Fixed Ops Friday with David Rogers, and Kevin Stuckey | Daily Dealer Live

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Hey everybody, welcome back to another episode of The Daily Dealer Live.

I'm your host, Sam Dark.

And welcome to the space where automotive comes together to learn, to share, to grow.

Thanks for choosing to be here on this Friday, November 21st.

And guess what?

It's Fixed Ops Friday.

I'm so excited to get going today.

But first off, let's jump into industry headlines on this Friday, the 21st.

First up today, prestige financial services, this is big news, is exiting the auto loan

origination business and shifting fully into service-only model, this according to a dealer

memo obtained by CDG News.

The lender, owned by Larry H. Miller Company, says it will fund any contracts already submitted

or in transit through the end of the month, but all new applications stop this week.

There's also unconfirmed chatter online that prestige carried out a sizable layoff

on November 3rd, reportedly close to 100 employees across multiple departments, including

some tenured staff, which would make sense if they're stopping taking apps.

However, prestige hasn't responded to requests for comment.

However, in the memo, prestige thank dealers for more than 30 years of partnership and

said the decision came after, quote, careful consideration, emphasizing that servicing

for existing customers will continue.

What's the bottom line here?

Well, another regional lender stepping back from originations adds to an already uneasy

picture with multiple non-bake lenders suspending operations are shutting down entirely this year.

Dealers are becoming more exposed to private sector credit instability, so fascinating

and more reliant on a shrinking pool of active financing partners.

Next up today, dealers are still seeing some good buying activity, strong lead volume,

steady showroom tax traffic, but the sticking point continues to be affordability.

Even though the Fed cut rates by 25 basis points at the end of October, auto loan rates

actually moved higher, and most consumers don't know that this isn't a one-to-one translation.

Kelly Bluebook says the average new car APR hit 9.41% in September, and then climbed

another 19 basis points in October.

Lenders also pulled back on sub-vented programs, so the, quote, rate relief buyers

keep hearing about in the headlines just isn't showing up yet in the dealership.

Consumers are reacting.

JD Power's latest financing study shows nearly 29% of borrowers now fall into the, quote,

financially vulnerable category, scary, as JD Power's Patrick Rosenberg puts it,

communication and clarity are where lenders and dealers can move the needle most right now.

What's the bottom line here?

Well, a few lenders loosened credit standards in October, but with APR still ticking up,

affordability remains the number one break on sales.

Next up today, and this is interesting, continues our interesting news for today,

Carvana just quietly bought San Diego Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram store in Mission Valley, California.

It's Carvana's first new dealership in the city and its third franchise acquisition

since February, all Stellana stores, by the way.

They picked up a CDJR store in Casa Grande, Arizona in June, and another one in

Dallas this past September.

CDG News reached out to Carvana to understand the acquisition strategy,

but spokespeople for the company declined to provide any more information.

What comes next?

Where will they acquire next?

Obviously, it's part of a pattern in my own personal opinion.

And finally up today, dealer service retention, because it is fixed up Friday,

is slipping and independents appear to be scooping up the business.

A new Cox Automotive report shows more drivers are drifting towards local repair shops,

quick-loop chains and mobile techs.

And a lot of that defection is happening with vehicles that are five years old and newer.

Dealership still pulled in more than $156 billion in 2024,

with service in parts making up about 13% of that.

But they're now handling 12% fewer service visits than they did in 2018.

And in 2025, only 54% of owners with cars two years old or newer went back to the store

where they bought the vehicle.

That's down sharply from 72% just two years ago.

And as we all know, owners who service at the dealership are far more likely

to buy their next car there.

But more than half of customers who need a major repair are open to trading in,

never get an appraisal conversation at all,

which makes me crazy from a operation standpoint.

Bottom line, service retention won't rebound on its own.

Dealers win when every service visit is treated as a relationship moment,

not just a repair order.

And interestingly enough, these are all topics we're about to have.

And that's a wrap on today's industry news.

And everybody, we're going to talk about it today.

It's Fixed Offs Friday.

All right, Yuli, what's up?

Sam, I got to say, man, I am excited to be here and not only excited to be here

because it's Fixed Offs Friday, but also because it's your birthday.

Oh, my gosh.

That's crazy.

It is guilty, guilty, guilty, guilty.

Oh, my gosh.

There we go.

I love it.

This is that famous photo from way back when I was a kid.

Thank you, Yuli, for remembering my trip around the sun or whatever it works to.

51, can you believe it?

Is that OK to say on this show?

Can I say that?

You look 21.

We were talking in the green room before the show started.

I remember being the youngest guy in the room, both in car sales and finance and

leadership and then in insurance.

At some point, we all pivoted.

How did that happen?

Yuli, I don't know.

I don't know.

It's one of those things I don't have the answer for.

Yeah, you're still the youngest guy in the room.

All right.

As a reminder to everybody out there, everybody joining the live stream.

We're live across all CDG social media platforms.

Post your comments in on this Fixed Offs Friday.

We'll bring them into today's show and what a day and what a show we have in

store.

We're going to talk about all things Fixed Offs.

So let's dive into it.

I just got a note.

Who are we starting with, Yuli?

Kevin.

So let's go down.

Kevin, welcome to the show.

Thanks for joining us.

I'm honored to be able to share the limelight with you on your birthday.

Perfect.

Hey, thank you.

Yeah, it's a fun thing.

Kevin, tell us a little bit about yourself while I'm working to get

that part of the spreadsheet up here.

I'm having a little bit of a technical difficulty.

I guess I don't know what the deal is, but tell us a little bit about

yourself and what you do.

Yeah, absolutely.

Going on 32 years and Fixed Operations ran as many as 14 stores at

once.

Right now we're doing five, getting ready to build six.

But in Florida, my entire life, up until the last year here, we moved

to the Houston area back here in January and couldn't be happier.

Got a beautiful family that has been supportive of me, a life as

a controller that has retired after 27 years and allowed us to make

this move.

That's awesome.

We're in Florida.

It's in Florida, Orlando area.

Okay, Orlando.

Okay.

Very good.

Well, how is Biz in your dealership there?

How is business in Fixed Ops?

It's been absolutely amazing.

This market is so untapped compared to the Florida market for more

wrap with a lot of these manufacturers that we're with.

