Meeting people as a mechanic.

[Stephen]

I'll also add in this statistic

1 out of ten customers who come into an auto parts store do not know what kind of car they drive, or what year the car is.
For example:
Cust: hi I need to get some oil for my car"
me: ok what kind of car is it?
Customer:. Umm that red one
Me: ok that looks like a Dodge caliber, how much oil do you need?
Customer: I don't know it says low oil on the dash that means I need oil right?

4 out of 10 customers do not know what size engine is in their car and can not determine what year the car is
Example:
Customer:. Hi I need a starter for my truck
Me: ok what size engine does it have in it
Customer: I don't know does that really matter
Me: yes it's very important
Customer: how would I know if it is a v6 or a v8, I'm going to have to call my wife to have her text me a picture of the engine
(This still boggles my mind that you can some how diagnose your own problem, know what a starter is, and have no idea what engine your car has because jiffy lube does all your oil changes)

7 out of 10 customers who ask for a check engine light diagnostic have no idea of even the basic functions of how a car works. Of those 70% of customers with no car knowledge nearly all of them have no idea how many miles their vehicle has on it. Our system asks just to print recommend maintenance, it's a generic thing. Nearly every one of them can not even guess, can't even give you a maybe on it, they go back outside to look


Today starting at noon, I sold 28 gallons of coolant. From 4pm-6pm every customer bought at least one gallon. It's staggering to think how many people are just using tap water. Tomorrow night it's going to get down to 21 degrees and I'm going to sell a shit ton of radiators on Saturday

Speaking of coolant, I'll need to stop by and grab a thermostat in the next couple days.. mines stuck open and won't stay warm if I run the heater and drive in colder weather..

[4king]

Speaking of coolant, I'll need to stop by and grab a thermostat in the next couple days.. mines stuck open and won't stay warm if I run the heater and drive in colder weather..

I'm right there with you buddy, my civic has a cracked thermostat housing and that has taken it out of my daily driven status.

(This is a picture of the bottom of the housing and the housing assembly. The housing assembly has a hairline crack and is a discontinued part from Honda

[4bangen]

so I recently got back into the autoparts game. man I think people are dumber now.

[Gasser64]

so I recently got back into the autoparts game. man I think people are dumber now.

What do you think of Standard Motor Products, also Airtex Wells? Are those good, or are they to be avoided? I ask because buying AC Delco or Motorcraft is often too expensive.

[Baron Von Crowder]

Shit, I sell to repair shops almost elusively, people who you would expect to know things like what engine, 2wd or 4x4, if it has flares on the fenders, backup cameras, etc. I bet half my day is spent waiting on someone to walk back in the back to look at the car.

Saturday I did a water pump on a taurus my buddy sold that was leaking. It stank so bad inside, I had to roll the window down and stick my head out like Ace Ventura to drive it in and out of the shop. The passenger's floor board was completely full of trash and crap, you couldnt sit there. I didnt look in the back seat.

[4king]

I have a service writer whose desk is literally Infront of his bays, he called me for a fuse for an 01 i30, he couldn't tell me what type of car it was and he couldn't even describe what kind of fuse it was. I had to literally go down there and look at the car to tell him what kind of car it was because he couldn't figure out the vin number to input into his system.

Not to bash shops but damn

[Stephen]

I have a service writer whose desk is literally Infront of his bays, he called me for a fuse for an 01 i30, he couldn't tell me what type of car it was and he couldn't even describe what kind of fuse it was. I had to literally go down there and look at the car to tell him what kind of car it was because he couldn't figure out the vin number to input into his system.

Not to bash shops but damn

Lol do tell!

[Labora]

I have a service writer whose desk is literally Infront of his bays, he called me for a fuse for an 01 i30, he couldn't tell me what type of car it was and he couldn't even describe what kind of fuse it was. I had to literally go down there and look at the car to tell him what kind of car it was because he couldn't figure out the vin number to input into his system.

Not to bash shops but damn

I could rant about lazy service writers/estimators/parts dept all day.

Customer: I need a LH Doors and Bedside for a Silverado.
Me: What year?
Customer: I don't know 07 maybe?
Me: That is a split year need to know what body style it is.
Customer:.....
Me: Do you know how long the bed is or what type of cab it is?
Customer: No. Can you just give me a price for them?
Me: No, call me back when you know you actually need.

Lot of people too lazy to even look at what is sitting out in the shop, just want to pickup the phone and order parts blindly. Then blame the vendor when they get the wrong shit.

[4king]

Lol do tell!

It's not one you frequent


Same shop

I need brake pads and rotors for a 2014 fiesta

Ok is it a fiesta ST?

What's that mean?

Does it have fancy wheels and fancy seats in it? It should have a red emblem on the front or back that says ST

No it's just a fiesta


5 HOURS later he calls me back saying the pads and rotors don't fit. I ask againn, describe again, and make him give me the vin. Oh look it says fiesta ST and that brake setup is a special order. "But the customer is here to pick it up, I've already sold the job". Well tell him to come back in two days and the parts cost $200 more than you quoted.

