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The Sherwood's from !! ROYALTY AUTO SERVICE !! Talk the Future of the Industry
The Sherwood's from !! ROYALTY AUTO SERVICE !! Talk the Future of the Industry
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About this episode
A dynamic conversation unfolds as Jeff sits down with Sherwood Cook II and III from Royalty Auto Service at Asta 2025. They delve into the evolving automotive industry, discussing the importance of recruitment and advocacy for both technicians and customers. Sherwood Cook II shares a heartwarming story about a customer in need, highlighting the positive impact of community support. The trio also explores the challenges of attracting new talent to the trade, emphasizing the need for hands-on learning and breaking down industry stigmas. Their insights into the future of automotive service are both enlightening and inspiring.
Topics:
3.8
AMC
Chrysler
coolant temperature sensor
Eagle
EGR valve
Ford
ignition coil boots
ignition coils
oil seal
Cars:
Chevrolet Corvette
Dodge Ram
Honda Odyssey
Ram 1500
Renault Modus
Volkswagen Bus
Volkswagen Rabbit
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In this episode, Jeff welcomes Sherwood Cook II and Sherwood Cook III of Royalty Auto for an in-depth conversation at ASTA 2025. The trio highlights the importance of advocacy in the automotive industry, emphasizing honest communication and putting the customer’s safety and best interests first. They discuss the current challenges facing independent shops, from the technician shortage to the escalating costs of tools and access to training, and explore ways to attract and retain the next generation of technicians.
Timestamps:
00:00 "Safety Over Inconvenience Prioritized"
05:41 "Rapid Channel Success Explained"
11:12 "Sharing Training for Struggling Techs"
18:27 "Passion for Lifelong Training"
22:16 Micah's Creative Remote Control Hack
30:24 Streamlined Auto Service Conversations
35:31 "Assessing Vehicle Needs Insightfully"
39:45 The Dilemma of Discounting
43:11 "Practical Repairs Over Perfection"
48:44 Passionate Mechanic's Reflection
57:09 "Mentors, Survival, and Tool Humor"
01:00:51 "First Tools and Truck Shop"
01:04:14 Budget Tools vs Premium Quality
01:08:34 Bought Used Scanner, Regret Depreciation
01:14:47 Tech Industry Workforce Shortage
01:22:30 Hands-On Summer Skills Camp
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Filter:
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Technical
Too Afraid to Ask
Part
oil seal
"We talk about an oil seal leak as an example, right? And how the priority is still that the car is safe."
An oil seal is a part that stops oil from leaking out of the engine. If it fails, it can cause oil to drip, which is not good for the car.
An oil seal is a component that prevents oil from leaking out of the engine or other parts of a vehicle. It's crucial for maintaining proper oil levels and ensuring the engine runs smoothly.
Part
coolant temperature sensor
"...that cool attempt sensor good enough because it came back to have the airbag light looked at and was let's look at that cool attempt sensor pulled and sure enough."
The coolant temperature sensor checks how hot the engine's coolant is. If it doesn't work right, it can cause problems like the engine overheating.
A coolant temperature sensor measures the temperature of the engine's coolant, which is crucial for regulating engine performance and preventing overheating. If this sensor fails, it can lead to inaccurate readings and potential engine damage.
Brand
Chrysler
"...up into the which is a Chrysler"
Chrysler is a car brand from the United States that makes different types of vehicles, including cars and SUVs. They have been around for a long time and are well-known in the automotive industry.
Chrysler is an American automotive brand known for producing a range of vehicles, including sedans, SUVs, and minivans. The brand has a long history and is part of the larger Stellantis group.
Part
power steering pressure switch
"...we were seeing it with the power steering pressure switch would wick all the way up into the ECM connector..."
The power steering pressure switch helps control how easy it is to steer the car. It checks the pressure in the steering system and tells the car's computer how much help to give you when turning the wheel.
The power steering pressure switch is a component that monitors the pressure in the power steering system. It helps the vehicle's electronic control module (ECM) determine how much assistance to provide to the steering system, enhancing steering feel and responsiveness.
Car
Volkswagen Buses
"she had a Volkswagen buses okay as cabs and so that's what I started on I started on a cold Volkswagen's"
The Volkswagen Bus is a famous van known for its boxy shape and spacious interior. Many people used it for camping or as a family vehicle.
The Volkswagen Bus, also known as the Type 2, is a classic vehicle that became iconic for its unique design and versatility. It was popular for various uses, including as a camper and commercial vehicle.
Part
speedometer cable
"doing speedometer cables and most most people that listen to this have no clue that you know that they used to have the old meters that had they were physical right the speedometer cable went into them"
The speedometer cable is a wire that helps the speedometer show how fast the car is going. In older cars, it was a physical cable that turned to give the speed reading.
A speedometer cable is a mechanical component that connects the vehicle's transmission to the speedometer, allowing it to display the vehicle's speed. In older vehicles, this was often a physical cable instead of an electronic sensor.
Car
Honda Odyssey
"...my actually selling the first job it was like on my 20 2008 Honda Odyssey or something and it was all the flushes and everything on it and I know"
The Honda Odyssey is a type of family car called a minivan. The 2008 version is known for being roomy and having features that help families travel comfortably.
The Honda Odyssey is a minivan known for its spacious interior, family-friendly features, and reliability. The 2008 model includes various amenities and safety features that make it a popular choice for families.
Car
Ram 1500
"on a ram I had a ram a 2017 Ram the other day"
The Ram 1500 is a big truck that can carry heavy loads and is often used for work or towing. The 2017 version has a lot of features that make it comfortable to drive.
The Ram 1500 is a full-size pickup truck known for its strong performance, comfortable ride, and advanced technology features. The 2017 model included various engine options and a spacious interior, making it a popular choice among truck enthusiasts.
Part
spark plugs
"to put some spark plugs in that thing and some maybe some ignition coil boots..."
Spark plugs help start the engine by creating a small spark that ignites the fuel. If they wear out, the engine may not run well.
Spark plugs are essential components in gasoline engines that ignite the air-fuel mixture, enabling combustion. They play a crucial role in engine performance and efficiency.
Part
ignition coil boots
"some maybe some ignition coil boots or some coils..."
Ignition coil boots are like protective covers that connect the coils to the spark plugs. They help keep everything working smoothly and prevent problems.
Ignition coil boots are rubber or silicone components that connect the ignition coils to the spark plugs. They help ensure a proper electrical connection and protect against moisture and dirt.
Part
ignition coils
"or some coils because I know that they're common..."
Ignition coils help create the spark that starts the engine. Without them, the engine won't run properly.
Ignition coils are electrical devices that transform the battery's low voltage into the high voltage needed to ignite the air-fuel mixture in the engine's cylinders. They are crucial for engine starting and performance.
Car
Volkswagen Rabbit
"like I go down more rabbit holes than anybody should"
The Volkswagen Rabbit is a small car that is easy to drive and has a lot of space inside for passengers and cargo. It's known for being reliable and fun to use, making it a popular choice for many drivers.
The Volkswagen Rabbit, known as the Golf in many markets, is a compact car that gained popularity for its practicality and fun driving experience. It is often discussed in automotive circles for its role in establishing the hatchback segment and its enduring appeal among drivers seeking a versatile vehicle.
Term
VIN
"well it is vehicle identification number it is it's a"
A VIN is like a car's fingerprint. It's a special number that helps you know exactly what kind of car it is and where it was made.
VIN stands for Vehicle Identification Number, a unique code used to identify individual motor vehicles. It contains information about the vehicle's make, model, year, and place of manufacture.
Term
vehicle identification number
"...vehicle identification number..."
A VIN is like a social security number for cars. It helps to identify each vehicle uniquely and can tell you important details about it.
A Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) is a unique code used by the automotive industry to identify individual motor vehicles. It serves as a fingerprint for the vehicle, providing information about its make, model, year, and place of manufacture.
Term
3.8
"...it's got a 3.8 what motor's in that 3.8..."
When someone mentions '3.8', they are talking about the size of the engine in liters. A larger engine usually means more power, but it can also use more fuel.
The term '3.8' typically refers to a 3.8-liter engine displacement, which indicates the size of the engine. Engine displacement is an important factor in determining the power and efficiency of the engine.
Car
Dodge Ram
"I call Dodge Ram... I can't help it... they said oh this guy doesn't know what he's talking about"
The Dodge Ram is a big truck that people often use for work or towing things. It's known for being tough and reliable.
The Dodge Ram is a full-size pickup truck known for its durability and performance. It has been a popular choice among truck enthusiasts for its towing capabilities and rugged design.
Brand
Ford
"...did dad either drove a Ford or a Chevy because like Dodge has started..."
Ford is a well-known car company in the United States that makes many types of vehicles, like trucks and cars.
Ford is a major American automotive manufacturer known for producing a wide range of vehicles, including trucks, SUVs, and cars.
Car
AMC Eagle
"...and Roli still drove an AMC Eagle every day"
The AMC Eagle is a car that was made by a company called AMC. It was unique because it mixed features of regular cars and SUVs, making it good for different types of driving.
The AMC Eagle was a compact car produced by American Motors Corporation (AMC) from 1979 to 1987. It was notable for being one of the first cars to combine features of a passenger car and an SUV, offering all-wheel drive and a rugged design.
Brand
AMC
"when there was AMC dealers and Eagle dealers in Ottawa he was their guy"
AMC was a car company that made popular cars in the U.S. a long time ago. They were known for being different and creative with their designs.
AMC, or American Motors Corporation, was a manufacturer of automobiles in the United States known for its innovative designs and compact cars during the mid-20th century.
Brand
Eagle
"AMC dealers and Eagle dealers in Ottawa he was their guy"
Eagle was a brand of cars made by Chrysler that was around in the late 1980s and 1990s. They made cars that were fun to drive and practical.
Eagle was a marque of the Chrysler Corporation that existed from 1988 to 1998, known for its unique vehicles that often combined sporty performance with practicality.
Part
EGR valve
"...just put an EGR valve on it and and and he was he was he was identification..."
The EGR valve helps your car produce fewer harmful gases by sending some of the exhaust back into the engine to be burned again. This makes the car cleaner and better for the environment.
An EGR valve, or Exhaust Gas Recirculation valve, is a component in an engine that helps reduce emissions by recirculating a portion of the exhaust gas back into the intake manifold. This process lowers combustion temperatures and reduces nitrogen oxide emissions, which are harmful pollutants.
Brand
Subaru
"we are friends with Mr. Subaru"
Subaru is a car company from Japan that makes vehicles known for their ability to handle tough weather and terrain. They are popular for models like the WRX, which is great for racing and off-road driving.
Subaru is a Japanese automotive manufacturer known for its all-wheel-drive vehicles and boxer engines. The brand has a strong following among enthusiasts, particularly for models like the Subaru WRX and Outback.
Car
Renault Modus
"you know modus whatever kept it"
The Renault Modus is a small family car that has a lot of room inside for passengers and their things. It's designed to be easy to drive around town and is great for families who need a bit more space without getting a big car.
The Renault Modus is a compact MPV (multi-purpose vehicle) that was designed to offer a spacious interior and practical features in a smaller footprint. While it may not be as well-known as other models, it is often mentioned for its unique design and functionality, particularly in urban settings.