And we have seen anywhere in the last seven to eight months that

we've been doing is increases anywhere from 12% to 33% month

over month on everything that we're doing.

And it's using the same people that we have right now just

training and teaching different cultures is all it is.

So for the audience watching as key takeaways, what are a couple

of the things that today are working to drive that increase

that you're experiencing today?

I think leadership is number one for that, right?

Utilizing the staff that we have and arming them with

the opportunities to succeed with the staff that we have

implementing new tools.

We have gone away from the old DMS sites and switched over to

Techian over the past two to three weeks for their forward

and future thinking and then also implementing AI across the

board for all of our stores.

Increasing that I think has been the two biggest areas for

us.

So Kevin, who did you switch from and where did you go to

in the DMS change?

We switched from Reynolds and it was a tough situation here

because they've been on it for 30 years and this is my third

DMS switch in 15 years.

So this is easy for me but not for everybody else and you

have to understand that.

And this team and this group here has done a fantastic job

owning this and learning it and it's been great.

And we're going to take you on right now.

I would tell you Kevin, I think the DMS change is one

of the most terrifying changes for a GM, for a dealer

principal, for the office and for folks back in fixed

ops because so much all of your data resides in that DMS and

transitioning from one platform to the next is a big lift.

What's one thing that surprised you that you didn't know

during the transition and then one big benefit that you

walked away with now that you're on the other side of

it?

I think the biggest thing that I would take away from it is

not understanding the impact it's going to have on every

single employee in every single department, right?

As much again, this is my third and this is their first

after 30 years.

A lot of these people have been here for 30 years.

So it's all they've known.

But the big takeaway that is going to be crucial is the

amount of data that is available for us now that we

didn't have before in live time and easier to get to.

Yeah.

What was there one particular component of the

techie on platform that made you say, hey, we want

this, we see the benefit of it, the value you mentioned

AI.

Is it AI?

Is it a capability that you gained with that?

100%.

I think it's the AI portion that techie on is building

in their background also of what we're doing.

So a lot of the changes that we wanted to create

with inside the company, we wanted to form it around

whatever DMS provider we were going to be going with.

So once we figure that out, we started to move

everything else along the line to encompass that

entire DMS platform.

And then what we're going to be doing over the

next few years is going to be fantastic.

One thing we've done.

Oh, go ahead, Yuli.

Sorry.

Kevin, you mentioned culture, you mentioned training,

and you mentioned the buzzword everyone's talking

about right now.

You've also implemented AI.

Walk us through that.

What tools are you using first?

And then how is that with your team and what

results are you seeing?

I think first we'll go back to what we talked

about earlier.

One of your conversations you had the other day

with Zach, I think with his sports mentality

and what he brings to the table.

He's fantastic in that interview.

Who has not seen it needs to absolutely look

at that and watch it.

He's very powerful for what he's able to do.

But the sports mentality of coaching that and teaching

that and training that with your staff that you're

doing, but also bringing the hospitality.

And I think that's where this auto industry has

missed the vote over the past 15 years.

It's not automotive.

It is hospitality at its finest.

And I was very fortunate in Florida to work

and be able to train under a lot of companies.

And the two biggest ones that we had was the

Disney culture, right?

And then the Ritz Carlton, right?

So those two encompassing that and teaching everybody

here to stop worrying about all the automotive

industry things that we have done in the past

and move it more towards hospitality and

everything else will fall in line.

And then you have bringing the AI function

of that, which is what I've been working

with with some of these vendors.

And I'm able to help build these systems to

the way that I want it to act for our guests

and create that guest experience that they've

never had before.

Yeah.

So it's interesting.

We talked with Zach on the show about the CDK

stat about hold times in service departments.

And it's we talked with Don Hall about it too

last week somewhere between five and 10 minutes

is the average wait time was eight or nine.

I think customers calling in, which is

crazy to me, right?

What do you think of that stat?

Is that something that holds true in your group?

And what are you doing to fix that?

It seems to me a crazy long time for any customer

to wait.

And for that to be an average in the automotive

industry is astonishing to me.

Agree 100%.

And I think that's one of the reasons why I

think companies and dealers need to be

focusing more on the function of it.

Not to replace people because that's not

what is designed to do.

But the people and my owner brought this

back with one of his 20 groups that

was saying it is not meant to replace

you, right?

But people that are using AI will be replacing

those type of things, right?

Because they're going to be more productive

and more efficient, which is what we're

doing.

So I can now I'm averaging anywhere from

five to 700 calls a day between the

rooftops that we have.

And I can see those live time for what

we're doing just in the two and a half

weeks.

We've implemented the IVR and looking at

7900 calls and 485 total appointments

we've generated from that.

And then listening and spot checking about

200 plus calls a day between the

rooftops, we're getting it to the right

people were able to adapt and adjust

to those in live time.

So what are you using?

So as the director of fixed ops, are

you the guy that's doing that vetting

of those calls?

Are you doing that on a regular basis?

Are you training your leadership team

to do that?

Well, for right now I've taken on the

task of implementing the AI for the

company to get it to where it needs

to go.

And then slowly we'll start dismantling

that out to the department heads for

the rapper right now.

So what are you using?

So what is the tech that you're using

to record and then monitor and listen

to those calls to ensure they're

handled well?

So we started off about seven months

ago on the SMS side of things and that

was utilizing Matador.

And their platform has been fantastic

for the SMS side of it, right?

And then once we knew we were going

to Tech Yon, I wanted to find that

actually fully undergrades with

Tech Yon.

And that's what we're going to

do.

So what is the tech that you're

using with Tech Yon?

And Pam brought that to the table.

So Pam HQ.

Oh, no.

We lost him.

Just us for your birthday, my friend.

He's getting good right there.

We'll have to bring him back so we can

talk about this stuff.

Well, but let's, you know, let's pull

the thread for just a minute and

we'll move on to the next guest

if he doesn't come back here in a

minute.

But that amount of time waited

according to CDK is just crazy to

me because it's based on stat.

It's based on information that

they've gathered.

And it's something we've got to fix

in automotive.

And I agree.

I think AI is going to be a solution

to that.

You look at Gen Z.

And a lot of Gen Z just doesn't

know how to have a great conversation

on the phone.

