with that nowadays, when I worked at lyall, we had all the fleet accounts with the rental companies from the airport since we were the closest dealer. I'll say this, if the concern wasn't under warranty, it didn't get fixed. Now if they took it somewhere else and got the repairs done, I don't know. If you buy another one, go get an inspection done to be sure. Hell if you want, PM me and you can bring it over to the shop and we'll throw it on the lift and look it over.

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Originally Posted by colorider

Years ago I took my Yukon to elway gmc in Lakewood for warranty work. Driveshaft noise. $1200 in parts and labor covered under warranty. A month later the problem came back. Went to century Chevy in broomfield. Told me the exact same parts need replacing. Showed them my Elway paperwork. Elway did NONE of the work they billed gmc for ! Not one part was replaced. They simpleycovered the problem area in grease. The shtf at Elway.

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Yep that's warranty fraud. I'm sure the District warranty rep found out and Elway had to eat the repair....bet somebody got the axe too.