Welcome to another In Wheel Time podcast, a 30 minute mini version of the In Wheel Time Car Show that airs live every Saturday morning 8 to 11am, central.
It's the In Wheel Time Car Talk Show.
Coming up Kevin Fitzpatrick with Opus IVS, a remote auto repair facilitator.
Later a look at the automotive news headlines this week.
We got lots of them Howdy, along with Mike out of this world Mars.
I'm Jim Conrad DeLong.
We always need more, jeff Zekin.
I'm Don Armstrong, glad you could join us while we wait for Kevin Fitzpatrick to join us.
We just had a slight discussion about washing your hands at an automotive facility.
Now Conrad swears up and down by automatic transmission fluid Clean, I would say yeah, yeah, yeah, brand new automatic transmission fluid.
Wash it up, just like you would with soap.
And took that smell because I did all diesel and differential work and it would literally take that aroma out of your hands.
That's what I liked about it is because I I hated, you know what is that nice fragrance?
Why that's ATF?
Well, after you wash your hands, did you feel shiflus?
I worked at a facility one time in my life, years ago, that had a round wash basin.
They only call that great, big, huge thing and it had a foot, a foot Applicant starter, yeah, right.
And so you'd press your foot down on it, and then this big sprinkler thing in this round deal would come down Get your pants wet.
Get your pants wet, make it look like you peed your pants, but you know, is that what you told people done?
That's what he tells people.
That's what I yeah, I lied and told them that, but at any rate, and then we had some sort of soap, liquid soap, but it wasn't like it was like lava, but in a liquid form, and oh my God, my hands gritty and my hands were all calloused up.
Yeah, yeah.
The way it cleans is by removing four layers of skin.
Yeah, exactly the good old days.
Yes.
We know that you didn't have that, did you, mr Mars?
You never used anything like that.
Did you use?
gasoline, gasoline, no, thank you, that's great.
It cut everything.
you know it did, yes, it did, set your hands on fire and everything.
Yeah, just be careful with those scratch while you're washing.
Washing, yeah, yeah, you did you ever do any of that?
I didn't even cry a fish.
You didn't Exactly.
Well, you talked about the soap, the gritty soap, and the round wash basin.
Yeah, that's yeah, everybody did that, yeah.
Okay, kevin Fitzpatrick is the vice president of operations for a company called Opus IVS, and I'm not going to try to explain it.
We'll just let him do it, because I gained some knowledge in our last application of Zoom calls.
Okay, in other words, let the guests handle it.
Exactly.
Kevin Fitzpatrick.
Good morning to you, sir.
Morning gentlemen.
How are you Well?
We're very well.
Thank you very much.
It's hot down here in Texas.
Where are you?
I'm back here in New York.
I wasn't.
I was in Dallas just a day before yesterday, as a matter of fact, and yeah, it was quite hot there, we'll say we're in.
New York, are you?
I'm in Long Island right now.
I'm in West Babylon.
I'm actually one of my shops where I have an office, so, yeah, it's a little bit warm here as well.
Kevin, tell us what Opus IVS is and what they do.
So Opus IVS, we provide services, tools and services through the collision and the mechanical space.
So we're really big and remoting right now.
So we do pre and post, pre and post scanning, vehicle programming and technical support.
So we're really good at remoting, remoting expertise into the shop.
Who is your client?
Our clients are collision shops, general repair shops and, in some cases, like, for instance, resellers of vehicles around the country.
Interesting.
So you offer technical support to these facilities.
That's correct.
Like, for instance, in a collision shop.
Before a vehicle is returned to the owner, we'll perform a vehicle to make sure that all of the systems that were there free collision are all and working properly so that when the customer gets a car back, you know, I mean again it is in a free collision state.
Everything is up and working exactly the way it should from a calibration.
How do you know that, though?
I mean you take pictures of it, or how does that work?
We actually have a device that plugs into the vehicle.
Into the ALDL connector.
That's correct and it goes into every one of the systems and makes sure that all of the systems that it actually interfaces and makes sure that all of those systems are up and going and if a calibration is required we're able to interface.
We can actually work with the technician that's on site, have them place a target in front of the vehicle and we'll put the computer into a mode where it's actually able to perform that calibration.
Oh, for all of the lane departure cameras, reverse cameras and stuff.
Yeah, because that's quite a thing right now.
With getting windshields replaced, you've got to get everything, all the cameras recalibrated, and you'd be surprised there's four and five cameras on some cars that have to get recalibrated.
Once it's worked.