Call me out if I'm wrong in the

comments.

Tell me if I'm wrong on this.

But I don't think Gen Z is not

used to having a conversation on the

phone.

I don't think Gen Z is going to

do that.

But this is a great place where

AI can help multiply our efforts

without costing people jobs without

it.

You just said the key word I think

to the customer.

It's a force multiplier if you

utilize it correctly.

I think the most frustrating part

of that is that six minute wait

time.

A lot of times you don't get

connected to the right person

that can actually answer your

questions.

So I think the utilization of

AI is going to speed up that

process and get those

softball questions

answered without having to sit

there and wait.

Kevin, welcome back.

Thanks, guys.

We missed you.

Yeah.

So you said you're using

Matador as your tech to

monitor those.

And you've been super thoughtful

as you've gone over to

Techion.

So call recording, call

monitoring, making sure that

the customer has a great

experience.

What's another area of folks

as you go through this transition

tech or AI related that you're

focusing on?

I guess one of the other

biggest focus we're going to be

talking about is tech training,

right?

Everybody has the biggest tech

shortage and everything else

they've got going on.

Here, we've got a different

vision of what we're going to

be building in 2026 and 2027

is we have our own

facility over here, which is a

scrubway car wash and loop, and

we're building two more with

stores that we're building and

what we currently have.

I'm going to start using those

as our training platform and

training against all of our

different brands that we have

and then getting them fully

up to speed for when we need

technicians.

We're pulling from there and

then pulling people off the

streets that are looking for

jobs to help them on the

entry level and then help

grow them up as we need it

as well.

What are some of the best

qualifications for a great tech

in your mind?

Who are you looking for and

how are you bringing them

into automotive?

It really depends.

You have two different sides.

You have the entry level

that is coming in.

So I love those UTI guys that

are going in with the programs

and then the GMA set students

when we were down in Florida,

I was one of the largest

providers for them to

offer them an opportunity to

come in and they're still

students to this day that

have graduated that are

becoming master techs and

GM world class techs coming

out of those programs.

So I think that's a key

portion of it and then

another portion of it is

trying to, what are you

going to do to attract all the

season texts that are looking

for better opportunities

and that's where the culture

comes into play and what sets

you apart from everybody

else, right?

Because every dealership

sells cars.

Every dealership can

service cars.

The only difference

between you and everybody

else is your frontline staff

and how well are they

equipped to handle that?

Yeah, Igor Kay agrees with

you on social.

He says every dealership is

experiencing shortages and

quality tech personnel right

now.

So the winners are finding

interesting and unique ways

to recruit.

Mustafa says, correct Gen Z

here.

We grew up using apps and

websites.

So that phone training to

that conversation is super

important.

And then Mustafa says, how do

you manage your capacity

in parts inventory as you

scale throughput throughout

with demand?

How do you manage your

capacity in parts inventory?

How would you answer that?

I'll tell you, that's

another main reason why

we switched to Tech Yacht

because it is fully

customizable to how we

want our store to run

and not these vendors

trying to tell you in a box,

this is how you should be

running, which is the same

portion of why we have

switched over to Pan HQ for

all of our IVR and our

foicing because it's fully

customizable.

I can do it the way that I

want to do it.

Same thing with the

Tech Yacht.

So if I want to set my skill

levels up, it starts from

the appointment side for it

where it's going to go in.

My capacity is inside

where I kind of allow for

it.

And then when my guys are

off, we just adjust those

back so we can hit.

Yeah.

So you mentioned your

background with Disney and

your focus on culture.

You often are quoted out there

as talking about the

difference between a guest

and a customer.

Talk to us in fixed

ops and in your service

department world.

What's the importance of

guest versus customer?

And why do you lean so

heavily into the guest

instead of customer?

It's just it's a better

combination for our guests,

right?

Instead of saying customer

and you have customers

in the world, right?

Guest sounds more elaborate.

It's elevated into their

game.

The same thing with people

still call their porters

porters, their valets, right?

They're constantly moving.

So it is going to be

ambassadors.

You can make all these

different changes where it's

at.

But at the end of the

result is are they taking

that title or that role

and actually doing something

with it?

Are they opening doors

for the guests, right?

What is that guest

experience?

It's not coming in and

doing your day-to-day job.

Everybody's doing that.

When you're pulling a car

up, is the car open?

Is the AC on?

Is there a water bottle

landed?

We replaced the radio,

the customer.

Please have a seat.

Pull out your phone.

Let's go ahead and reconnect

your phone to make sure

everything's good.

Those are the guest

experiences.

What sets us apart

from everyone else?

Yeah.

You know, it's

interesting.

Words matter, right?

And so the difference

between guest and customer

elevates our team's

engagement, I think,

is what you're saying

and I'm hearing you say.

And words matter

as we engage with

our employees and

customers.

In automotive,

we have so much slang

for customers

and ups and laydowns

and pounders.

And it's that like

slang and that crazy.

Yeah.

And it's not helpful

when we're trying to

create a culture.

So props to you

for engaging with your teams

to do that, in particular

in the fixed ops world.

So you've got Chevy.

You've got Kia.

You've got Stilanus.

You've got Ford.

What are you doing out?

And what?

And Mazda?

And you have Matt Mazda?

Yep.

Is there an OEM

that's helping you

more than another with

not only delivering this

different experience

to your customer,

but engaging with your teams

on training?

Is there anybody

that's ahead in that?

I think the two

biggest ones we have right

now is Chevy and Kia.

I think they're at the

forefront of being

able to focus on

what is most important

for the guests.

I think they bring

a lot more tools

that they have at

their disposal.

Inside their OEMs

like Global Connect

we have service views.

All the data

that's in there

is great,

but if you don't know how

to extract it

and use it properly

it's just another tool.

And that's

where these dealers

have got to go in.

I think that's what we

do extremely well

because we're

absolutely looking

at data all day long.

Yeah.

Christian Meyer says

what systems do you

have in play

to cover your

after-hours traffic?

So phone calls,

emails,

text messages,

conversations that way.

100%

Pam HQ right now.

Dua and Sammy

and the team over there

have been amazing.

We have built this

and it is

fully integrated

with Techion.

So anything after-hours

it's scheduling it

directly into our

Techion scheduler.

