Liz Tait Gets Real About Dealership Drama
About this episode
Liz Tait shares her experiences navigating the automotive industry, particularly as a female technician in a male-dominated field. She discusses the challenges of dealership politics, the importance of proper ADAS calibration, and the pitfalls of the used car market. Liz emphasizes the need for better communication between body shops and mechanics to prevent costly mistakes. The conversation also touches on the struggles of finding skilled technicians and the impact of COVID-19 on the industry. With a blend of humor and frustration, Liz offers insights into the realities of working in automotive repair.
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In this episode, Jeff Compton sits down with Liz Tate, partner at Level 5 Drive, an ADAS calibration company in southern Ontario. Liz discusses her unconventional path into the automotive industry and the challenges she encountered working as a woman in a traditionally male-dominated field. She shares candid experiences from her time in both dealership and aftermarket environments, highlighting issues such as poor management, internal politics, and the difficulties around proper vehicle safety and used car inspections.
00:00 "Jaded Mechanic: Celebrating 100 Episodes"
08:47 High School Educational Tracks Divide
12:41 "Balancing Podcast Dreams and Career"
19:00 Mentorship vs. Efficiency Conflict
26:01 Customer Complaints Post-Oil Change
30:52 Parts Pricing and Accountability Issues
32:22 Dealership Service Frustrations
41:31 Catalytic Converter Solutions in Canada
47:28 Dealership Culture and Resistance to Change
52:22 "Challenges in Car Shop Margins"
54:30 "Beware Unlicensed Car Technicians"
01:03:00 "Flawed Program Lacks Accountability"
01:06:08 Industry Evolution and Innovation Insights
01:10:26 ADAS Calibration Challenges in Aftermarket
01:18:47 Decaying Truck Neglect
01:24:58 Communication Breakdown in Auto Repairs
01:26:39 Insurance Struggles in Auto Repairs
01:32:52 3D Puzzle vs. Road Map Understanding
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Chevrolet Cobalt
"...k, that for their efficiency numbers was a little cobalt that needed the catalytic converter replacement w..."
Renault Wind
"...customer, okay, so you got a squeak and you got a wind noise or whatever, you know, that nonsense. When ..."
Toyota A80
"You don't want to talk to the salesman. You want to look at that reputation. Because if they don't have a licensed technician on staff or somebody that can fix the car up, they're probably selling some pretty sketchy stuff because they've made an arrangement with a local shop that says, hey, I'm going to bring you 20 cars a month to safety. And that guy, all he's thinking is 20 more hours labor that I do on safety inspections or maybe, maybe 40 if I charge him an hour and inspect it and an hour to reinspect it after his non life licensed guy does the inspection. See? Yeah, years ago I worked at a shop, Liz, and maybe you can tell me if you've been to something different. Where down the street was a used car lot and they had four technicians on staff, not one of them had a license. So all day long they would bring a used car up that they bought at the auction. We would inspect the car, it would go back down, all the cheapest parts on they could find and it would come back up and we would reinspect it again. I don't know the exact numbers of what he was charging, but I, I know that he wasn't charging to do the re inspection, he just got paid to do the inspection. So we would go down and say like I can remember when we had a Durango, a two wheel drive Durango, which was rare, and it had a loose wheel bearing on the front. Now that wheel bearing is like, has a little stub on the end of the spindles. Just, just looks like the four wheel drive one. It's like a, it was a 80 bearing back then and it was loose and it was already torqued up the nut up to spec so it wasn't going to get any tighter. And I remember looking at that car three times and when he brought it back down and I would do the inspection and say, wheel bearing still loose. Wheel bearing still loose. He was never tight, he was never replacing the wheel bearing. He was just tightening the nut more and more. The technician, because somebody told him, we're not putting a bearing on that car."
Honda Civic
"...anes of traffic and it killed somebody in a Honda Civic. Do you know where the steering box was, Liz? Pro..."
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