That's like one of those iPhones that's got all the lenses on it five lenses or something.
When you're lane departure radar.
Like I said, these vehicles have tons and tons of technology on them.
I mean it's a bit of a challenge for shops today, both collision and mechanical.
It's both an issue and an opportunity for these shops.
So you guys are real intelligence, not artificial intelligence.
You have live people working on your calls, talking to these shops and helping them work through whatever technical issues they have, or doing the inspection of the car.
And when you do this end-of-job inspection of the vehicle, do you provide some kind of document to the shop that they can present to the customer saying it's been inspected and all things are working?
That's correct.
We're actually using factory software.
So if it's a general mode, we're going to use a GM software, bmw, bmw software.
So we're actually using factory software that we actually remote to the vehicle.
So we provide them a factory report so that they can see exactly that we wanted to every single system and basically verify that every system is operating exactly the way it should, which is peace of mind both for the shop returning it to their customer, and for the vehicle owner and, in the case of a collision shop, the insurance company as well, to make sure, because there's an insurance company between the insured and the collision shop.
So you're doing more than just a DTC scan.
You're actually doing functionality testing of certain programs, certain systems inside the vehicle.
Making sure that it is operating as designed.
For instance, there's things like seat weight sensors, right, just to make sure that everything is operating and calibrated.
And having the OEM software is very expensive.
Correct.
And again, that's where, like I said so, we're controlling costs for a lot of these shops too, Especially if we can speak on the mechanical side for a second.
The complexity of these vehicles is so huge.
Today, If I'm in the Northeast or anywhere like Meany, if you have a three or a five bay repair shop, gone are the days where the expectation is one size fits all If you have a technician and you can fix a GM, you can fix a Ford, you can fix a BMW.
Those days are gone Way behind us.
Yeah, you need a guy who is almost factory trained across a number of these vehicles, Because the technology really doesn't transfer.
So you need somebody who kind of has a degree of training across a number of specifically on these vehicles.
So where do you locate your operators, your call center people?
We get them directly from the dealership when we hire a technician.
We've got fall centers or our technology centers.
We have one in Huntington Beach, we have one in Comac, right here in the center of Long Island.
We have our largest, which is a 50,000 square foot center, right outside of Ann Arbor, michigan, another one down in North Carolina.
We have them all over.
We get guys directly from the dealer network.
We hire a guy with a minimum of seven years factory experience, dealer experience.
Then we put these guys.
They come to us.
We have guys with 20 plus years experience.
So we'll give a guy with their knees are gone from getting down on their knees and setting up these lifts over all these years and they'll come to us With all of that experience and we'll put them on the phone and put them with our customer base.
Now their new job is interfacing with customers and helping them fix our thousands of customers across the US.
Yeah, all of the manufacturers, all the OEMs, have some kind of what I call a tech line that an OEM dealership can call in to ask for help, be it from GM or Ford or Chrysler, whomever.
But you're basically a tech line for the OEMs as well as for the independent operators that are out there.
Is your service sold on a per call basis or you do it as a subscription?
We have both.
We have per call and we have a subscription basis.
This works out really well for the consumer Because we're helping these shops get it fixed right the first time.
There's not a lot of guessing that goes on.
There's not a lot of parts replacement that goes on, I mean, in a hope of repairing the vehicle.
So we're controlling quite a few costs for these shops.
Remoting the expertise is something that's helped out tremendously.
In reality, this is a model that was adopted by the manufacturers a few years ago, almost in parallel with us.
So what the manufacturers do really is they've got a central hub of information themselves, where we call the ATEC, if we can use that term.
These ATECs are now in a central location and the dealerships are now plugging in and utilizing these guys remotely as well.
So I work at a Goober Lube and I call into your operation.
Let's say I'm working on a Jaguar F-Pace with a DGC code.
How do I get routed to the correct operator in your operation?
Because I want to talk to the guy who knows something about Jaguar.
Not at Goober Lube you're not Well.
Again, the only thing we ask is again, we, like qualified guys, goober Lube is again, I'm never going to be the guy that's going to downplay the guy in the service bit.
So good, tax and service pays.
We ask them to plug in our device, which, in our case, our Drive Pro.
They'll plug our device into the vehicle.
It's going to pull a packet of information out, which is now the tech is going to hit a button that says request support.
It's going to send information into our call center, which is going to be the bin number, which includes, obviously, year, make, model, engine and a ton of other information that's going to go into our CRM, which then going to get routed to one of our, one of our, one of our JAG master tax and within a few moments, the tech is going to pull that ticket and all of that information is going to be pulled up on his screen.