If it can't take it

it's taking that message

and alerting our team

depending on the department

sends it out

and then we're getting it

either in live time

if they're up on it

or they're getting it

first thing in the morning

in their box.

So recalls

are a huge issue

right now in the world.

You've got Ford

which is the highest

recalled OEM

for this year

but you've also got others

that are just experiencing

higher recalls

than normal.

How are you addressing

recalls

and servicing customers

with that using technology?

Are you using anything

interesting or special there?

Tell you what

it is 100%.

When I took over these

we went ahead

and got rid of

all these

third-party vendors

that were spending

on marketing, right?

And I focused everything

into AI

and we're sending out

anywhere from

five to eight

email or text message

blasts all day long

to recalls

and Chevy store alone

we're at 83%

completion rate

so I'm running out of recalls

in my area

from what I'm getting to

and I'm waiting for these

ones to come in, right?

Taking that same approach

to the rest of the

manufacturer we have

but it's downloading

those lists from the OEM

pulling it out

and just communicating

and these customers

are responding

like wildfire

when they get a text message.

Yeah.

All right.

Last question up

you totally has been on

in the past

and it stops Friday.

Julie, we've had some great

conversations with him

from the NELO group.

He leans into retention

as being one of the most

important metrics

in his world

and he actually tries

to get their sales department

and variable

to not sell customers

outside their area

because he wants

to own every single customer

they sell

and take care of them

in their own geography.

So that's him

in his world.

What's the number one

or two most important metrics

in your world?

Guest experience

is going to be number one

but that falls right

with what he was discussing

to with retention.

I think retention

is where all these OEMs

should be going towards

instead of CSI.

So retention is really

what you're looking at

and again I'll pick

on our Chevy store right now

we're pushing the envelope

but almost getting

to 90% retention

on our service

few numbers from what we're

at for retaining

the customers for their

first service visit

and we're sitting

we're close to 70,

71% is what

we're trying to get to

on our 18 to 72 months.

So it's constantly

hammering that.

And the AI has been

a major portion of that.

That's awesome.

Well, we absolutely

appreciate you being

on the show.

Kevin Stuckey,

Platform Director,

Fixed Operations,

Parkway Family Auto Group.

Thanks for being

on the show

and sharing your perspectives

and giving us an education

on all the things

you're doing here.

Pleasure guys.

Absolutely an honor.

Thank you

and happy birthday again.

Thank you.

Appreciate it.

Hey, what a great way

to, what a great way

to spend a birthday.

Yeah, I agree.

With all our

all our friends

for 5,000 watching live

and then whoever

will watch in overtime.

But before we get too excited

on that,

let's talk about escalating

fines and enforcement actions.

Escalating fines

and enforcement actions

are hitting dealers hard.

KPA's Complete Compliance Suite

protects you

from every compliance risk

while helping to reduce

insurance premiums

and liability exposure.

Learn more at

kpaa.io

forward slash automotive.

You can scan the QR code

as well.

Or if you're

in the podcast recording

post live,

you can go down into the

show notes, click on it.

But we absolutely appreciate

KPA

supporting today's content

including that incredible

conversation just now

with Kevin

learning about all things

AI

and techie on in his world

and a bunch of other tools

that he's using

not only to increase

retention,

but guest experience.

So props to you.

You know,

Julie, it's interesting.

He's in Orlando.

Like, that's the home of Disney.

He moved.

He started in Orlando

in Texas now.

Yeah.

But in Orlando,

do you think the expectation

is higher because of Disney

and because of all the

schools that they do teaching

and training with dealers?

I know GM has the program

where they go and they learn

at Disney.

It's got to be.

I mean, they literally

created an underground city.

So nothing we used to have

in our meetings every morning.

I'll never forget this

20 years ago.

21 years ago when I started,

we had a sign as you were

leaving the conference room

and said, smile, you're on stage.

And I would imagine it's the same

thing at every door behind

closed doors in Disney

where it's like, hey, listen,

you're going out.

You're going to be guest facing.

Smile, put on a show.

It's time.

I would definitely

imagine being in Orlando.

There's a big emphasis

on that type of training

and culture.

Yeah.

And then how do we,

you know, when I think

about those words,

social media right now

is just a light with

everybody's giving everybody's

giving their own version

of some of the slang we see

out there.

So as an example,

eager K super fan,

he says, tire kicker,

waste my time.

Lots of labels

for customers.

And there's,

and that's only the beginning.

We're seeing a ton of it

on social.

I'm not so nice ones.

Unfortunately.

Yeah.

And listen,

those words hurt our industry.

We have got to eradicate it.

I think one of the things

Subaru does great as an OEM,

we're going to have Jeff

Walters on in a future episode.

Subaru is super intentional

about avoiding those words.

And I think some of the

best dealerships in the

country are intentional

about the words they use

with customers

and with their own employees.

You can't be one way

with a customer on the

showroom floor

and then go behind

a closed door

and talk another way.

You've got to be authentic

and you've got to be

transparent start to finish.

You know,

that's one of the biggest

things you took the words out

of my mouth.

So customers are there

once every few years

where they're every day

and you love the camaraderie

and a dealership, right?

I mean, it's a guys

and gals club.

You're having a lot of fun.

But the issue is

if you walk into a sales

tower or an office

and you rip a joke

with someone

and it's totally harmless,

totally meaningless,

has nothing to do

with the customer.

You might be dealing

with a customer

who might be credit

challenged and here's laughter

after you walk

into the room

and now they might think

are they laughing at me?

You know, it's really so important

that we treat everyone

with an elevated experience.

I know.

So you've got to help

the customer be more comfortable.

But I would also argue

that it's equally as important

with our employees

because how we talk

with our employees

and our teams

filters down

to the end customer

and like having that

consistent start to finish.

I would love somewhere

we should do like this movement,

right?

Getting rid of all

every sling, you know,

and finding a way to make it

better, more authentic

forward-facing.

And Guess Where is a great place

to start that conversation.

We talked about it yesterday

or last time on the show

Wednesday.

Cardiola Ship Guy is back

with our second annual

NADA party.

That'll be the place

where this could start

happening in Las Vegas

Thursday, February 5th

and it's the hottest ticket

at NADA 2026

with special guests

and top automotive

personalities.

