Well, per forum etiquette, I will post a quick intro about myself. I'm here currently due to purchasing a Ford WDS, and while looking for information on it, this forum site keeps popping up.

Now, about me. I am currently working for a very close friend who opened his own shop about 7 years ago. His primary mission for the shop is to provide the absolute best diagnostics for any and all vehicles in our transportation local. I find it hard to find anyone in our area that is as dedicated to his job as well as knowledge as he is. Last I counted he had over 45 ASE certifications, with no formal school/college training. He believes in having as many resources as possible and using common knowledge/sense to diagnose vehicles. Dealerships put vast amount of time and resources into training their technicians to devote time and money towards one particular vehicle line, while our shop puts even more into having the resources towards all makes and models. We do make the majority of our money on GM, Fords and a lot of Chryslers too, but we strive to provide for many imports that dozens of other shops wont touch.

In this quest of being a great mechanic, between the both of us, he has built a great reputation through word of mouth of providing these services far below market value (20-40% on average per ticket). This comes due to us having not as much overhead costs as other shops, as well as his kind heart giving into customers needs and demands (which as a shop owner/manager is the #1 thing you should not do). We are around to provide a service, not sympathy and free goods. He is slowly changing and realizing as I am putting myself through college for a BS in Business Admin w/emph in Management. I am able to open his eyes more on the aspects of staying in business with monetary means as the primary goal, and keeping customer satisfaction the secondary goal. A business can only stay open for so long and provide the best service without going under if you do not bring prices to market value.

Anyways, without going on ranting more about his shop, I am here to primarily learn about the Jaguar diagnostic system, which I am looking to add to our arsenal of OEM tools we have acquired. Thanks in advance to all that help us in our never-ending quest to provide service that everyone deserves!

~Ryan Daly
West Fargo Car Clinic
West Fargo, ND USA

 

You will find from looking on the forums that most of us want super service for about 5c an hour! Joking apart, the number one priority for your workshop is to stay in business, so it has to be excellent customer service but not at such a cheap a price that you can't pay the bills and wages !

 

Precisely! He is learning more of the 'keeping a business running' side now that we have a great client base setup. Just hope that we can build the new shop next year!

 

Welcome!!!!

When I look for info on the WDS, I usually only find them for sale on eBay or the posts here from me and a few of us that have them. I went to Jaguar training when the WDS was released in the late 1990s (98/99) and I copied my paper training guide to .pdf for upload to this forum. It is available to download but I don't know exactly where because I already have it and never bothered to look for it in the 'sticky' sections.

Feel free to contact me if you have any questions about the unit itself or Jaguar specific. I have Ford 43 on a HDD but I have never actually plugged my WDS into a Ford to see how it operates. It must be similar..??

bob gauff

 

Welcome to the forum!

 

Ryan: Welcome to the Forum. We need all the Jaguar wrench turners that we can get.

There is plenty of room in the auto repair business for good, honest service people. Sometimes and 5 minute freeby is well worth the time--if those customers send you 3 or 4 other customers by word of mouth.

It's okay to undercut the competition on prices, however it requires lower operating costs (than other shops). Any businessman's due to receive a profit for (1) Return on his investment and (2) To be paid for his time and labor that he spends in the business. Being in business is not a public service.

I have seen so many repair shops operate out of a wad of cash in their pockets--and not pay income taxes and FICA taxes on employees. These operators are dangerous to their creditors, their employees and themselves. The IRS will eventually get'em. They'll get to retirement, and they'll get no social security due to their not paying their fair share of taxes. These businesses go out of business more often than not and leave their employees high and dry. They also don't provide any health insurance and other benefits for their employees. This is not the right way to do business.

The right way to run a shop is to charge a fair wage for the job, and go by the base rate manuals in pricing jobs. Subscribe to the CD systems that assist in diagnosis, parts ordering, etc.

Pay yourself and your employees for performance--a percentage of the individual's sales, etc. Keep meticulous records, and pay your taxes. Keep track of all kinds of sales and cost of goods sold--month by month. Keep close watch of every expense, and keep tabs on expenses as a percent of sales. You cannot manage any business if you don't know how much it costs to do business.

Other suggestions to building a successful auto repair business:
1. Go after the dominant used car operations in town for business.
2. Don't carry any notes and avoid taking checks. Get a credit/debit card machine.
3. Learn how to place mechanics liens and get titles on cars abandoned after repairs are made. (Good source of "other income.")
4. Buy repair parts from least expensive sources (or internet), even if you've got to wait a day for the parts to come in. Then, charge 90% of what the part will cost at a new car dealership. (Very profitable.)
5. If your business gets big enough, get a wrecker. They bring in incremental business and can be a source of "other income." Storage charges on towed vehicles can be profitable--even at a reasonable $2.00 per day.
6. Don't spend $75K per year on Snap On (or equivalent) tools. 90% of the tools used can be carried in a 9"x12" tray. There are other reasonable priced tools in the market.

My recently departed 46 year old son in law followed many of the above directives. However he never got away from the cash wad, and left my step daughter with a foreclosed house, no life insurance, 250,000 mile Jeep and $500K+ in medical bills. The IRS took all of his cash--despite grossing $650K per year. This was no way to live. His $10,000 wall mount Snap On tool chest got him nowhere.

 

Welcome to the forum,

Good luck with the business.