Car
Chevrolet C8
"their children have C8 high value in trades"
The Chevrolet Corvette is a fast sports car that many people love because it looks cool and drives really well. The latest version, called the C8, is special because its engine is located in the middle of the car, which helps it perform better on the road.
The Chevrolet Corvette, particularly the C8 model, is a mid-engine sports car that represents a significant evolution in the Corvette lineage. Known for its impressive performance and striking design, the C8 has garnered high resale values and is often discussed in the context of automotive investment and enthusiast culture.
"Safety Over Inconvenience Prioritized"
"Rapid Channel Success Explained"
"Sharing Training for Struggling Techs"
"Passion for Lifelong Training"
Micah's Creative Remote Control Hack
Streamlined Auto Service Conversations
"Assessing Vehicle Needs Insightfully"
The Dilemma of Discounting
"Practical Repairs Over Perfection"
Passionate Mechanic's Reflection
"Mentors, Survival, and Tool Humor"
"First Tools and Truck Shop"
Budget Tools vs Premium Quality
Bought Used Scanner, Regret Depreciation
Tech Industry Workforce Shortage
Hands-On Summer Skills Camp
Select text to request an explanation
Hey, it's Jeff here.
Let me tell you about something that's changing the game in our industry.
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We don't need them to walk on a tool truck
and spend $700 on a set of wrenches.
We can provide them with a nice tool set.
The shop owner can do that.
They're in debt from day one.
Who wants that?
And honestly, the tool dealers should like this too
because I'm wondering where the most of their delinquent payments come from.
I'm sure it's from guys that got in the business,
bought a few, you know, a couple things from them
and then said, I don't like doing this on left.
Ladies and gentlemen,
welcome back to another exciting episode of the Jade Mechanic podcast.
We're sitting at Asta 2025
and I'm very, very blessed,
very lucky to be sitting here with some people that I have.
An amazing, I'm a huge fan.
I'm kind of fanboying it right now.
I'm sitting here with the professor, Mr. Sherwood Cook,
the second and the man behind the camera,
the magician of it all, Sherwood Cook, the third.
So gentlemen, this was the whole point for me coming to this
was to try and get down and have a conversation with you guys.
And I just, I can't thank you enough for being here today.
I appreciate you having us on.
Yeah, we were just finished lunch, everybody,
and we kind of, you know, like,
we get a chance to talk about how great I think it is,
what they're doing for the industry and not just,
you know, we talk about the recent, you know,
the GoFundMe that raised all that money for that young lady.
Well, that's literally life-changing stuff, you know.
And I mean, and I'm not gonna get,
I'm gonna try to get too emotional because like,
That's how I get with it.
Yeah, it's not the first time that something
like that has been done in this industry.
But what amazed me was like,
of all the footage that came out of that,
you guys never for once like made it about yourself.
You know what I mean?
We didn't do it.
No, we didn't raise any money.
It was literally almost 4,000 of our followers that did that.
Right?
We just put the word out.
Yeah.
So no, that's people.
So can we kind of, how did she come about?
Like, was she a, had been,
she been a customer or I want to understand
was a first-time customer?
She came in first time.
She had been to another shop.
They told her she needed an engine.
Yeah.
What year was that?
2013?
2013, I believe.
Yeah.
And she just wanted a second opinion.
She doesn't have any money.
Right?
Right.
So she brought it in.
I wasn't going to look at the vehicle.
I don't, I'm not day-to-day like doing that.
Right.
And so, but the guys were in the weeds a little bit.
They were a little bit behind.
We're like, sure.
We're like, maybe we can grab a couple cars
and potentially do a video, but you know, help them out.
And he grabbed that car.
And so that happens.
You know, that does happen.
What doesn't normally happen is me calling the client.
And in this particular case, looked the car over,
got some preliminary, started doing a video on it.
And I said, I need to call her.
I need to get some more information
about what's happening.
Got on the phone with her.
And I'm like, you know, she never asked for anything.
Right.
She was like, okay, so I'm going to have to pay you
a $189.
I got to figure out how I'm going to do that.
And I could just, you know, you just get a feeling.
Right.
And,
anyway, I said, I said, we're going to take care of you.
You don't be worried about having to pay us anything
right now.
We just, we just need to figure out a game plan for you.
And I got off the phone.
I told Sherwood, I said, we got to do something.
I said, I don't know what we can do,
but we've got to do something.
So first of all, we're going to take care of this thing.
We're going to forget what we even started with.
We put, you remember better than I do.
I know we put.
Oh, well, it had safety problems.
Yeah, we had to put,
we ended up having to put two wheel hubs in it.
And we had to put tires on it, alignment.
Yeah.
And I mean, it was one of those things where I was like,
well, anytime I see something that says,
if your client was told they need an engine.
Yes.
It's usually something that, you know,
we can diagnose and do a video on it at the same time.
So it caught my eye.
And then, yeah, the rest was history.
I just think it was cool how it all played out.
Well, and what I loved is about the fact that we were just
talking over lunch, how you guys make it the priority.
We talk about an oil seal leak as an example, right?
And how the priority is still that the car is safe.
You know, it's not going to, if the customer is in convenience
a little bit by having to add some oil to a car,
that's still a better scenario at the end of the day
than a customer that's driving around
and something that's unsafe.
You know?
Yeah.
And that's what I love about because what was taught to me
by, since I started this platform,
is truly to be what it is to be an advocate
for our customers and an advocate for the industry.
And so when I talk to other shop owners
and other mechanics that are true advocates
for the customer and the car, I immediately,
I feel bonded with it, right?
Because it's what I'm about.
And I didn't understand it early part of my career
what it actually meant to truly advocate for the customer.
Now, and I want to advocate for the technician as well,
that's my whole platform.
But it's so cool to see how that has come to the level
that we can now see it, where you can change
that young lady's life with way more money than just a car.
Oh, yeah.
Well, I think it's also good for people
to see that there's good people in this industry, right?
So not to put ourselves on a platform,
but for all the exposure that this got
was a good thing for the industry.
Because as you said before, people do this all the time.
But a lot of people don't know that shops are doing this.
And so when the outside, the clients and all the people
that aren't involved in the industry see something like this,
it brings a positive impact to the industry,
which I thought was really cool.
Yeah.
And we were talking at lunch how I can't remember a channel
that has had the trajectory that your channel has had.
And I don't want to say short period of time,
but in the greater scheme of the internet on YouTube,
it is a very short period of time.
We've seen channels that have been around 10 years
haven't hit the kind of marker and had the effect that you guys have.
And that has to go back to the quality of content
and the personality that you guys bring to it every day.
Yeah, your professionals.
You know what I mean?
And that's what we, again, coming back to,
I want to always make this industry look better
to the public and to the next generation
of young techs that's coming in.
And that's how hats off to you guys
for how you conduct yourselves
because it's really, really refreshing to see
with so much that's out there now,
we're inundated with different automotive content
all the time.
You can pick podcasts that were every third word is F this.
Oh, yeah.
You know what I mean?
Yeah.
And or misinformation on the internet.
Oh, yeah.
That's a terrible thing, too, right?
Well, we did a video on that recently, too.
I felt was misinformation.
Of course, the comments were, you know, what they were.
But yeah, I mean, there's a lot of great content.
There's a lot of great content.
There's a lot of great creators out there and technician.
I mean, I say creators, I mean, they're, you know,
techs and shop owners that are putting stuff out.
But how does anybody pick out the, you know,
the good from the bad?
That's what's difficult, you know?
Yeah, that's really.
And with us, I mean, listen, I'm not perfect
by any stretch of the imagination.
And I've learned a lot from it, even in the comments
from people responding to our, to our videos.
We just found an issue because of one of the comments
on a video.
We got a tortilla video, right?
Tortilla bolts because I'm a big thing
about you need, those are one time use.
Yes.
And then people were putting that there's torque
to angle, right?
Right.
And that really hadn't come across my radar.
I think I've heard of it, you know, but I don't
remember it coming across my radar like that.
I need to do some research on that.
Because if that bolt's reusable, then sure,
we need to do it.
But most of the stuff we work on are
torque to yield.
But that doesn't mean that things always change.
Yes.
How can you, you can't know everything.
No.
And the good thing about, I mean, we're
blessed to know that we've got so many people that
watch our channel that leave comments that we read
that like, oh wait, hold on.
That's, that's a something that we need to look
into.
It says, then we can pass that information along,
right?
How about that Jeep too?
With the coolant temp sensor?
With the coolant temp sensor.
I could have swore I looked at that
Jeep coolant temp sensor.
And the water, I thought we did have one
with the, they said somebody told me
needed an engine.
Yes.
That seems to be the go to thing right now.
Need an engine?
Industry standard.
Need an engine and transmission.
We've had a lot of engine,
need an engine and transmission.
We had three of those in like a month and a half.
That came from a dealer world, right?
And I said, why, why are they doing that?
But anyway, the, this one, they were told
needed an engine, had a cam sensor code.
Yeah.
And got into it, found a connector with
water intrusion.
Yeah.
The weather pack seals on it were
destroyed.
And I thought, well, that's, that's where
the water is getting in.
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Somebody put a comment that they
needed to look at, we needed to look
at the cool attempt sensor because
it could be coming out.
And I had that cool attempt sensor
disconnected.
I had that whole little mini harness on
a bench and clearly I didn't look in
that cool attempt sensor good enough
because it came back to have the airbag
light looked at and was let's look at
that cool attempt sensor pulled and
sure enough.
And it's wicking coolant up into the
which is a Chrysler
slot for I mean I can remember back
in my dealership days we were
seeing it with the power steering
pressure switch would wick all the
way up into the ECM connector.
I mean back in the day remember
the knee I don't know if you're
old enough but I don't remember the
Nissan that would leak in the
floorboard on the passenger side from
the transmission fluid all the way
into the into the engine model.
So yeah but here's the thing is like
how would I wouldn't I didn't know I
can't know everything about every car
these comments are fantastic.