To be considered

for that formal invite,

hit the link in the show

and join

and fill out a questionnaire

spots are limited

and unfortunately

we can't invite everyone.

So RSVP today

as we hope to see you in Vegas,

we talked Wednesday

with Yossi on the show,

the Cardiola Ship Guy

about it's the conversations

we'll have there at NADA.

They're going to

ultimately help our

businesses

and maybe that's one

we could start there

as well.

Eagercase Superfan says

100% agreeing with

changing the way we talk

in automotive

and the verbiage we use.

So fun, interesting conversation.

All right, let's go to next.

Fixed Ops Friday continues.

The March rolls on Dave Rogers,

director of fixed operations,

Piazza Auto Group.

Dave, welcome to the show.

Hey, Dave.

Hey, great.

Thanks for having me today

and happy birthday, Sam.

Thank you.

It's super nice getting everybody.

A real Fixed Ops Friday.

Two guests, both Fixed Ops.

Who would have thunk?

By the way,

that is the definition

of Fixed Ops Friday.

And some people are like,

why are you guys so focused on

Fixed Ops on Friday?

Listen, Fixed Ops is one of the

most overlooked profit centers

in all of automotive.

And it baffles me how it

happened.

So we're like,

Fixed Ops, we're going to do it

on Fridays as much as we can

because it makes us happy

and we want to.

So, Julie, first question.

What's our first question for Dave?

Dave, how's Biz?

Yeah, Biz has been good.

October, a new record month

for Fixed Ops all around.

Thrilled to death with the

progress the teams made

and all the stores we have made.

We had a little bit of a challenge,

a hiccup with, you know,

the JLR hack outage.

In fact, there's some parts and stuff,

but, you know,

I think you can't,

you can't expect perfection.

I got 30 stores,

17 franchises.

They're not all going to be

perfect at the same time, right?

It's just not going to

fire that way.

So, but how is the team

record break a month?

How's the JLR thing

working out for you?

Like any impact still?

There's an impact with vehicles.

They're not getting there.

They don't have any orders

go through for the last couple of months.

Parts are starting to trickle in.

Most of the systems are online.

I think they're going to just

start doing CSI surveys again.

So, you know,

we don't miss that part.

Obviously we don't care about that

as much as we care about parts and parts.

Yeah.

How are you guys navigating that

with the customers?

I mean,

if you weren't able to get parts

to service their vehicles,

you're dealing with a pretty,

I mean, not pretty,

you're dealing with a luxury clientele.

So how does that play out?

Well, we're fortunate.

We have three JLR stores

and one standalone Land Rover store.

So we have that inner,

you know,

we can transfer by parts from each other,

which was very helpful.

They did a pretty good job.

I'm going to give JLR some credit.

They had, you know,

they brought out the old phones,

faxes, emails.

I mean, they did,

they did old school to get parts

deliveries.

And so we accomplished

what we need to accomplish.

But there's a couple, you know,

there was a couple of backorder parts and stuff.

Customers I think understood

we didn't have really too much of a problem.

I love it.

We see that you're a CDG circles member.

So thank you for that.

You're an early adopter.

We need to make sure that everyone else signs up

so they don't have to wait

until the end of the first quarter

in 2026.

So you say...

I heard Sam

talking about the circles thing.

So I sent a message to Yoshi.

I'm like, yo, what's this message thing?

And he's, you know, mad at me.

It's for owners, deal of principles.

I'm like, oh man, that's cold.

But yeah, now they open it up to us.

Lowly fixed ops guys.

It's great to hear.

Lowly fixed ops guys run at 30 stores.

So you say you're always perfecting the basics.

And obviously it's not your first time around here,

but when you say perfecting the basics,

what did you actually change

on the day to day in the service drive?

I think sometimes we get,

we get caught up in new stuff.

You know, you get caught up in some technology.

You caught up in, you know,

just chasing the shiny object.

And, you know, you forget, right?

Basics.

Make sure we set appointments.

Make sure we have a good, you know,

make sure we have our appointment systems is,

everyone's using the same platform.

Make sure we're confirming the appointments, right?

Calling the no shows.

One of the things I circled back around recently is

how about making the next appointment for the customer?

That just does the doctor does.

Like guys forgot, like we used to do that years ago.

And now we have the technology,

you have the tools to do it.

I mean, we use CDK service and a lot of my stores.

There's actually a big button on the screen.

Next appointment takes you out six months.

Make that next appointment.

So, you know, we've been,

we've been chasing that really for the last year

when just honing back in on the basics

and doing a good multipoint,

making sure it gets presented to the customer,

you know, tracking that, you know,

tracking the videos,

make sure they get sent to customers.

So, you know, I think it's making a big difference.

Cause I think we just, we lose sight of it.

You know, you start chasing stuff.

You start doing things and yeah, it drives, right?

You know, the store blindness thing.

You forget about doing the basics.

Are you doing anything on the MPI side with videos,

technician videos?

Yeah, we use videos.

Most of our stores have a video platform

or more of the other CDK,

true video, deal of logics.

So one thing in mentioning the CDG circles

and the circle I'm in with,

to your point, right, with other principles,

dealers are using metaglasses to do that experience,

which I never thought of that,

but how cool is that?

You put that, you put the sunglasses on,

you hit record,

and then it automatically syncs back to the device.

It goes over to the customer

and allows the technician to be completely hands-free

and perform their work

and it lets the customer see the technician's perspective.

So you're doing something like that.

What's your standard

or what's your percent of completion

that you're requiring?

Right now we're at around 70%.

I mean, obviously we want to be 100,

but 90, I think the other day when I looked

we're at 97% percent,

which was the best percentage we've ever had.

You know, so the take into the videos

isn't where I want it to be,

but at least we're sending them to the customers

because you don't have that filter

and going on too much.

As far as the metaglasses,

we have a couple of guys,

the technicians that actually put in orders

to get their own.

I've talked to some of the service managers

about getting them.

I think it's a great idea.

I really do think it's a great idea.

So that's technology that I really think

it's going to be a game changer for the techs

because they're playing with their phones

and you get a lot of stuff

with the manufacturers now having your technicians

take pictures of the Vin plate,

take pictures of the bad part.

They're doing all this stuff.