The 08 and newer accords have 3 different pad sizes depending on the model. It's like pulling teeth to find out if it's an old, ex, ex-l or lx special edition.

(Btw the base lx comes with 16 inch wheels with hub caps, the ex has 17 inch wheels and bigger brakes, the ex-l has 18 inch rims and is the luxury package and has larger rear pads and rotors than the other 2)

[Torinoman]

Hey this shit goes both ways at the parts store.

A few months ago the girlfriend's Neon would run like shit after it got hot and the CEL would come on.

So being the good BF I am I take it up to AutoZone and ask the guy to run the scanner. He goes out and can't find the OBDII port until I point at it in the same fucking place as every other OBDII car. He runs it and goes back inside and hooks it to the computer and it pops up some number (I don't remember what, 124 or something) but there was no text describing it. He tell me it didn't pull any codes.

When I ask them whats the code that popped up they said 'oh that's nothing, it does that for everything.' I then describe the how its missing and running poorly under throttle and the guy tries to sell me injector cleaner and tells me to take it to Firestone and pay them to diagnose the issue.

I tell them no thanks and go sit in the car. I sat there and googled the number that popped up and in 2 minutes I found that it was a cam sensor code.

I went back in and asked for a cam sensor. I installed it and the thing has run as well as 2005 Neon with moderate blow-by can be expected to.

[4king]

Hey this shit goes both ways at the parts store.

A few months ago the girlfriend's Neon would run like shit after it got hot and the CEL would come on.

So being the good BF I am I take it up to AutoZone and ask the guy to run the scanner. He goes out and can't find the OBDII port until I point at it in the same fucking place as every other OBDII car. He runs it and goes back inside and hooks it to the computer and it pops up some number (I don't remember what, 124 or something) but there was no text describing it. He tell me it didn't pull any codes.

When I ask them whats the code that popped up they said 'oh that's nothing, it does that for everything.' I then describe the how its missing and running poorly under throttle and the guy tries to sell me injector cleaner and tells me to take it to Firestone and pay them to diagnose the issue.

I tell them no thanks and go sit in the car. I sat there and googled the number that popped up and in 2 minutes I found that it was a cam sensor code.

I went back in and asked for a cam sensor. I installed it and the thing has run as well as 2005 Neon with moderate blow-by can be expected to.

The district managers personal cell phone number is on the front door of every autozone.

It is very typical that most part time help at an autozone is basically just a cashier, that being said as a customer of a company that solely defines itself on customer service it takes feedback to kick that store in the ass to get their people trained

[Forever_frost]

I pulled my interior door panel off of my 11 Edge a few weeks ago and noticed that the Ford Dealership, during warranty work in 2013, decided that it was easier to cut around stripped out bolts (that they stripped out) than to actually remove them. They cut into the door and around the bolts to take the black plastic panel off that's right behind the interior door panel. I was not impressed.

When I took it up to the dealership the new service manager took the door apart, looked at it, shook his head and apologized. He said

"Sir, I know why they did it, I can see how they did it but I'll be damned if I would ever let them get away with that kind of work. No one from that old shop works here any longer. Let me order that part and get you a rental when it comes in."

Car is 10,000 miles outside of warranty but .... I thought I'd share a dealership actually stepping up to fix what their techs messed up 3 years ago and I didn't know about until a few weeks ago.

[4king]

I pulled my interior door panel off of my 11 Edge a few weeks ago and noticed that the Ford Dealership, during warranty work in 2013, decided that it was easier to cut around stripped out bolts (that they stripped out) than to actually remove them. They cut into the door and around the bolts to take the black plastic panel off that's right behind the interior door panel. I was not impressed.

When I took it up to the dealership the new service manager took the door apart, looked at it, shook his head and apologized. He said

"Sir, I know why they did it, I can see how they did it but I'll be damned if I would ever let them get away with that kind of work. No one from that old shop works here any longer. Let me order that part and get you a rental when it comes in."

Car is 10,000 miles outside of warranty but .... I thought I'd share a dealership actually stepping up to fix what their techs messed up 3 years ago and I didn't know about until a few weeks ago.

Which dealer? Make sure you fill out a customer survey if they have one and give the managers name. If you couldn't tell being a mechanic or a service writer is really thankless work

[Baba Ganoush]

I don't know how people sit in their own funk like that. So disgusting. I mean, it takes real time and serious funk-transmission to accumulate the shit on that armrest, and I'm sure on most other surfaces. I shampoo even my daily driver seats a few times a year. Nasty motherfuckers.

[Baron Von Crowder]

I don't know how people sit in their own funk like that. So disgusting. I mean, it takes real time and serious funk-transmission to accumulate the shit on that armrest, and I'm sure on most other surfaces. I shampoo even my daily driver seats a few times a year. Nasty motherfuckers.

They have only had the car a matter of months. I think they bought it this summer. She brought a pecan pie to my buddy for thanksgiving, and people were eating it saying it was the best they had ever had. I asked who made it, and nearly puked when I heard who, even though I didnt touch it.