There's some smart people out there
because then we can make the video
and then so many people will see that
and that are gonna you know we love
seeing that people see our videos
and then they tell us you know
hey you helped me solve this
problem quicker you know and it's
like that's the kind of stuff we
want to put out there where people
can you know solve it solve issues
quicker and that's that's always been
my whole thing like I my background
was being able to before I had a
podcast and before there was I ever
anybody was I was on YouTube I wasn't
but I would share Paul Daner's videos
in the Facebook groups right and I
would share Bernie Thompson and
way back when the gentleman Daniel
Sullivan with the low pro I would
share his videos like Ivan from
Pine Hollow I would share because
there's so many texts like me that
we're either at a dealer and never
worked on any other brand and we're
just nerds about what how does this
brand fail and how does that brand
fail and all that kind of stuff or
guys that work in a shop sure would
and like that don't get training oh
yeah so I mean I'm an old head as
well where it's like I can remember
before there was Facebook I would
hang out in IATN and I would just
work and like you can remember the
name I was a lurker right and the
name of the album or and and
and you know all these names of
gosh now you're bringing me back
what was the guy I talked to him
actually he loved trains he passed
away he was right in Gainesville
Florida he was right down the road
from us continental imports
see you I can't remember shop names
or anything but I can't remember his
name but yeah he was a nice guy he
was very very smart on Europeans but
yeah leave a comment if you know the
name yeah thank you and so I would
be sharing these these when I started
to run a Facebook group I would just
share videos for guys that couldn't get
training because it started out as
people I just want a bullet to fix this
car and that would frustrate me to
know when because as a dealer technician
where I was under the flat rate thing
if somebody came over and said I got a
car in my bay that I I'm struggling
like here I was flat rate mentality
where it's like okay leave it and
I'll get to it I didn't necessarily
always want to help the person
right I was a gatekeeper I admit it
and so when people would get on a
Facebook group and go I just need to
know how to fix a smith I know what's
wrong yeah and I'd be like pulling my
hero because it's a misfire dude it
could be a hundred different things
what have you tested I've tested this
how did you test it would be the
nice question I was always answering
a question with another question and
it drove people crazy but so I found
that if I shared the video you could
share the method better of what
somebody's process Paul Daner's
process Ivan's process Eric O's process
right they're all slightly different
but they're all comes back to
fundamentals and this is where I started
to find that there was a real
lacking of fundamental ability in
technicians and that's why so when I
see your content now
like you're you're you're a sharp sharp
technician and then there's some people
that are way smarter than I am sure
there is but you know what I mean but
it's like it's it's not every shop
owner will be at your level but in
a perfect world we wish they were
yeah and I mean or at least
somebody in the show doesn't have to be
the owner
just somebody that can help well like
my guys when they come to me
just like you answered questions with
questions yeah
they know over time they know okay you
know if I say they say oh I just need
some help what have you done
okay why did you do that yeah
what was it what was the path that
you got from that what were you
expecting to see yeah you know and
now they know they need to have
those answers because I'm not
the the it doesn't do any good I mean
it's the old thing you know you can
teach a man to fish or give him a fish
right it's like it the silver bullet
thing it's like identification right
identification gets a very bad rap huge
and it really doesn't deserve it no
it it's it's a it's a fantastic
resource when used correctly yeah it's
just like a power probe that's a
fantastic tool when used correctly
it is a WMD when not used correctly
and identification can be a parts
canon when not used correctly right
and I think that but here's the thing
is like do we blame text that were
set that were told here's
identification use it to help you
fix cars but weren't taught how to use
it weren't taught how to test things
right and don't look at the bottom
where all the fixes are look at the
middle that they they literally give
you this really succinct you know
testing procedure usually right and
but you how do we blame text when they're
not when they're not given the
information right now once they're given
the information they continue to do it
okay that's a different story all along
but but you just said a lot of text
don't get training no it just don't
and that and that's huge for me
because like I always as a tech that
didn't get training if I was going to
learn something I had to go home and
learn it myself so I got on YouTube
and I just learned right because I I
would struggle at work with with
fundamentals I was a guy that thought
I was pretty sharp in the dealer and I
stepped out in the aftermarket world
where I had to fix other brands and I
realized like I was not what I thought I
was I was still good I had enough
fundamentals from my pre dealership
days some mentors that just taught me
how to fix anything but I had a lot
of bad habits to unlearn I had a lot
of to slow down smoothest fast yeah
you know yeah sometimes you gotta
slow down to speed up yeah what is so
can we kind of have a little bit of
your background and you know the
background is it's father and son
here but I mean how did you get into
this industry we did a video on that
yeah I was actually I was 13 years
old my mom owned a cab company she
moved us from Virginia Beach down to
st. Mary's Georgia from from the city
to at that time a very very small
town and she opened up a cab company
she had a Volkswagen buses okay as
cabs and so that's what I started on I
started on a cold Volkswagen's
way back in the day and you know I just
doing speedometer cables and most
most people that listen to this have no
clue that you know that they used to
have the old meters that had they were
physical right the speedometer cable
went into them and when they broke all
the time so I started replacing
speedometer cables and and then just
you know getting around any time I
could get in front of the guys that
were fixing the cars I wanted to
be there I want to know how just
how my mind worked yeah and then
eventually I went to work for a guy that
was working on some of our cars and
that's basically where it started I
started with him still know him to this
day love him to this day and he's
still around and he is the person who
I eventually got the shop from because
he moved off into a used car world
and I and then he didn't want the
shop anymore at that point I was
basically running the shop for him and
so that was 29 years ago as of July 26th
the day after my birthday we also moved
from Virginia Beach to St. Mary's on July 26th
so that was a evidently a pivotal day in
my life yeah and yeah so then I got the
shop and I really the reason that I
wanted the shop was because I didn't
want to do Saturdays and Sundays
I could see the riding on the wall
the the chains were already doing Saturdays
I could see Sundays were coming and I'm
like you know what I'm a single dad I said
I don't want to be the song cats on the
cradle always you know I don't want to
be that guy and so yeah I said we're
going to do this I didn't have any money
right the first money I put in the
bank for the shop was the first car
we fixed and he used to sleep on a
couple of chairs that would be in the
way because he was little and you
know we just and listen there were
some trials and tribulations along the
way I mean now that first building I
lost that first building
couldn't couldn't do it moved one two
three four four five times yeah yeah and
then and then yeah now then we bought
this you know bought the one that we
have in St. Mary's the the one in
Kingsland we have a long-term lease
on but yeah it's just been it's
honestly just been trying to figure out
what to you know both on the technical
side I don't have any formal training
in the automotive world right um I've
got trial and error and learning at the
house I can remember sitting with a
scope on my floor in my trailer hooked
up to a little board and yes you know
making things happen and um you know
these are these are times that you
have in this you have to give time
to a profession this isn't a job no
and so you got to spend time training
well if you can't get to training
there's so it's so easy to get the
training now if you find the right
stuff online
when I was back in the day they used to
ask me it's like you know do what do you
want for Christmas
I want training tapes right I wanted
the old VHS training tapes and that was
DVD training you know things they
used to think I was crazy it's like
no I love this I want to get better
at this and then it then becoming a
shop owner we kind of touched on it
a little bit on the way over here
it's like you know I went through a
lot of consulting firms over the years
each one giving me something
right not going to ever say anything
bad about any of them right
they all gave me something to get me
to the next step right
and and now we're 29 years later
now something that has always been
I thought was really cool
and I can remember hearing you talk
a little bit about it and you talk
a little bit about your thing
is so you grew up in the shop
and and and yet you know you kind
of joked how you worked with your
father a little bit
trying to learn how to fix cars and
all kind of stuff
but you said he just didn't have it
and I thought like that was
so can you kind of touch on that like
not I don't want to like I'm not trying
to call you out you understand what
I'm saying yeah I wasn't that I
didn't have it necessarily my fault
I had no desire to do it okay right
so it was you know I
I don't mind doing a break job or
anything like that like I'm I actually
kind of find it satisfying and I do
enjoy the diagnostic side of the
business especially now you think about
it like I not only am there when he's
diagnosed in the cars but I'm also
editing the videos so I'm I'm training
every time I'm editing a video which
is nice I like learning that stuff I
like and tell when you're when you're
there with your dad and you're talking
that you know what you're talking
about like you kind of you know you
know what you're talking about when
we're doing the videos to like a lot
of times people are like why you
know why are you interrupting why
are you asking that I'm trying to
ask the question that a normal
everyday person might might be asking
themselves and I can identify more
with that kind of person so you know
we have two different kinds of brains
and I don't I'm not as good with my
hands and stuff like that I do like
learning it though and it's not like
you know my son Micah yes he's we see
him in the shop now and it it's the
coolest thing let me tell you about
this boy I'm gonna brag on my grandson
oh the Lego thing are you ready for
this yeah this blew me away and I
know he's mechanically inclined you
can see it in his in his eyes when he
sees something he is looking inside of
it and he's trying to figure out how
it's working right and that's kind of
always what I've always taught is like
you know how something works you can
fix it you don't know how it works
you're guessing right so you can see that
in him I bought him this Lego set he
said he wanted this Lego set it was
it was this Pac-Man video game Lego
set I think it was in a was in a
picture or something that we do yeah
we did and we took a shot so it's
a pretty intricate it was 27 2800
pieces 18 plus he is how old seven
seven right like okay so he got this
thing put together in less than 24 hours
and it's like gears and all this stuff
because it crank you crank it on the
outside is a crank and turns gears
inside which you have to put together
and then it turns all the little the
little guys and they all move on the
screen yep okay so okay he put it
together he's all happy he shows it
to me we're good and then he it
falls off the table so he has to put
it back together so he does that all
right then he I think he wanted to
fall off the table I think he wanted a
reason to put it back together under
percent pretty sure pretty sure that's
accurate
so he was not upset that it fell off the
table at all
but uh they FaceTiming last Friday
and uh it's like hey Michael wants to
show you something and so I'm looking
at showing me the screen and these
characters are like going crazy moving
and I'm like what what is I mean it
looks digital at this point it's
not you know it's snake things
right
and I'm like what the heck and then
Michael kind of puts the thing in front
and it's a controller it's a remote
control and I'm like that thing came
with a remote control to do that so no
Michael takes the back off of it he
pull turns around opens the backup
Michael has taken his remote control
car apart and taken the motor and put
it on the gears taking the thing put
it on the gears so he can do the
game with a remote control now that
I want to tell you right now man
that's beyond me it was pretty cool
when he showed me I immediately was like
we're calling my dad
Elon Musk might be knocking on your
door in no time saying they will ever
fruit your grandson that is awesome
that's so so he was talking about you
know like he was always wanting to see
people doing things and wanted to watch
like that's how Mike is that's not