We should have sent them to FIT

to get a photography degree.

The almost pictures are taken, right?

But if you think about it,

if they can have the glasses, that'd be great.

The pictures don't really matter

at the end of the day.

You're dealing with 97%, 98% of customers

have never seen underneath their car.

So it's a whole new world.

So it's that dry eyes theory again.

Just show them what it should look like

and what you see now.

Let me propose something as a next step

with the Meta glasses.

So the Meta glasses are great, I think,

because they will record, they'll take pictures.

Next step though, Meta, I think,

just announced a version

where there's actually kind of a display

on the inside of the glass

and you can actually see things.

I think there'll be a world where you could connect

with the service contract provider

or the OEM show

and then they could show you back.

Like if there's an intricate repair

or something you're supposed to do,

you're trying to diffuse a bomb

and they're like, do not clip the red wire,

clip the blue wire.

They can see it.

Right, and then they can give it back to you.

I mean, that's an exciting sort of evolution

for a technician

to provide assistance and also feedback, right?

That's been out there.

I saw that years ago.

It was either at one of the European manufacturers,

BMW, Mercedes, Porsche,

and they had the guys with the glasses

and then technical assistants

could see what they were doing.

Actually, at one of the conferences,

it wasn't an idea, but it was like the BMW

or Mercedes national thing

where they had the glasses run

and they just took a passerby

and they said, here, take apart this power steering rack.

The guy in your ear is going to tell you

what to do and they put it back together.

And it was just some lady walking by.

It was really awesome to watch.

Yeah, it worked.

But I don't think it ever really took any traction.

I haven't seen it since that,

a few years ago, but maybe the metaglass,

maybe that's the problem.

There was goggles at the time.

Well, and the rate at which technology evolves,

it's interesting.

There are moments where it's right to introduce a technology

and then there's moments where it's a little too early.

And it seems to me one of the challenges

is figuring out like,

has the technology evolved enough to lean into it

or is it still too much work?

And maybe back then it was too much work,

but I think as rapidly as some of that's evolving today,

it probably makes sense to relook at.

I have a question for you.

You do have an interesting background

because you were a general manager, right?

And we talk about that.

A fixed ops director who was a GM

is a little bit of a unicorn

because you've had that variable operations background.

What are one or two things,

what are two messages you would give to a GM

watching the show today on November 21st

that might help them better

work alongside fixed ops,

better lean into fixed ops,

get better net production

out of fixed ops?

Well, I think the one thing is

try being,

I think a lot of times the guys in the back

don't know the general manager.

General managers aren't,

they're not comfortable being in the shop.

They just don't feel like they're part of the guys.

We have a couple GMs that are real good at this.

How about you park in the back of the building

and walk in through the shop

and say good morning to the guys

or walk in through shipping and receiving a part

and say good morning to the guys.

Simple, not a complicated thing,

but it will

put you at the same level

which is I think what you have to do

with the guys in service.

And then the other thing is look at KPIs

and look at the store like you do look at sales.

You look at your CRM, right?

You're going to look at your lead, your appointments,

your shows, and your closing, right?

So how about when you're talking to your service manager

and your writers, how many appointments do you have today?

How many showed up?

How many no shows do we call?

How many hours did the shop turn today?

I think GMs just

like you're looking at how many cars you sold yesterday

new and used.

You're looking at your gross profit per your finance.

Usually every day you should know

how much did we do, how much had your advisors do

yesterday, each one.

How'd your tech production do?

I think the biggest thing is

and I know most GMs care

but their people don't know they care, right?

And you got to show your texts.

You really just have to show your texts.

You just can't go back there

to that mad man, the crazy guy

after a 20 group meeting

and start screaming that one online RO

is in the depth of our repair of the service department

or your hours per RO out.

You know what I mean?

That kind of stuff isn't going to make you

the most popular guy.

And I think a lot of GMs are afraid of service.

They really are.

Why are they afraid?

Because I think it's

probably because we've bamboozled them for years

and we make it think like it's too complicated

and I just

you know

in sales

most of the time the customer comes in

and they're happy, right?

They're coming in to look to buy a car.

In service that's not always the case, right?

So

you're dealing with

you mentioned before with Disney.

The people are at Disney

they're trying to be happy.

Customers at what kind of dealership

a lot of times in service they're pissed.

So you know and that

mindset sometimes for the sales

mentality

they just don't embrace it.

I know it's tough.

There was things in sales I had to learn

that I got to be honest with you

some of the stuff aggravated me too.

The divas in finance they just aggravated

the crap out of me someday.

You got to learn how to deal with it.

Well it is interesting because

a lot of dealerships don't treat those service

riders as salespeople

similar to or the same as

your front

salespeople selling the cars.

Service riders are actually

technically more valuable.

From a dollar standpoint could be more valuable employees

talking away more people.

They're talking to more customers

they're dealing with to your point more complaints

more issues

and they're retaining customers to the dealership

and the dealer group in a way that

salespeople selling that car are not, right Dave?

Yeah I mean I got

a lot of advisors that are doing

over $100,000

in gross profit a month

and that's not just the high launch stores

I got one guy that does $3 million a year

in gross as a premium

highline service advisor

you got to look at the gross profit

they're generating.

They're just not

they're probably more

income per advisor than any of your salespeople

and they're right up there with your F&I people.

So to that point though

why don't more people

train their advisors who spend so much time

on the sales side making sure

that you got the right word tracks

the right word tracks for the phone the scripts

but on the service side

you're talking to 10x the amount

of customers there should be a tremendous

amount of emphasis on

how to handle the customers

and how to care how to convey that message along

why don't you think the industry embraces that?