He's then going to use factory information and he's going to pull all of the information on that vehicle.
He's going to look it up through our database to see if we've seen this particular issue before.
Right, the interesting thing with us is being that we interface with upwards of 800 to 1000 customers a day.
Lots of JAGs, lots of Land Rovers, bmws.
In many cases we've seen this issue before, so we'll then go back to the customer and we're going to give him one or two test steps and, lo and behold, oftentimes we hit it with a net.
So that's a thing I was wondering about.
So if I have the next new Goober Loop franchise and I want to talk to you, so I've got to make arrangements in advance, I've got to, I guess, set up an account to get that piece of equipment to tie in so you can help me.
Correct, give us a call, we send you the equipment and we'll set you up an account.
And again, that's kind of how it goes.
Now.
The cool thing about it is, the more times we're interfacing with customers, the better our system, the better our systems and all systems get.
Because you talk about data and the more data you get the more calls you get and the more successes you have.
The library grows, which helps the search argument when you're looking for DTC, whatever it is.
Yeah who.
What is your?
competition.
I'm sorry, what is your?
competition in your space.
There's a number of them and a couple of them have been growing over the years and we've got a few legs up over Number one all of our technicians again come from again the factory.
You know there's a couple like Autel for one.
They pull guys from the aftermarket to help and then they're pulling guys from the factory.
The interesting thing about Opus is this like if we program a module, for instance, we do a lot of remote programming Anything can happen when you're programming a module.
One of the things I'll say is this if you're programming a module, if you have a three-year-old module and you go to put the latest programming in it we all have computers you go to do an update.
If you put a new programming in a four-year-old computer, right, it's like trying to put the latest Windows update in a four-year-old computer.
Sometimes it won't take it, sometimes it crashes and you wind up buying a new computer, right?
Yeah, we got a couple of those over here.
Yeah, with us we warranty the module.
The module fails when Opus is programming it.
We replace the module, we pay for the module, you know I mean.
So we have a pretty unique offer where most of these other guys do not but fails.
It's on you, Kevin.
How long has Opus been in business?
We have been in business for a long time but we weren't called Opus and we're kind of unique.
Our original company was Drew Technologies.
Now, drew Technologies was really the first and the biggest in the J2534 space, I mean, pioneers in vehicle communications and then they started doing a ton of acquisitions, the first of which was Autologic really, which was the biggest in the European diagnostics space.
Then they bought Auto-Engineuity, which was a really strong again another one of these diagnostic companies Blue Link, which was a really great remoting company, and again, on and on and on.
We just started buying more and more companies to build out our offering.
So we became Opus' IVS, intelligent vehicle support so as cars became more intelligent, we jumped on the whole idea of remoting our expertise just to make sure that we were in front of this whole thing.
We have Tesla technicians and everything, so we're kind of on the forefront of this whole thing.
Your interface device.
Is it more of a laptop or more of I come from the GM world more like a MIDI module that has an internet.
It's a tablet PC and in that tablet PC it has our signature device from our Drewtech days was our Cardac.
It's got the Cardac technology built directly into it.
It sounds like one of those tablets that the doctor uses now in the office.
Where does he plug that in?
Yeah, exactly.
So again it plugs into all makes and miles.
We had to come out with a special cable set to work with Tesla, but again it's our window into your vehicle, our window into your issue.
For your subscribers, then they have to have a minimum level of internet access for you to be able to remote stuff in, because I know, if you're remoting in a program to a PCM and the internet goes down, all hell breaks loose, that's correct.
Like I said, it works wirelessly.
You know what I mean.
It works extremely well wirelessly.
You know again, we've been doing this for a long time and you know, obviously the wireless technology has gotten real good.
You know, I'll be honest again.
You know I'm a shop owner as well.
I've been in the space for 30 years now.
If I'm doing a larger programming file I'll put a cable into it.
You know what I mean.
Again, that's just because I'm a little bit older.
I only trust the wireless piece so much.
But you know the wireless stuff, if you've got a strong signal it works great.
As well as put the vehicle on a flat charge charger, not a cycling charger that's up and down and on and off to give you voltage surges.
Correct the devices we sell to the collision space and the way that they work and they're workflow.
It's actually cellular as well.
So those devices like being that they're using them up you know the front counter and the way that they use them and, like I said, in their workflow they're cellular as well, so they're actually 4G.