how I was right you know but it took
me a long time to be able to to
find where I was you know where I
fit in and your spot and that's you
know when I eventually convinced him
after I think nine months of trying
to convince him to let me go up
front and I loved it and now and now
he brags about you all the time how
you are you're essentially you train
every service advisor in your
facility now right yeah yeah and we've
come up with the class that we have the
you know how to create a five-star
experience as a service advisor
which we do together I'm sorry I
enjoy that class a lot but
yeah it's it's really I remember doing
my actually selling the first job
it was like on my 20 2008 Honda
Odyssey or something and it was all the
flushes and everything on it and I know
I just started controversy right there
flushes but uh yeah you did I was so
nervous doing that I was so nervous
calling that client but after that it
was pretty much just like I love this
this is fun and I'll tell you that
he like Micah is with you know building
things and stuff that's what he is
with people yeah he I will put him
up against anybody as far as service
advising go and the reason is because
he cares about people yeah right and
that's something that we need to
realize in this in this industry is
yeah we fix cars right but that's
really not what we do
what we do is we make people's lives
easier right because yes you know we
take care of something that people
must have and instead of you know
trying to
it's just it's hard to instead of
trying to maximize the dollar we try
to maximize the effect and experience
is how I want to look at it right you
know and and something we were talking
about earlier and and it's something
that is I think contra it is
controversial it shouldn't be but
everybody has their own opinion and
everybody has their own way of doing
things we talked about that right
um if it's not unethical I think do
what works for you right if it's
unethical now we got a different
in a different day yes but for me
we want to look the whole vehicle over
a complete inspection it doesn't matter
if the it's a client can't afford it to
fix it those are the people you really
need to do the complete inspection on
if nothing else they really need you to
do it yes because they need to be
budgeting for it yes or potentially
looking for a replacement and I think
a lot of shops feel like I just want
to get whatever money I can from
people right and and then if they
can't afford the rest of it oh well
I want you know we want to present
everything to them if that could be
six thousand eight thousand ten thousand
it could be twenty thousand dollars yep
hey you need twenty that does that mean
you need it today no no but I want you
to know that to get this vehicle up
to par is going to cost you x right
now we can talk based on your situation
it doesn't have to all be done today
let's break it down right and safety
and reliability long-term yeah and
let's put a plan together yeah and
that plan could be I'm gonna replace the
vehicle and that's perfectly okay yeah
right you what I don't like is and you
know there was a survey done a few
years ago of service advisors I think
it was done at a dealerships level but
but and there was a what they called a
comfort number for service advisors did
you ever hear about that something
about that yes and the comfort number
was sixteen hundred dollars meaning
that that's the service advisors would
be comfortable presenting sixteen hundred
dollars I've done that survey you
know in some classes that I've done for
service advisors just asking them what
what are you comfortable giving that you
don't you know it could be a lot but
you're okay with it you know it's a
comfort number yeah and it's still
sitting about sixteen hundred sixteen
to two thousand and so my problem is
if somebody comes in an inspection is
done so the tax you know again we're
trying to take care of make people's
lives easier including our tax including
our vendors including our service
advisors right yeah so okay vehicle
comes in
tax don't want to do courtesy inspections
and a lot of it and a lot of a lot of
shops because they don't get anything
for them right and and the service
advisors don't don't present everything
right well what the tech says well why
do I need to do this full inspection I
know that they're not going to present
it all right and that is a problem
that we have because some service
advisors it'll get they'll get a six
thousand dollar ticket I can't do
that yeah and they'll present two
thousand right right and then the
client will say okay well it needs two
thousand you know okay that's a lot but
let's get it done okay cool that's why it's
a comfort number because that's about
the response you're going to get right
most people then they come back in six
months for another oil service what are
they going to be presented with
another another two thousand dollars
right and then this is going to go
like this
well uh man we just did two thousand
last time
okay needs two thousand more okay all
right
well I mean I got two thousand invested
in it let's let's go ahead and do it
yes okay I mean this is a conversation
real
now the techs don't like it because
they're not getting the whole job
they're just getting pieces they're
just getting pieces yeah
and so it's not good for the client
either we're going to get to that the
next one
yeah so they come back in six more
months
now this is where the conversation goes
way bad
what do they get presented with
another two thousand dollars right
and this is the next words that are
going to come out of that client's
mouth
every time I come in there it's two
thousand dollars right yeah no it was
six thousand dollars yeah 18 months ago
yep
we just weren't ethical enough to present
that six thousand because we thought
you might walk away with not would
not do anything with us
right
for us it's an ethical thing to say
here's everything it needs
now let's make a decision based on what
you're going to and if your decision
is you're going to trade trade the
car in
that's that's your decision to make
and that's okay
right and I think that from a
tax point of view
if they know the service advisors are
doing this and doing it
right right
and presenting them correct everything
to them and doing it a correct way
uh those texts are going to be fine
if they know the bigger picture is
I'm here to take care of that that
vehicle owner I'm here to take care
of that client
I've done my job
service advisor did their job
client just decided they didn't want to
do anything fine
but you know what really happens
people fix the cars
because cars are expensive
and if they don't do everything the
the best part of it is that
you've given them everything that they
need
and then what I would do is I would
give them the list of what was left
you know let's just say they decided
that we gave them six thousand they
decided to do
thirty two hundred of it
right
well let's just go with a bigger
number let's say it's nine thousand
ten thousand dollars with the work
but they know they want to keep the
car right
and they do you know thirty five
hundred dollars with the work right
then
well then they know everything else
and the easiest thing as a service
advisor is when
they come back in with your list
and they say hey
I know I do need my old service or
they call you I know I need my old
service I want to go ahead and knock
out these three other things on the
list right I know we're still got this
other stuff down here but I want to
knock out these three things in the
list
you know everybody's about numbers and
and I want to I want to get an
extra sale and on the old change and
stuff like that
just do it that way
and then they're going to get the
clients going to come in telling you
what they want to add to it
right off the get
they will work down the list
and they'll do everything that the
car needs
and how much how much less stressful
is that for the client
to be able to do it in their time
when they can
and they know the order and how they
should do it
and it's it's less stressful for the
client but it's also less stressful
if
like people have heard me
the the dvi thing and the inspection
thing is a great thing
but it also is like if nobody is doing
the follow-up
or presenting it all and tabulate
tap tabulating it
and and showing a priority
when they come in for a next oil
service again and they're not coming
in remembering that
there is other work that needs to
be done on the car every time when
it comes in for all change and
and
then
I go through the whole process of
doing the dvi again
presenting it to them
and they wait for the customer to say
no
we
we have to have longer conversation
with
the customer as an advisor
we have to have longer conversation
slow down
advocate more for them like I keep
saying so the
they have a plan of attack
or in a
a vested
idea about where
how committed am I to this car
if I'm in emotionally attached to this
10 year old whatever
I'm going to put some money
if I'm of the point where it's
10 years old and
and you know I haven't had a
payment for five
and maybe it's time to replace
this
we do that
because up in Canada where I am
where you are
yeah
like
10 year
10 year old cars
you wouldn't believe the amount of 10
year old cars we get
that when they come in to
where I work now
and we're evaluating to see if we're
going to sell them out
to use car lot or not
a lot of them go to auction
because the rust is too much of a
factor
right so it's
you know
trying to advocate one more level up
for these customers is like listen
I know you bought this car
and it's only five years old
but go get it rust
proofed
now
or in two years we're going to
be talking about fuel lines
brake lines and
and a fuel tank
on a
on a
ram I had a ram
a 2017 Ram the other day
it has 35,000 kilometers
not miles 35,000
it is broke
it's not even broken
but it needs
it's got seized up calipers from
sitting
the brakes are all rotten all the way
around from sitting
you know the whole thing
and I'm like
this is a great car
that dad gave you
but here's reality now
if we don't undercoat this
next week
you might as well walk away from
this car
because it is going to get
inherently worse
just going to rust out from
on yeah
and that's sad to see
it's a waste of a vehicle
right
but when we when we don't
advocate for the customer
in the sense of like
I'm invested in your plan
for what this vehicle is
how do you want to see yourself
in three years
driving this still
okay that's a different plan
than I don't want to see myself
driving this six months or not
completely different conversation
completely different
we have to always present
everything that we find
so this being
it's a difference between a
service advisor
and a service writer
yes
I mean
because what a lot of people
are saying is just
you know get in there
get the sale
get it done
that's a service writer
you're writing an estimate
and you're saying hey
it's it's it's you know
$2,000 a seat you go
right
or you're going to be an advisor
and do what you just described
look out for the best interest
of interest of the client
and advise them
of what they should do
yes
it based on their situation
here's the analogy I always use
because we're big about
service advisors
and clients
and there's and I know a lot of
people will laugh and say
oh it's just words sure
with what words matter
right
the words we use
make our brains think a certain way
and a client
a customer somebody
you sell something to
right
a client is somebody
that you advise
and let's
let's think about it for a second
lawyers
lawyers don't have customers
they have clients
and for those of you that
have ever had to use a lawyer
lawyers do not
give you the answer
what they say is
okay
here's the situation
here's what we can do
and it's usually
we can go down this path
and you know
the potential outcome is this
we can go down this path
potential outcome is that
this path that
right
what would you like to do
because at the end of the day
they know
that you're the one
making the decision
not them
now you might say
what's what do you think
what do you which one
would you think is the best
what's the potential
you know
okay well isn't that what we
should be doing
right
okay here is
everything the vehicle needs
right here is
your safety concerns
here is your longevity concerns
here is your
maintenance right
yeah
okay
shouldn't we be putting
these packages together
presenting that all
then breaking it into packages
and then saying
what would you like to do
and then them asking questions
like well what
what do you think about this
what if
but you know what
in order to do that
you got to create a
relationship
yes
with your
your your attorney
has a relationship with you
kind of knows who you are
kind of knows your life
where you're at in life
right
what you're going through
and helps you make decisions
based on that point in your life
shouldn't we be doing that
you know
yeah but you know what
you know why people don't do that
time
because it's all about
get it done
get it done
get it done
get it done
right
it's all about speed
no
let's slow down
to speed up
let's slow down
let's get to know people
right
let's try to make their life
easier
I know I say that a lot
but I mean that's what we do
in our shops right
and in order to do that
let's get to know
let's be
I'm not saying we're going to
go out and have Thanksgiving dinner
no
right
but you can still get to know
somebody
right
you can still get to know
who their kids are
and what they
they have soccer practice
hockey
right
all right
I got to get them over to the
you know
I mean
okay
how many kids you have
okay you're going here near here
wouldn't I want to know that
so that I can then go
okay well they probably need a
vehicle
they're not going to be
that
need to be without this vehicle