I don't know

they don't pay attention to service

they really need it

I tease everybody

they can't spell absorption until there's a crisis

in the front end

now they want to know what you're at every day

but last time I was on we talked about

we do training we've been doing training

since I joined the group almost nine years ago

I think it's key you have to spend the money

teaching them how to sell

listen they sell you have to teach them how to close

but it is a weakness

and that's where I think these general managers

that have sales background

could be an asset

come in the back

how about you walk around during rush hour

help move some cars help answer some phones

and then maybe say you know maybe we do need

an extra valet back here

listen to the writers maybe they don't know how to sell

maybe get them some sales training

you would do the same thing with the sales person

that wasn't following the road to the sale

so

that's where I think you have to do

you do have to focus on the service advisors

and their selling skills

good comments online

supporting this commentary

and obviously this isn't a beat down session on GM's

this is a great opportunity for us to learn

to grow and take away to figure out how to engage

Eager says GM's need to be more encouraging

show it more often

shop

personal

usually gets no attention from dealer principals and GM's

and I would also say I think in some stores

not all I think part of that disconnect

is you know

you're doing the suit up front

right and I think sometimes

I know sometimes

sometimes when some people go back into the shop

you know you just naturally feel a disconnect

because it's just a different experience

right and I think

some of that can be perceived and some of that can be

real

next comment and when you're

let's see service writers do the hardest

job and are closest to the most customers

unfortunately

they're never retained long enough

so I know we've talked about this in the past

what when you engage with the service

writers and you're doing training that are

that is sales based is there

a system or a process that you're using

the others might replicate

any training that you're finding

is really good really beneficial

right again we started

the Piazza Auto University

we partnered up with Steve Shaw training

and that's right we talked about that

yeah we talked about that yeah Steve's

and we still do it I mean we keep doing it with the online

training I mean the biggest thing is

you know presenting the multi-point

we talk about pass or fail that's our

thing we don't talk about the yellow

we think the yellow is a cop out

you know the only measurements on a multi-point

are tires and brakes and they could be

marginal right you could be five

millimeters on brakes or five thirty

seconds on tires and that's the yellow

but everything else on a car

either passes or fails right and that's

part of one of the things we I've

always noticed and probably more so in the

last few years is the service

advisors will back up well

you know it's yellow you can

wait till the next visit well wait a second

if the manufacturers pushing maintenance

out no no you need it now you need it

before your next maintenance is due right

and I think that that's one of the

biggest things that you have to do and

you know the other thing is is you

have a lot of service advisors

now that are young maybe don't have the technical

experience you got to let them embrace

chat GPT you got to let them

embrace some of this stuff because

they don't they don't know they don't know

what you know a tie rod is they don't know

what suspension is you know

and I think the videos help them to

we encourage them to look at the video

from the technician so they know what

they're talking about so you know I

think there's a lot of little pieces that

go into it I think advisors it is

a tough job

but you know if they're not

producing or not selling you know we're

wasting we're wasting a lot of money

I think a lot of that pushback also

when you're trying to I don't want to call it up

sell but recommend a service that

they're going to need between now and their

next service a lot of that pushback is always

the time right you get people that are frustrated

they're like no I've been here too long I'll

just do it next time what are you doing

to attack that you know are you

offering any any kind of you know you

putting people in loners or are you

driving them home

we use loners we use lift we use

we have some stores that still have

some shuttle vans I mean one of the

things the manufacturer all of all the

you know volume ones always

push express right

and you know you have separate lanes

let me tell you customers

get used to going to that express lane

because they generally don't

upsell right because they're in a rush

to try to turn you in an hour right

so you have to slow it down

a little bit you got to get that

multi-point done in the first 15 minutes

quarter time as they call it right you got

to get in front of that customer because they give you an hour

that's the rule the customer gives you an hour

so if you get to them in the first 15 minutes

and say hey Julie cars in the shop

just so you know we did the multi-point

it's gonna need brakes gonna need

tires you're red we got to get that

done today

and they look at you with this look

let me get your car let me get you out of here

you have a much better chance of selling that

now than if you took the whole

hour and hit them up after the hours up

oh yeah you ran out of time you ran out of time

so yeah it's all in the timing

when you do it and it's a challenge

I mean I think that that burden that's put

on the staff and express

makes it a challenge and a lot of that

just outside influence you know so

we use all the tools

you have to use all the tools

but it's not easy it's every

day you're out there just trying to get a little bit better

incremental growth is all you can do

so I got a question kind of going

to some of the news and industry trends

that we see right now so

OEMs are pushing hard

into direct customer relationships

and they're doing that right now through

their updates for things

like recalls and whatnot and even

subscription based maintenance alerts all that

what threats or what

opportunities do you see for

dealers in 2026

and the rest of this year is OEMs

pull more of that service

communication upstream

I think you have to own your data

right I mean you know

one of the challenges we have with

traditional DMS is

is getting the data

and you have to be out there in front of the customers

one of the reasons why I say to my

guys and girls is make

that next appointment so that we're ahead of the curve

like I don't care what that light says

you need to change the oil twice a year

right so I'm not

such a battle it's such a battle

it's crazy it's been a long battle

yeah because because

of the brainwashing I mean if you think about

what's been happening for 20 years

is everybody's been getting

under pressure to not

to follow the light follow the light follow

the light and the problem is

is that you know it's now hard to turn

that Titanic ship right to get that thing

back but I think you had to take the initiative

you got to take the first step

I think the other thing is is try

try to take

care of everything when the car is there if that car

has an update do it

right you know if you know like if you

know there's like the manufacturer gets you

like we're not supposed to do work

upsell warranty right

so it's supposed to be that if the customer

comes in complains about this then you could do this

TSB right so you have to walk

that fine line but if we know

that every e-class that comes in the door

needs an update

you got to start talking to the customer because

who looks like an idiot we look like idiots

because we didn't do the update right so

know your product know what's out there

and again since you are extending the maintenance

even for six months you want to try

to pick up as much of this stuff as possible because

to your point though Sam

the dealership is left

looking like the bad guy nine out of ten

times from the narrative

from the OEs from the public

from all these experts out there

and we're not necessarily the bad guys and we didn't

necessarily cause most of these problems so

you know you guys know you're in a dealer

world and we keep our mouths shut most of the time

that's why I love the show by the way

it's getting out there

but it's a positive for the business you know

it's a positive for the business is what you

need in this car business