If I understood it right, once I've got my account set up and I've got the equipment here and I'm the new franchisee for GooberLube.
But I only need your service once a month, maybe when I run into some oddball thing that I just it's over my head and I really need that extra help.
So I can come to you for help on a one time basis without necessarily subscribing right, get you logged into Zoom.
You can utilize our devices, a fully functional, fully functional stand tool.
If you come once a month, you have a module you need to program.
It's a paper use.
If once every month you have a vehicle that your team can't solve, it's paper use.
Pay us once a month and call us once a month.
If your team, if you are a really big shop and you guys wind up with you're fixing 500 cars in a month, then you use 10 times, then you go for our unlimited plan.
So again, we have a number of things to add, kind of work out the numbers based on the usage.
Kevin, for people that are in the automotive business, how do they get a hold of you?
Do you have a website phone number?
What's that all about?
OpusRibuscom and, like I said, just come in and you can fully functional website.
Come in, take a look, look at our different offers and, like I said, we're happy to help anybody.
But you know again what we're here to help, like I said, anybody in the space, both collision and mechanical.
But the whole idea here is, like I said, the reason we exist is the whole idea of remoting expertise.
You know you can't not everybody here is you'll fix cars faster.
You know what I mean by just kind of getting to the fix, that's all.
That's OpusRibuscom.
Kevin Fitzpatrick.
Thank you so much for joining us today.
Great knowledge sounds like a great deal, and we encourage all of the shops around town to get a hold of you.
Great guys, thanks for having me stay cool.
Thank you Appreciate it.
Okay, cool, cool, cool.
It is.
It is cool, I'm going to save Heming sold cars roundup for later.
Oh man, well, I know that's disappointing.
Yeah, I've put his Opus IVS on our social media.
Yeah.
There's other programs out there as well, but you know, it sounds pretty good.
It comes with the hardware and everything.
And you know he sounds like a straightforward kind of guy.
All right, did he mention the cost of it?
No, I said it was a cost, but not a dollar amount.
Yeah, time now to look at some of the stories making automotive news headlines.
We can do recalls or we can go to news.
What would you like?
This is a vote.
What are you doing, mars?
You can't do the vote.
I can't do the vote.
Let's do news.
We want to do news.
Sure, you don't want to do the recalls.
Well, we have time to do.
Recalls Mars.
I think news would be good this year News.
Okay, I will do news then.
You didn't ask.
Jeff, you want lunch?
I want to do lunch.
Well, you brought the donuts, I know.
Did you eat any?
No, okay, thank you for bringing them.
By the way, online use car vehicle retailer Carvana.
Your favorite, oh boy.
That was a unexpected second quarter results and a new debt restructuring deal.
How many times have we heard that Analysts lauded the improved results and the flexibility afforded by the deal?
But those same analysts and others noted that the debt relief is temporary and the company still reported a significant, if much narrower, loss.
Carvana needs to demonstrate its business model and consistently deliver results, they said.
They spend a lot on TV advertising.
Well, there you go and lawyers.
And lawyers and banks.
Tesla has started offering consumers 84 month auto loans after Elon Musk said the car maker would have to do something about rising interest rates.
Company now includes seven year loans as an option on its US order pages, after previously offering loans as long as 72 months.
While extending loan terms can lower car buyers monthly payments, consumers tend to pay more in interest and face greater risk of owing more than their vehicle is worth, and don't we know that?
Yep.
Yeah, because you got to think in a 60 month loan you're upside down until about 42 44 months, I'm thinking 61.
In Canada, tesla is offering 96 month loans.
That's because Canadian dollars worthless.
Whatever terms call for a seventy five hundred dollar down payment with an interest rate of six point eight, three percent Huge.
That's Elon X.
X, an electric truck previously damaged from a fire behind Nicola corporations Headquarters in Phoenix, reignited Sunday afternoon.
According to the company, nicola said it's Suspecting foul play behind the fire last month.
The June fire affected multiple trucks.
Would cause no injuries, so they're blaming it on a bird.
Uh-huh, fires come as the company pivots its business toward hydrogen powered vehicles.
Nicola announced 270 job cuts last month.
That'll go over like the Hindenburg.
Was that hydrogen?
Yes, it was hydrogen, wasn't it?
yeah oh, the humanity.
KSA industries.
Is that ring a bell with you?
No, no, none of you.
Ksk is what.
KSA.
Is that a radio station KSA, ksa industries KSA industry.
Okay, head down.
KSA industries, the owner of the Tennessee Titans football team, has sold its three dealerships, all in Texas.