very long
or it might be somebody
that says
I've got four cars
Sherwood
right
how you know they have four cars
right
are you only caring that they
have four cars because you want to
service four cars
or do you care they have four cars
because
now maybe they can be without this
car
and and we can have it for a little
while
right
and yeah
and their life's not disrupted
right
100%
you got to
you got to
get a relationship
but that
so
you know
and the speed is the one thing
right
but I know when we talk in this
industry about
commission
incentivized
and all that kind of stuff right
we talked about at lunch
how some people would look at a
job and you table a break job
to a customer
a four-corner break job
could be $2,000
dollars
and somebody is sitting there
and and they think oh that's a lot of
money
and while they're sitting there maybe
they
they they they hit google on their phone
or something and all of a sudden
somebody says
repair pal
we'll do it for 1800 bucks
yeah
we'll do it for 15
and all of a sudden it comes back
to why are you doing for that
why are you charging $2,000
and and and the other person's
doing 1500
our good friend just made a very
point you have to the next
question isn't immediately
oh okay well I can do it for 15
I just have to change this
gift explain to them why yours is
$2,000 and theirs is it's only 1500
what's the warranty that they given
oh they're not giving you any word
what's the parts
I didn't even ask
they're all focused on price
you know we were talking to Chris
I love what he said
oh man I love what he said
instead of
instead of because
I gotta be careful with this
and write automotive by the way
yes on instagram
yes yes
our good friend of the of the
podcast chris and right
he had a great thing to say
and what he said was
what are they I would ask them
well what are they not doing
that I'm doing right
and instead of the thing I need to
be careful of is mentioning
something that says
immediately discounting it
right
and my thing is
is when I was told recently by
somebody I would just immediately
discounted it's like well what I
would do is go to my service
advisors
and I'd be like hey
yes I think we failed here
yeah because
why did this person feel like
they needed to call around on
price
we should have already been
building a relationship
knowing their situation
knowing what they were going
through
now I'm not saying that our price
is always going to be
acceptable to somebody right
but you know if it's not
they should at least know why
we're more
and I would much rather
that person come over go
hey I called around
I got a lower price
I know you guys got a way
better warranty
I know you guys use the best
parts yeah
you know
I don't know what they're
using I know their warranties
way less they already told me
that they really couldn't tell
them what kind of parts
I just can't I just can't do
this much right now
I'm probably gonna have to go
to them right
now we've got two different
past we can go down now
right now we might say well
listen
we want to help you out
want to take care
we might just say listen
I mean sometimes we just get
things away
sometimes just like I get a
feeling like with you know
our net
like let's just take care of
this a net not our net
a net
but you know sometimes it's
well I'll tell you what
let me see what I can do
let's try to you know
I'm not
certainly not going to say
don't go to them
but let me see what I can do
maybe I can help you out
I can't do the same job
for the same price
you know the price is the price
and then sometimes we'll do that
but a lot of times what we'll do
is and I know people are gonna
at this in the next 10 seconds
on this podcast
where you're about to get
a lot of comments
we will 100% refer them
to another shop
another shop that I know
that will do it cheaper
that will not give all the
amenities that we do
right
but I know they won't take
advantage of right
right I know the
people there right
and I've known them for a long time
there's a couple shops
and I know that
the work they do will be good
and they won't take advantage
of the client right
as opposed to some places
that they might go into
and that yeah they got
$800 quote over the phone
then they walk in there
and they're walking out at
you know $1,600 right
but now like we talked about
where the wheels are off now
and you know the capture
I have them
I have them
I've caught the fish
fish is in the net
I'm just deciding
if I'm gonna throw it back
overboard
or if it's going in the live
all that I should have to go home
right
like that's kind of
my fishing analogy
but yeah
and I always had a problem
with discounting from the
standpoint of
if I turn around
and I say to you it's a thousand
bucks
and then you go
God that's a lot
it's like okay well I can do it
for $800
yeah
the real price then
to me
in my consumer brain
was really $800
and the $200 was
a spiff
an upsell
a profit
gravy
you're just making more money
than you already are
like you know
which people think
is bad words
you know
the idea of an upsell
is always a key trigger word
for me
because it's like
I'm not upselling you
but you come in
knowing about one thing
on your car
that you're here to address
and I tell you
about four other things
it comes back to advocacy
I'm not trying to upsell you
more
but I would be not
doing the best service to you
if I didn't make you aware
of the other things
I didn't
I should have said that
when we were talking
about doing the full inspection
right
the reason that
we're doing the full inspection
is not to get
a bunch of money
I always use this analogy
if you went to the doctor
your elbow hurt
yeah
and they took a
x-ray of your
you know
upper body
yeah
and he found a lump on your
shoulder
you want to know about the lump
of course I'd wonder
yeah
if the doctor said
you know Jeff
I don't I don't know
I don't know
does he have insurance
I don't know
does he have any
I don't know
man
I feel like
he's driving an old
clunker I saw him pull up
I don't know if he's got
any money
I'm just
I'm not gonna let him
know about that
yeah
you'd never go back to that
doctor again
guess what we are guys
professionals
we should be held to the same
standard as that doctor
and when the doctor
tells you that you
have that they're not gonna
nobody's gonna say
the doctor's trying to
upsell me
exactly
right but
we're we've always been
held to a different
kind of
of standard
you know what I mean
and that's always been
the frustrating thing
for me because
people have known me a
long long long time
it took me a lot
to really start to
advocate for the customer
and not advocate for
just myself
or my beaming
or my technician
the other because
I mean the industry
did it to me
where I was just about
I was a production
number
I was a cog in a wheel
you know
I was just
I'm a revenue generator
you're a replaceable
I'm a replaceable
revenue generator
for my boss
and you know
that's a tough thing
to to move past
but it took me a long
but I feel like
I'm there
but it's that
it's that
attitude that still comes
back of all the
comments I see on your
your videos
or Paul's videos
every once was
it was like
you don't need to do
maintenance on a car
that's just ripping them
off or
I get really triggered
still by the dealer
ship
comments
the dealer technician
comments
they're terrible
they're this and that
and it's like
oh it's either
one way or the other
they're either the best
ever or they're the worst
and I keep trying to
have the conversation
with you don't know
if you've never worked
with what they've had
to do
the kind of pressure
cooker environment
the kind of where
you're not paid for
dyke
if they're not paid
why do you expect
them to even be able
to diagnose your car
would you go to work
well I wouldn't go
but that's just the point
I paid X amount of dollars
for this car
I deserve to get it fixed
you do
but the more I keep
advocating and talking
about how
dealership technicians
are actually being
treated now
and paid
is why we're seeing
more people start
to back off
and understand
and go in
and have a better
experience
when they're trying to
get there
I'm not saying
it's gonna be perfect
right
we talk
we're talking about
the jeeps
that they've been told
you know
you love to
trash the pen and stars
right
and I drive one
I think
I love it
but I mean it's
don't trash anything
no but you know what I mean
the world we live in
it's they do have
they just present themselves
they have inherent flaws
and it's kind of
not great design
and all that kind of jazz
totally cool
they suck
yeah
but the customer
like from
I know from my dealer
experience
I had to kind of like
you know
I was expected to hear
a certain number
but it was also like
if I knew that
I'm gonna go in there
and I'm gonna do
your oil cooler
while I'm there
on your pen and star
it's probably not a bad idea
to put some spark plugs
in that thing
and some maybe
some ignition coil boots
or some coils
because I know
that they're common
right
there's all kinds of things
well all of a sudden
it's like
listen
I just want the car fixed
I don't want the upsell
or I just want
you know
or if it's under warranty
and they did this
and then that happened
after the facts
and they didn't take care of it
there's such a
there aren't
such tight restraints
right now
but what's it again
that's the service advisor
not great relationship
but here's the thing
when we talked about this
I did a video on this
because
this is something
I worked at a dealership
for six months
very early in my career
right
God bless you
if you can do that
I mean that's a
that's a
political nightmare
I mean
when I was there
I was low man on the total
Paul
I didn't know who I worked for
yeah
I didn't know if I worked for the
used car guy
the new car guy
the service department
the owner come out
I mean
you know
but
that my problem
with the way
dealership texts get paid
and we had some comments
that said some of them don't
now we all know
well I know
you know
that there are some
dealership texts
that are
loved in the dealership
and then there's some
dealership texts
that are there
to just get as much work done
as they possibly can
right
yeah
and they're treated
differently
yeah
but the
my biggest
beef
with the way dealership texts
get paid
is warranty
yeah
I think it is the
and I'm not saying this
in a negative way
towards a dealership tech
it is just a fact
of the hierarchy
of a manufacturer
the dealership tech
is a low man
on the totem pole
I get it
there's GSS
and there's
I get you know
porters
I'm talking about
the hierarchy
of this repair process
right
the tech is the low man
on totem pole
the manufacturer is a high
right
the low man on the totem pole
is subsidizing the high
mm-hmm
at half labor
yeah
and and then okay
texts
forever
would just get really
fast at doing it
right
and so they would
were able to turn
a lot of work
because
they were
it's a numbers game
they were doing
like you talked about
you know doing the same
rack and pinion
over and over and over
so of course
you're going to get quicker
at it
yeah
and then I'll
then they brought in
the time clock
okay where you're going to
clock in and out of it
well you were physically
clocking in and out of it
on a piece of paper
right back in the day
and you used to stick it
on the paper right
well of course
texts
none of us are stupid
right
so I was like okay
well I'm going to
clock into that one
get it done
not clock out
go clock into
car B
yes
do it halfway through car B
oh let me go back over
and clock out of car
you know A
okay well now everything's
digital
they can't do it anymore
so you can't game the
system quote unquote
right right
so what are the
what do the manufacturers do
oh they're getting
really fast at it
they start lowering
the time down
yeah
it's like so you set
time of just
being a numbers
three hours to replace
something
I'm talking about
full boat
full boat
right customer pay
you can pay the tech
an hour and a half
tech gets really good
really fast
does dozens of them
you can do it in 0.75
you're going to lower
down to 0.75
who wants to play that game
I mean that
of all
and I haven't lived in that
world
I was there six months
I wasn't
I was an old change guy
right yeah
but I could see the other
guys
I could see the hierarchy
the way it worked
we had one guy that was
that was the golden child
of that dealership
I mean he turned
70 hours a week
right
he has a guy that
that I think
taught me a lot
because he was one that
told me he's like
sure what if you don't have
a three hour water pump
and do a 0.3 oil change
do 10 of them
just turn
just you know
so that's
this was way back now
right
and then we had other guys
only wanted to do engines
right
and then they were always
behind the eight ball
they never got paid
you know they were always
asking for next week's
pay right
yeah because they never
finished the job
but the reality was
that guy that the
the one they really liked
he was always going to
make good money
yeah
you know because
he did do a lot of
good work and
took care of them too
but the other ones
they just kind of got
what they got
yeah you know
and and then you throw
on top of that
the warranty thing
it's like man I just
and I remind people
all the time
when they get so frustrated
and they just take
any automotive
channel
video whatever
to spout off
I
kindly
try to be kindly
remind them
that
it's not always that
like
they can't fix your car
or don't want to fix
your car
it's that if they can't pay
get paid
under warranty to try
and fix your car
they're not going to
invest the time to do it
and that's not just
on the technician
that he may very well
want to fix your car
but
even if he says
I'm
I'm willing to
you know
spend some time
that I'm not going to pay for
because I just got to know
well there's dealerships out
there that just
come to him and say
John
put that car outside
I've got 10 more
that I need looked at
right and that's