we talk about a lot of the things that

others are uncomfortable talking about

so when you think about

next year 2026

and your role as director

of fixed ops in such a large group

what's a profit center

that you see is emerging in fixed ops

that maybe other groups aren't seeing

or aren't capitalizing on

I think mobile service we're going to

expand on it we have three trucks going

four trucks actually

we have one store has two trucks

out I think we need to bring it to some

of the other brands I think you know

there's always been this thing like when you

go to the BMW show

the NAC you know they got a four transit

they use a four transit right so

I'm like well I want to use one of my Mercedes

Sprinters and they're like oh you know

they give you a hard time I'm like no no no

I'm going to use a Sprinter

so we have to overcome some of those obstacles

about using a different truck

we could use a Defender you know we could use

some of that stuff

so they don't want the Sprinter

well if Ford is telling you they won't pay for the Sprinter

interesting

no the BMW store

the BMW NAC they want me to use a Ford

I'm like I'm not using a Ford and I'll use a Sprinter

but I think that's a big opportunity

I think that you know

obviously you want to make sure you run

your business in store the best way

but the one thing we've noticed with the mobile

that I don't really hear being talked about

a lot is if you can pick off those

one one and a half hour jobs

and not have the customer

come into the service department

it makes the rest of your shop a little more productive

and they're not dealing with some of that

you know it takes the same amount of time to write that RL up

the same time the road test at bar all those other

you know back end operation things

so you know that's been working in our

Mercedes stores that use it and use it good

and it's I think it's at next level

next year

as you're growing your remote service business

there's a certain type of technician

that is better

at remote service than another

like it's a different it takes a different approach

to the business to be in a vehicle

to drive around

to go from site to site

you're not sitting there waiting for jobs

talking with the customer face to face

right you know

that's probably the biggest challenge

you need to have a champion in the service department

to book the appointments and steer that work

towards the mobile

but that technician I mean we've had roadside

techs for a while but you got to be

like the you know the pool guy

that comes to your house you know the long guy

that you know you talk to you know it's

got to be that kind of guy

and or girl they have to be

you know they have to be can't be afraid

to talk and they probably can't

be over technical so it is a challenge

we've gone through a few people to get the right

person but you know if you keep looking

like anything else in this business

if you make your focus on it

like Kevin said before he's taking ownership

on the on the AI right

you got to take you got to be the champion

you got to take ownership and

and you got to find the right person for the job

yeah yeah so last

up last question up you know Honda

is famously stopped production

of vehicles for a little while due to the next

period chip shortage and

it seems to be that all things

chips impact

automotive right both from

sub part and supply

component availability

but then also just the vehicles themselves

have you seen any supply disruptions

any of the OEMs as a result of the

chip shortage or even overall part

shortage or

are things getting better Dave

I think things are getting better we have

there's periodic outages and

shortages as it goes along but

nothing in particular that I've heard

for the chips

you know I think

one thing that people haven't talked about a lot

is the amount of price increases that the manufacturers

have been dumping on

and has been going on for years now

and it seems like every quarter

you're getting you know appreciation on your parts

tape you're getting prices increasing

you know I don't know if it's tariff

driven I don't know if it's greed but

you know this has been going on since 2021

and you know when they talk about the

affordability issue

it's not I know there's some dealers out there

at $450 an hour I get it

but you know we don't

we don't dictate the price increases that are

coming through the parts and

you know I think that's one of the biggest challenges going forward

it's you know we started looking at after

market parts we started looking at giving people alternatives

you know and and trying to work

with an app or trying to work with the local

the local parts people because

$450 for an alternator

on a Honda right 250

for an aftermarket I mean

we got to give customers an option and

you hate to say it but

you know I'm not losing a job just because

I can't I can't be competitive and so

we can so do you

explain that price difference between the

aftermarket and the OEM

is that just profit to the OEM

or is it just different quality

material or what is the pricing difference

because that is a little

it's a little above but you know if you do

research and you look every

manufacturer out there

parts is one of the most profitable divisions

they don't announce it but if you read through

their pub their statements if you look at their public

their quarterly returns

or issue you know their stock their quarterly

what do they call it earnings calls

and you listen parts is one of the most

profitable centers for all the manufacturers

they don't have a problem

marking up parts and

I'm just using an example I mean I'm sure I could

find a billion other examples

on prices but

there's times when a customer has a car that's

10 years old and you hear about a little time

how much we stink

at retaining customers right after they go

back to warranty but again if you come into my

store and you got a 7 year old

Honda Accord and I tell you it's going to be

$900 for an alternator

and maybe I'm charging $152

an hour but you know

you're priced out of the market right

you got to give up $2000

you might have to offer the option

you know what I mean and a lot of times unfortunately

they have better warranties

they got lifetime warranties or free year

warranties so you know I think that

we got to start digging our heels in a little bit

looking out for ourselves

I'm there to sell parts I'm there to sell service

but it's going to be a

challenge with some of the and the higher mileage

of the cars coming in the more of that you get

yeah well and on that

we appreciate Dave Rogers you being on the

show being back

again for a repeat performance we

enjoy the topics you bring in the conversation

Dave Rogers director

of Fixed Ops Piazza Auto Group

thanks for being on the show today

thanks for having me guys again happy birthday

thank you

that is fun

I love the conversations with him and the different

things he's thinking about a lot

of comments on social

from superfan

hikes in MSRP are getting out

of control hikes in parts is also getting

out of control tariffs

are killing it

I hate it or I hate when the economy

is being driven by politics no more

political comment but I had to say this one

and then yoga car says OEMs have

better margins on parts but total gross

on the vehicles I would say

our own wholesale parts operation it's super tight

margins like nobody

nobody in automotive I should

ask him this but like nobody's crushing

it on parts margin from

OEM to retail

and then

Dan C says love

the fixed ops Friday shows thanks for giving

visibility to an underappreciated portion

of the retail automotive industry

and by the way that's what we're here for

we want to shed

pass light in every part of automotive

and bring it to all of us

happy birthday Sam

and Michelle thank you

look at all that

looks 35 I agree

by the way I like that 35

that's awesome I'll own that

and I'm gonna stick with it

I like that Prince of St.

Darkness that's awesome

well to our loyal listening audience thanks for being here

hope to see as many of you as we can

we'll see you back

on Monday thanks for watching Daily Deal Life

where we break down the biggest moves

in the car business as they

happen don't forget we're here live every Monday

Wednesday and Friday 1pm

Eastern so if this is your world

as always hit like, subscribe

turn on those notifications so you never

ever miss a beat

and we'll see you next episode everybody thanks

thanks guys

you

Fixed Ops Friday with David Rogers, and Kevin Stuckey | Daily Dealer Live

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