Ksa industries diversified holding company that owns the NFL's Tennessee Titans, this spring sold its three dealerships to two separate Into two separate transactions and appears to have exited auto retail.
Ksa industries is the privately held family business of late founder Bud Adams.
Haven't heard that name in a while.
The Titans have roots here in Houston when they were known as the Houston Oilers and, by the way, the Titans are changing the uniforms to the old Houston Oilers Uniform are they one game for that one game?
I don't know besides the football team, adams holdings included a handful of new car dealerships since the 1960s.
One of them was Southwest Lincoln Mercury.
I believe it was there at Hillcroft in 59.
Adams died in 2013.
Ksa industries is selling some assets to raise cash after winning approval in April for a new Nashville Stadium to replace Nissan Stadium.
It's expected to cost at least $1.9
billion.
Thank you, citizens of Tennessee and be paid for through a mix of private and public funding.
Ksa industries on April 6th Sold two Lincoln stores.
In that transaction Chris Poulos went from general manager to owner buying West Point Lincoln and West Point Lincoln of Sugarland, both in Houston.
The dealership names remain.
In a second transaction on May 2nd KSA industry sold West Point Buick GMC in Houston to dealer Tom Durant, owner of classic auto group.
The store was renamed classic elite Buick.
GMC Durant on 45 and in Tennessee they got to sell a lot of moonshine to build that state well Durant is.
They own the client.
He's a owner partner in the classic Chevrolet and Sugarland Houston right, but he took over if there was a Ford store on 40 by 45 and then their home base is grapevine, which is actually, if I remember, that's where buzz worked, was a classic Chevrolet and grapevine.
Oh really.
Well, that's it, it's all tied together.
And bud Adams, bud Adams.
Yeah, I remember when he snuck the oilers out of town.
Jersey switch is only for that one game when they play the Texans.
Oh, is that all it is?
Well, that's disappointing, all right.
Well, that's it for this hour of the in-wheel time car talk show.
We've got more here on I heart radio.
Right after this quick break, everyone at the tailpipes and tacos cruise in at the loopy tortilla Tex-Max and Katie.
Thank you for participating in the best cruise in around and look forward to seeing you again.
You'll hear about the next cruise in date right here on in-wheel time.
Next time you're in the West Houston energy corridor area, be sure and stop in at the original loopy tortilla Tex-Max at I-10 and highway 6 or the Katie location on the Grand Park way at Kingsland Boulevard when passing through Beaumont or College Station.
Stop in and have loopies, award-winning beef ahedas and frozen margaritas.
There's always a celebration of loopy tortilla.
Loopy tortilla founders Stan Holt and his wife Sheila are winning racers on the NHRA drag racing circuit and have a collection of hot rods and Classics that everyone appreciates.
Look for them at the next tailpipes and tacos cruise in the day.
It'll be announced soon and will once again be held at the loopy tortilla Tex-Max on 99 in Kingsland Boulevard, just south of I-10 and Katie.
We'll give you all the details right here on the in-wheel time car talk show and online Donations.
Benefit God's garage.
We'll see you then.
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About this episode
Kevin Fitzpatrick from Opus IVS shares insights on how remote support is transforming auto repairs. The discussion covers the company's services, including pre and post-scanning, vehicle programming, and technical support for collision and repair shops. Fitzpatrick emphasizes the importance of using factory software and the benefits of remote expertise in reducing costs and improving repair accuracy. The episode also touches on the challenges of modern vehicle technology and the need for specialized knowledge in the automotive repair industry.
The future of automotive repair is here! Join us with our guest, Kevin Fitzpatrick, Vice President of Operations at Opus IVS. Kevin fills us in on the power of remote support provided by Opus IVS to collision and mechanical shops, extending from essential pre and post-scanning to advanced technical assistance. We talk about the aspect of calibration, particularly after windshield replacements, and how Opus IVS helps shops navigate the complex technology of today's vehicles, ensuring everything is functioning correctly post-repair.
We learn how Opus IVS stands out in the market by providing not just remote support to automotive technicians but also helping to control costs. Kevin shares about the impressive Drive Pro device that transmits data to the company's call centers, allowing for effective troubleshooting before any hefty repair work. We discuss the 4G cellular capabilities, and utilization of the ZOOM platform to improve repairs.
In our Automotive News Headlines Feature, we have the latest automotive headlines, including Carvana's second-quarter results, and Tesla entering the auto loan space.
All this and more on the this episode of In Wheel Time Car Talk!
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