that's not just a
dealership thing
that happens in
in our industry
on the aftermarket side
all day long
I'm not I'm not
charging for Diag
so you know
go to Identifix
grab the first bullet
that's what I'm
putting into the car
I've got nine more
waiting outside
get them done
well
this is not again
when we when we talk
about
technicians or this
technicians are part
of a team
that sometimes
we're not using
our team members properly
in this industry
and unfortunately
the customer suffers
because of it
Oh absolutely
but it's
when you
when you get on there
and you say
mechanics suck
because of this
that's where it really
it tears up my heart
because
I know
I was put here
for this job
I know I was
it found me in high school
and it hasn't let go of me
but it's
it's been always about
I'm just trying to understand
how to do it better
and how
to make it easier
for the next person
that comes in behind me
because I know
what I had to go through
and I don't want
anyone else to go through
that as well
so that's just a situation
of it's like
I'm not the sharpest guy
in the world
I have a process
that I can get through
the repair
I can diagnose some cars
but I'm not
I shouldn't be out there
like sure
with teaching people
lab-scoped stuff
and all that kind of stuff
I fix cars
but sure I'm not
like I go down
more rabbit holes
than anybody should
there's not you know
and that doesn't mean
it doesn't make me
a bad spokesperson
but it makes me
somebody that's like
I can show you that
as much as you think
I wasted some time
the layman out there
can't even begin to
understand why I would
pick that way
so they
I feel like it's
it's
don't disrespect me
and I'll not disrespect you
I will tell you this
about a lot of content online
we show a lot of mistakes
we show a lot of mistakes
I make a lot of mistakes
I am not perfect
the
I feel like it's important
to show those mistakes
because unfortunately
a lot of technicians
watch guys
that are
incredibly smart
yeah
online
and they go through this
process
and they just get to these
massively hard problems
right
and then they try to get it
on a day-to-day basis
try to fix a car
and they just feel like
like you just said
I just go down
so many rabbit holes
well guess what
so does a lot of other
people
anybody else
it's just a matter of
can you recover quickly
and then get to the right problem
it's very rare on a
I mean
it's actually very common
to just get to the problem
right I mean
most problems that we deal
with or not
you know
I was talking about case study
classes
I love case study classes
the problem is case study
classes
those are the crazy hard
problems right
and then
then the techs go to case
study classes
and then they go back to the
shop and I think
every car is a case study
it's like
no I mean
there's a lot of
instructors that will pay
good money for a good
a good documented case study
right
because they don't see them a lot
right
so no
not every car is a case study
but
not every single person that you
see
getting to a problem
very quickly
actually got to that
problem very quickly
they want to show you
how they got to it
right
because
quite honestly some videos
if you showed everything
would be
hours long
look at your Nissan hood latch
oh that was luck
that's pure luck
I've had somebody
already mentioned that to me
oh man I was a good find
oh no
that was luck
that car would have gone
to the junkyard
I would have
hold my ground on anybody
nobody would have fixed that car
by diagnosing it
we went down
a million rabbit holes on that one
it was pure luck that
that thing was just sitting there
when I was going to put it
back together
and thanks to Adam Robertson
for just backing me up
and saying
hey go down the path of
it not starting
not the path of it not turning off
and then I had to put it back
together
to do that
yeah
and start over
yeah right
and then the hood latch was there
and then bam
right
but
those are
that's a
that's a one car in my lifetime
that's literally
a one car in my lifetime
the other one was an
Amazon part two
and it was the
number two hardest car
right Amazon part wrong
you know
those are difficult ones
but there's also
I mean there's
there's vehicles
that are
that we do videos on
that are
they're difficult
right they take time
and
you know kind of going back
to what we were talking about
earlier when
when I got into the service
advisor role
you know I said
I want to try to change
the way that this industries
looked at
and I find it to be such a
blessing that
we're able to
do it on this
bigger level at the
you know when that started
it was just
I'm going to do this
on a local level
and you know I never really
we were screwing around
one day
and then we started doing
videos
and never thought
it would ever
get to what it is today
yeah
but it's really cool
to be able to look back
at that and say
wow I'm being given
that opportunity now
to really
you know
change the way the
industries looked at
you talk about
you know more difficult
dyagues
it's not just important
for a newer technician
that's coming into the
industry
because of course we
don't want them to just
get demoralized
because they think that
they're struggling
and everybody else
doing it perfect on YouTube
but also for the
everyday person
because
they need to see the struggle
they need to see
what's involved in
diagnosing these cars
because
you know we
I'll tell you
it's crazy
we get people that come in
and they don't care
about how much it is
they do not care
they're not
they're not questioning
diagnostics
they're not questioning
any of it
we have
when people come in
and they've been throwing
parts at it
and it starts at
what's called a level too
typically
right
and that can be anywhere
from $450 to $650
to diagnose
to start with
diagnosing the vehicle
and they don't hesitate
everybody's scared
to charge for diagnostics
if we can show people
what's involved
and bring the value
to the everyday person
that's bringing
their vehicle into the shop
then they'll respect us
more for what we're doing
they don't question
the doctor
and how much they're gonna do
just going back
to that again
they need to see
what we're doing
they need to be able
there needs to be
transparency
and that's what we're trying
to you know
to bring in here
document everything
and Scott Nichols
I was telling you about him
that has the ADDI
he's got this
this great idea
for how to document everything
in a very
concise
concise way
he's just trying to work
through the intricacies
of making us
be able to get it there
and because
it's concise once it's done
he just has got to work
through some bugs on
on that software
right
and the building of it
but once he's got that
that's gonna be really good
because then we're gonna
be able to just
literally
you screenshot
and it's like
boom it's up on the
it's up into your spot
where you need it
on a cloud
and then you just
go grab
and it will literally
grab the VIN number
put everything together
in one spot
and you can put it on a ticket
VIN dad
right
the VIN
what did I say
there was a comment earlier
and you said VIN number
in a video
well it is vehicle
identification number
it is
it's a VIN number
okay so it's a
vehicle identification number
number
every little stupid thing
like it just drives me
crazy
you know what I mean
I remember when the guys
used to say
it's got a 3.8
what motor's in that 3.8
somebody used to go
it's an engine
it's not a motor
it's motor oil
that's right
yeah
you don't buy engine oil
you buy motor oil
now somebody will say
no you can't buy engine oil
he calls a ram
I call Dodge Ram
I still do
I can't help it
don't do that online
I still
oh they kill me for that
they said oh this guy
doesn't know what he's talking about
they they haven't made a
Dodge hasn't made a ram
in 15 years like
you know how old I am man
yeah
yeah he said you
I can remember
I'm old enough
to remember the first
when they brought the ram back
and it was on a TV show
and the whole thing
like I can remember
because when we were in the 80s
up where I was
you never saw a Dodge pickup
older than
like newer than 85
until 95
there was like a 10 year window
where you never saw a Dodge pickup
really
did dad either drove a Ford
or a Chevy
because like Dodge has started
to not really sell
very well
and then when that first
Jen Ram came out
it completely changed
the the landscape
the way it looked
and then when the Hamid came out
that changed everything
that put everything on its ear
they had so much
when they had the truck
with the actual ram
on the hood owner of it
yeah
my buddy mine had that
but
but
so
I've
let's go back to you
I remember Eagle by the way
do you remember Eagle
yes I did
so
one of the first guys
when I walked into
Capital Dodge
way back when
I had a
Roli Gratton
a gentleman from Quebec
was my
shop form and service manager
at night
and Roli still drove an AMC Eagle
every day
and Roli had been
when there was AMC dealers
and Eagle dealers
in Ottawa
he was their guy
he was one of the fastest
best techs they'd ever seen
and
and I can remember
I didn't appreciate him
and I didn't work long enough
with him
before I moved
or he retired
but he used to always
somebody would come in
and they'd say
um
this car's not
or the tech would go to them at night
and say the car's just not
running right
I don't turn around
and Roli would say
just put an EGR valve on it
and and and he was
he was he was
identification
and and
exactly 100%
and they put the EGR valve
on which cost $14
you know
back then
and and it would fix the car
and like the
and Roli didn't then go
this is why
it was just good
we got the car fixed
because we just tuned it up
and it's still
stalling
and Ms. Fierner
doing the exact same thing
let's just
you know
I was very fortunate to
to have a couple of really
key mentors
that
didn't always share with me
the why
but the how to survive thing
which was key as well
and somebody was just talking
to me the other day about
we need to teach a course on how
to get technicians to survive
flat rate
and how to survive the dealer
network
and I said
I'm not sure if we can ever
write a book
or have a course on that
would it be a good idea
I want to go back to the
kind of the beginning
for you guys
because we joked about a
launch
some of the earliest
videos I think
that really kicked off
and people remembered
for you guys
was the icon wrench thing
and and the
snap all
oh my god
Sherwood's got a snap
on belt
and it was the joke was like
you know
he's got 30 more years
and he'll pay it off
as well you know
and and
you know your snap on dealer
which was a
obviously you have a great guy
great relationship
with him everything else
but everybody was just
the fanboys came out
and drove's about
I've been buying snap on tools
for 20 years
and there's nothing
that even competes
you've been buying snap
on tools for 30
some years
I bought my first snap
on tools
from my current
dealers
dad
from his step dad
right
Norman
and
I don't even think
that Norman was supposed
to do it
I mean I was a teenager
right
so I mean
that had to be
84
something 85
so
yeah
they mean
I've been buying them
a long time too
mm-hmm
and we spoke about this
like
when I came in this business
you had the option of snap on
you had mac
and mac was really mac back then
yeah
they weren't as
they weren't everywhere
right
you had snap on
mac
and you had craftsman
yeah
and there was a big difference
between snap on and everybody else
yeah they had the flank drive
I mean
the warranty
the quality
the warranty was
what craftsman
you could go
take it and do it
but for us
where I lived
that was an hour drive
yeah one way
yeah
so
now
we have so many other options
so let's think about this
we're short on text
right
I don't care what anybody says
we're short on technicians
we're short on blue collar
period
period
right
yes
um
and I don't see where that's
going to get
any better anytime soon
but
maybe it will
but
we need to entice people
to come into the business
all right
we don't need them to walk on a
tool truck
and spend $700 on a set of
wrenches
we can provide them with a
nice tool set
we talked about it for like
$1,100
the shop owner can do that
right yeah
think about this from a
shop owner standpoint
I'd rather spend $1,100
get us a nice set of tools
in front of it
from you know
when I say nice
it'll do the job we're
asking them to do
what are we asking them
to do
all services
maybe we
graduate them
tires off
yeah tires
we graduate them to some breaks
maybe they start doing some
tire you know
doing some alignment
we gradually bring them up
right
but
the whole time that
we're doing that
if we're asking them to buy
their own tools
they're in
debt
from day one
who wants that
you know
and honestly the tool
dealers
should
should like this too
because
I'm wondering where the most
of their
delinquent payments come from
I'm sure it's from guys
that got in the business
bought a few
you know
a couple things from them
you know
had a few hundred dollars
whatever
right five six hundred bucks
right
and then said
I don't like doing this on left
they're never seeing them again
they're not in the business
my own snap on wrench set
is a
is a repo set
okay
yeah
yeah
because that was like
and
we talked about it before lunch
you know
when I did buy that set
I bought it for
four hundred bucks
that's going back
eight years now
and it was still listing at
six hundred brand new
so I paid four hundred
like we talked about it's a
seven hundred dollar set of
wrenches
right
now
I'm old enough to remember
that
all the first wrenches
I'd ever had
I could buy them
Canadian
was mastercraft
out of Canadian tire
you guys
a few
a few trips up to Canadian
tire
do you know
Canadian
yeah
so used to be able to buy them
they were a chrome
12 point
you know
combination wrench
sure
from
eight mil up to 19
used to be able to buy them
for
nineteen ninety nine a set
and they were lifetime warranty
yeah
and I worked with guys
talking about guys in the
tools in a bucket
okay
we were walked into that
I got really serious about
working in was a truck shop
and we used to do roadside
service
and my
my
my
my owner
my boss
would go out
and he would take that
nineteen ninety nine
set of wrenches in the rack
right out
and he put it in his bucket
and he would go fix
just about
anything
on the side of the road
with that wrench set
and a hammer
and some vice grips
slip joint pliers
you know
make it a
screwdriver
he could fix it all
fantastic
I use those wrenches
until
2014
and they
were fine
because again
I wasn't putting the open end
on on a faster
and trying to break the faster
loose
you know what I mean
like it was
that's what I loved about that
whole thing
that was showing you
well here's a test of
who
who in the right mind
is going to risk their
knuckles to put it between
it and
in a
whatever
and push on the open end
to try and
break the faster and loose
that's just not what we do
every day
well
the
the test that we did
originally on that
was snap on's test
yes
right
and it's the nylon nut
that I have seen
for ever
yeah
and you know
it was to show
the flank drive
was better
than
of regular wrench
which it is
yeah
but I guess you're not allowed
to use that
when it's a flank drive
against a flank drive
that's now
I guess technically
even
well it's not been stolen
because the patents
up is
right
right
yeah
but
when that thing
slipped
I was like
because I did not
you didn't expect it
to do that
I was
I was taken aback
by that
I was like
this is crazy
I mean we
literally did it
several times
you know
and it
kept doing the same thing
but
then it became this
this
I joked about it
on one of the videos
like
I must keep testing
until snap on wins
right
yeah
because we were getting
called out
by so many people
doing the test
strong
and
I mean
I don't know how
I don't know how else
to turn a wrench
other than you put it
on a nut
or a bolt
and you turn it
yeah
you know
I mean there's
different type of
wrenches obviously
but
I'm talking about
a combination wrench
right
and yes
we are friends
with Mr. Subaru
so yes
yes we absolutely are
we're not talking
about him at all
we think he arrives tomorrow
that guy
I'm going to tell you
right now
when it comes to tools
that dude
is smart
he knows
who makes what
when
where
how
what factory
I mean I'm surprised
he doesn't know
the person on the
assembly line
putting it together
he might actually
know that person
he might have
that may be where
his in is
right
but he is smart
no I don't have
any issue with him
whatsoever
you know
I'm talking about
all these other people
that are like
oh they just kept
saying snap on
snap on
okay well
eventually
the snap on
did win
yeah right
but like you said
I had to push it
to the absolute
limit
where I would never
ever
be doing that
in a
regular
working
job position
right
we pushed it
to the point
where it finally
you know
the the icon
gave
and the
snap on didn't
but
there would
nobody in their
right mind
would use it
in that way
it's not real world
it's not real world
and my point
my whole point was
here's
at that point on sale
you know
normally a hundred and thirty
dollar set of wrenches
on sale for seventy bucks
against a seven hundred
dollars set of wrenches
right
my whole point was
how far do we have to push it
to get it to fail
right
can they be not have this
as a viable set
for somebody coming into this
business
and and
use it
right
and get going
and then if they want to
buy a snap on set later
when they make money
yeah go for it
like I did
yeah
but we have options
and now there's
tecton
yes
there's
there's
um
what's the other one
I mean
Milwaukee
Milwaukee's got stuff
you know
them's got stuff
gear wrench
gear wrench has got
I mean I love their
their new ratchet is my
favorite
yeah
the bill
I got the swivel head
little
that you have you seen the
head on that ratchet
how small it is
I know
I love that ratchet
yeah
well I think it's funny
because when we went to SEMA
there was all these
different
you know tool companies there
and he didn't know any of
them
people are like
how do you not know about this
because this dude literally
only went on the snap one
truck
like he didn't
he didn't know any of
the stuff because
that's what he's been doing
to the point where I had to
go out there
and grab him out of the
truck all the time
because I told him
he stopped spending money
yeah
and I would snap on
the snap on
Harbor Freight thing
was the best thing
to ever happen to me
so how did that
how did that relationship
kind of start
did they reach out to you
Sherwood
or did you guys
reach out to them
for
for Harbor Freight
yes
no we
I don't even know
how we went and
got that wrench
we just
Sherwood just like
hey let's try to do this
but when we've seen all
the other tools show up
and all that kind of stuff
like I'm not
I'm not trying to ask
to disclose what they
not what they gifted you
but like
oh no
you know obviously
there's
there's
obviously they
you've
you rippled
big enough
that they
they figured out who
Sherwood
and the professor were
I will tell you
Harbor Freight
is a very
straightforward company
they don't sponsor
anybody
they don't
and we don't do that
anyway
we don't take money
from people to
to do stuff
the stuff you see on our
channel is the stuff that
I use
or it's stuff that
maybe somebody sent me
and I thought
maybe other people will
use it
and we'll try it out
right
so Harbor Freight does
not pay
anybody anything
but they will
happily send you tools
right
so they've sent us
they mean they sent me
a whole icon box
for crying out loud
right
and and a bunch of stuff
and they just
here's what they tell you
use it
you put it in a video
great
if you don't put in a video
okay
if it's good
good good great
if it's not good
please let us know
yes
and so
because we want to make
changes yeah
right
and they will do that
so
I get they get it
I get to understand where they
people say they
steal stuff and all this stuff
I you know
but
well
let's
let's be real about
some of the scan tool
that's some
some of everybody's favorites
scan tool
is is
re-engineered
back in the day
it was like factory
yeah um
you know
you can remember the
old old old launches
whether it was a
dyke book
or extra
x431
or something like that
yeah like I mean
they were incredible
what they were
the all tells
yes
I mean the dog on all tells
you could program
keys
on anything
back in the day
right
I mean it was just
I mean
I want to use words
but you know
yeah
you understand
but everybody loves them
yeah
so
stealing thing is like
whereas
and I listen
not
the only scan tool
I've ever owned
is a snap on
I have an old brick
I have an old
the first gen
vantage
I have
got a brick huh
I have a solus
and ours
yeah I have a solus
and now I have a Zeus
I don't have a Zeus plus
because that's all I ever
bought because before
there was no other players
right
and there was there was OTC
which
when the brick
was out
and the OTC was actually
I think a better tool
so I had a Mac
task master
or not task master
Mac mentor
I think is what
that was
I think that was later
okay
I'm talking about when the brick
yeah there was this
there was this OTC one
but it was not
user friendly
right
right
where the
where the brick was user
I mean that's
snap on this kind of thing
right they just made it
very easy for people to use
right
yeah and then you had the
the Genesis
so that that's
the Genesis
and it was a wheelchalk
it was garbage trash
yeah
but what snap on has always
been their defense
is listen
we don't steal
what we put in the tool
we have to pay for it
right
which people are always
like that's good
now I think
if anybody from snap on
is listening
the price has gone too far
and I mean
the industry has not
to where it's like
I have my Zeus
and I regret
buying it now
I bought it
in the case of where I
worked
they weren't going to
upgrade the scan tool
but they were going to
hand me a 21
a 22 to look at
and we had a
solace that had been phased
out by 15
that wasn't doing me
any good on the transit
so we're in my fleet
so I had to do something
I either had to get
my butt chewed
about not being able to
fix every day by the boss
or I went and bought a
used Zeus
and that's what I did
that's what I always
done no big deal
not regretting it
but I'm looking at
the prices going now
the depreciation
I'm buying this tool
used
is crazy
the fact that we
snap on has built on
you need a $20,000
scan tool
and we're gonna
I'll make it obsolete
in five years
I'm not good with that
anymore
I'll tell you that
again
much like the
other snap on
stuff
I bought
a new
the new scan
or whatever it was
every time it came out
yeah
you know
modus
whatever kept it
updated all along
Zeus came out
kept it updated along
Zeus plus came out
kept
you know
and
then
just by
I mean
being blessed
by everything that's
happening
on our social media
yeah
a lot of companies
want to send us stuff
right
and some of it
you never see
because
it's
not
worth
showing
right
but
some of it
like topped on
you know
I'd be honest
I bought my first
topped on
I was at
a
Mike Christofferson
do you know Mike
he does a lot of
e-prom work
and stuff
I've heard the name
but if you showed me
a picture
I wouldn't be able to
pick him out
he's here this week
oh is he
yes
super nice guy
very smart
with like
e-prom
you know
cloning
and stuff like that
and
so I was at
one of his things
in
I did it
one
I did it twice
I did it once
at Jarhead
Diagnostics
he had it in North Carolina
and then I did it once
at
in Atlanta
I don't remember
where we were in a hotel
and in Atlanta
when they had the
topped on stuff
and I'm like
well you know what
you know
getting into this
let's try it
right
so I bought a few things
now I have the
the one you see in the
videos a lot
is the
Phoenix
Max
Max
yeah
I love that
and I've been a
snap on guy
that my whole
my whole life
with with
scanners right
yep
this thing just
I mean it works
now
I'm gonna footnote this
every scan tool
every scan tool
has its holes
and
you gotta know
what
again
just like when we're testing
something
what do I expect to happen
you can push a button
this is where snap on
is
I would say
somewhat stronger
usually if you push the
button on the snap on
it says it's gonna do
something it
generally is going to do it
yes
right
it doesn't just throw it
in there and
it's just there for show
right
that's not always the case
there are times when it
doesn't do it right
and these are the ones that
will send you down a rabbit hole
it's the same thing with
all the other ones
I don't care who it is
top down
all tell
what was the other one
you just named
launch
launch
which is
most of them
are all using
the same back end anyway
right yes
you know
when you push that
button on some of them
it may not be
actually doing the thing
that you think it's doing
and you better understand
okay do I have
another way of
checking that
so if your only
option is an aftermarket
scan tool
I would highly recommend
having at least
two and having two different
back end brands
right
but then the factory one
I mean that's what
you know sometimes
you just got to have that
yeah you know
and so that you know
when you hit the button
that's more than likely
going to be doing it
and then I know
to show you the name
some of us make this
over more complicated
needs because
like you as somebody
that's you know
followed Bernie forever
oh yeah
look at what Bernie
goes out and fixes
with generic data
and and and
absolutely amazing
refined process
you need to talk to
about talk to people
about the e-scan dad
that is the whole
the thing with that class
that chris was telling us
about yeah
one of my guys is in a class
and they uh
is brandon's
secular class
and he brought up
the e-scan stuff
and like two guys
or my two guys
when he said
who's got the e-scan
like two guys
that is a powerful
yes
I call it
the generic scan tool
on steroids
right it is a powerful tool
but yeah
Bernie is out there
fixing cars
and it's very rare
that you see a factory tool
in his hands
yeah
right it's a very rare
you see anything other than
the e-scan
of course it's his product
so he wants to show it
right and and
he he is uh
one of the things
that he's always told me is
I don't care
what the badge is
on the front of the car
I just want to fix the car
right right
and he does it
in a very logical manner
and and now
Bernie is a different
you know
well you get to people
like Bernie
John Thornton
yeah
Scott Manna
yeah
we're we're we're you know
Keith
right
we're at a little different level
right they're they're they're
they're you know
they're super smart
right
but
but you can use
the things that they put out
right
and you can
you can learn from what they're
doing
and now
like Bernie will tell you
how a scope works
yeah
right you know
all the intricacies
are the internals of it right
how it works
and it's like
the first time I took a scope
class
I'm like this is my brain
melted in the first hour
I didn't even
we hadn't even touched the scope yet
as far as on a car
and
you know
it's it's
we don't necessarily
have to be at that level
but it's okay to watch that
it's okay to learn that
because then we can start thinking
how do they think
yeah right
they think like engineers
yeah
you know
I mean
all four of them
think like engineers
and there's
I'm sure I'm missing
people out there
right
but but plenty of other ones
right
but if we can think like them
if we can at least see
okay well that's their thought
process
maybe we don't have the
you know
in depth of that
it still helps us fix cars
right
and in the end of the day
what I'm trying to do
is fix cars
yeah
I'm trying to teach people
how can we fix this car
as quickly and efficiently as
possible
I don't care how you get paid
right
you know
your pay
we can talk about that till we're
blue in the face
you still need to fix the car
right
we still don't want to spend
six hours on something we can
do in two
yeah
so how can we do that
how do we make that happen
it's by following
a logical diagnostic path
does not mean that you're always
going to come to the answer
on that straight narrow path
you're going to be going off
on forks on the road
sometimes you got to back up
just know when you got to back up
you just get to the answer
now you know
sitting at lunch
I asked you if
because you know
you alluded to a couple times
you were looking to hire a tech
and and we talked about the
shortage
and you guys have got
two new ones coming on
which is awesome
but sure wouldn't you both
like how do we fix
this shortage that
that's in the industry
because like
do you guys see a bigger
obstacle for the industry right
now than the shortage
like information
you can always going to be
able to access maybe
but do you see a bigger
obstacle to the industry
than the fact that nobody
is is seeming to come in
and I think
I think parts
parts
I think parts
and I think
I think the
like I think the shortage
of tax
but I think those two are
really really close to each other
how do we fix the shortage
it's a tough one
a
it is uh
when I was
in high school
we had shop
I didn't take shop personally
no
you know
but we had shop
that's one
we also need to
somehow
get people to understand
when I was in school
it was it was
oh if you're not smart
you do shop
right right
yep
and it still has that
stigma
that stigma
right
and guess what
it ain't that anymore
no
right we need smart
people in this business
and we
and we need a
combination smart
we need
hands-on smart
can you
mechanically
have you got that aptitude
like your grandson
yes
and then we need
brain smart
can you read
and comprehend what you're
reading
because what do we do most of
the time
what we're doing is
description and operation
how does something actually
function by reading
right
and we tend to be as text
what I found is
visual learners
right that's why
that's why YouTube is so good
that's why you know
because
that's why scopes are so good
they're pictures
and we need people though
that can
that can read something
comprehend it
put it into
into use
how do we do that
we need to get them to
know that that's what
they're doing
right like we need to get
them to know that it's not
just all greasy hands and
yeah
you know
getting down and dirty
although that's part of it
but that
the diagnostic side of it
is an opportunity for people
and it's going to get
more and more complex
so we need people that
are interested in
computers
and things like that
that would
maybe go into that industry
but they can say
well
maybe I'd go automotive
because it's basically
working on computers
you know all the time
well look at your grandson
Micah
who
and your son
right who has
taken a part in RC car
at eight years old
seven
seven excuse me
like
I alluded to
Elon
but I mean
that's an EV
to him
that's going to be
what he's going to be
working on by the time
you know
a lot of what he gets there
is going to be a lot more
of that kind of technology
and how awesome
is that that already
at that age
he is like
understanding it
experimenting with it
rarity though
it's a rarity
because we do a thing
it's called junior technician
I've seen that night
yeah
so that happens once a year
on Chris the day
the school that's out
for Christmas break
and we bring in
I started with 30 something
kids
I don't know how many we had
last year
it's getting up there
close to 100
yeah
and these kids
they love it
they love taking stuff apart
they love getting their hands
dirty
right
I think that a lot of kids
have it naturally
I think that it is
taught out of them
right
it said
you need to go to college
you need to
you know
it's literally
they they
they love it
and then it's like
oh you don't want to do that
that's you know
we need to break that
you know
and I think that we're
transitioning a little bit
with that too
you know like
so I think what you said
about
getting it into the school
and getting these kids to be
you know to
be interested in it
at that age
I think even
you could even go lower
than high school
get into middle school
you know as well
yeah
and also
you know one thing
we've talked about
is something we could control
is doing like
a homeschool thing too
my kids are homeschooled
okay
so you know
you could we could
you could bring homeschool
kids into the shop
have a shop day
with them
get them interested
you know
a lot of parents
that are homeschooling
their children
have C8
high value in trades
and so that could
bring more of those
those kids into it
so I
I can't do anything
with the school system
I don't really have a say in that
but what we could do
is we could try to find
a place where we may have
an advantage
we may have parents
that are more
interested in their kids
going into that field
and we could try to
bring some of those kids in
my good friend Lucas
homeschooled
you know what I mean
and yet a phenomenal
technician
so he
he missed out
on shop class
in high school
and he did find
yeah
you know what I mean
then Micah comes there
now he's coming on Wednesdays
that's what he's doing
it's coming on Wednesday
and he's taking
he's taking a motor apart now
we got an engine out there
he's taking it apart
if he puts that back together
I don't know what's going to
happen
it's three six by the way
we know he needs to know
how to take that part
he's got to learn
how to take that one apart
what if he fixes it
what if we read
anyway
so I'm sure he can
I mean there's all kinds
of information out there now
if he can buy a camshaft
or because they're like
I'm wondering if he can
redesign it some
I think this will be
better if we do this
and then he goes to Chrysler
I'll say I mean we got to
fix 40 a millionaire
by the time he's 18
because I come up with
what to fix
or all done
honestly if we didn't have
so much time involved
in doing the channel
like I haven't even
talked to you about this
but I thought like
man it would be so cool
to do like a
kids automotive channel
you know like
I wish we could
we had the time to do that
but like
they need that
we need to get the kids
interested
not when they're teenagers
but when they're
seven eight nine years old
and if somebody wants
to take that challenge on
and go ahead
and I was just thinking
we're so
so here you are
sitting there talking
right how do we fix it
and so you have my
brain going
it's like okay
okay you know
I don't know how many
homeschool kids
it's getting to be
more and more
but there's a lot of times
right in the US now
so
but there's summer
yeah
now how hard would it be
for shops
to say hey
we're gonna do
a summer camp
right good dog
I mean there's
there's what is it
NASA what uh
yeah they do that
astronaut cat
all kind of camps
or stuff right
why can't we do an
automotive camp
come on in let's
let's you know
I know I'm gonna hear
a million oh insurance
and you know what
they've said that to us
with the junior tech
they sure as he sure has
well and like as
I've seen it where
I've had a former employer
and they bring in
what we call co-op students
which is like
seniors in high schools or
you know
for me it was
grade 11 grade 12
and they would start
to bring them in
they put them in a shop
because they showed
maybe some interest
when they were in
high school
yeah taking shop class
they had a little bit
of natural there's a
get him in a shop
sometimes they can
fast track them
right through the industry
do what we have in Canada
the apprenticeship
that gets them some hours
according to that
accrued towards that
but then some places
the employers drop the ball
where it's like
they have them
and it's just here
take out the trash
yeah go wash
the floor
they might do a couple
oil changes
by the time they're done
but they never
and a couple of tires
but they never really
got exposed to
and they don't really
cool stuff
which is like
I would grab one and go
here's a scan tool
watch what I
when I unplug this
watch what happens to the
oh look the car doesn't
start with it unplugged
what do you think is
actually going on there
and you see the gears
start to turn
and they're like
that's the really cool
stuff that I want to do
and that's the thing is like
as they get older
so like the younger kids
the little kids
when we're doing the
junior tech night
love taking stuff apart
sure
guess what they don't love
putting about
they don't love the scope
okay
no
they couldn't care less
I've had the whole scope
going up
at one year
I try to figure out
if I could make something
blow up
I try to make
a I try to figure out
if I could make a
spark plug
you know ignite
and without killing
somebody right
I just couldn't make it
happen
just like the video
on the fly
it's on the fly
so we're not like
super planned out
but
you know
the younger they are
they want to
work with their hands
they want to figure stuff out
they like it dirty
right
then as they
if we could do
like a camp or something
we're going to do this
the summer camp
right
and they start getting
you know
okay we bring the little
kids in
we have that mechanical stuff
remembering a little bit
older kids in
we showed them some scan
tools
we show them some
bi-directional controls
you know
I mean for us
like clicking a button
turning the fan on
nothing
to them it's like
oh my gosh
what we can make the car
do stuff
that's right
right
yeah
so
and then we could
gradually move them up
I think that's a
that's something
that we could definitely do
we've got to get
and listen
that the average age
I think the last time
I checked
the average age
of the automotive tech
you might correct me on this
I think it was in its 50s
I'm
average age
that's pretty old
that's average
yeah
thanks brother
so I'll be
I'll be 50 next month
and the gentleman
that works in the shop
with me is 60
I'm 57
so yeah
if the average age
is something over 50
think about that
that's average
yeah
that means you got guys
in their 70s and 80s
where's the young ones
because it can't be that many
70s and 80s
you know
I mean everybody's in a bunch
in the middle right there
you know 40 to 50
and that's kind of what we see
and we shouldn't be an industry
that people look at
as I'm going to need to work
till I'm 70 or 80
and just work till I die
basically
yeah
that's another thing
that's sad
that's a whole another
rabbit trail
but that's
that's another thing
and they should want to come
into this industry
knowing that they'll be able to
you know
have a good retirement
and all the different things
to go with
and that's
that's like
we can do a part two on that
maybe have David Roman
in where he talks
about like
how they
technicians
actually have to manage
money better
because
they didn't go out
like
you know
you just
pulling your dad off the
snap-on truck
you know
every week
saying quit spending
their money
like I could appreciate that
because it's like
that's what you made
your living with
but like
I can see both sides
well a lot of times too
Tex
you know there's only so many
lights that you need though
do you like lights
but they do stick to cars
yeah
sometimes they forget to get the
back
I do a lot of lights
but you know the
a lot of times also
Tex
come in
and they do start making a lot of
money
it is an industry
that you can come in
and start making some really
good money
really quick
quick right
yeah
and then they buy toys
yeah
you know
and shop owners do the same
thing
and there's always a race car
involved
right so we can go down
a whole another deal of
you know
and I'm not saying I'm the best
I mean I don't have toys
I like golf
that's my toy
but yeah
maybe we'll do a part two
on that in SEMA
I like that
I'll be at SEMA
so that would be definitely
we'll see how this one goes
and see how the people like
they might say
tell me I gotta shut up
I have a feeling this is
gonna be
this is gonna go over really
well
I'm gonna wrap it up for you
guys
but where
what's the next
kind of give me like a
one-year goal
and a five-year goal
for you guys
for a social media part of it
any part of this
just the business
like Sherwood
do you have a day
on when you kind of want to be
able to
to step away
and be on the golf course more
I was willing my way
to doing that
and then this guy
walked up with a camera
one day and said
hey dad
what are you doing
and now all of a sudden
I've got another job
you know
I do spend a lot of time
on the golf course
I will say that
I mean we do work hard
and we do
but I
my time is pretty
pretty good
we have a lot of ideas
a lot of things
we want to do training
yeah
our big one
that we're
we thought was going to be
easier than what it is
and we are
diligently
making progress
I would say
slowly
slowly
is a training website
not a
not a normal training website
I'm talking about
how do you rock a car
how do you remove a tire
how do you install a tire
how do you mount and bounce tire
how do you patch a tire
how do you do an oil service
right
from that
all the way up
and my grandiose plan is to
show every scope
that I can get my hands on
how do you do a
relative compression test
how do you do
you know
how do you check
injectors
blah blah
you know
with every different kind of scope
and
these are the things
we're trying to work
yeah
so that somebody can
then go
oh I've got an
all-till scope
or I've got a
you know
an e-scope
or I've got a pico
or you know
and I'm actually
going to see somebody today
that is going to
let's begin today
I don't know
he hasn't texted me
Justin
you know Justin Morgan
oh yeah
yeah
Justin is
he's going to sit with me
and go over some
I got a pico come in
that's mine
Matt
Matt Fanzo sent me
an eight channel
yes
and so I've been playing
with his for a while
and now
I've got one ordered
but uh
Justin's going to sit down
with me
but yeah I want
you know
again
I'm not
yeah I love Bernie
Bernie's a great guy
right
I
I
I
and
yeah I want his business to
prosper
but if there's something out
there that can do something
that's gives
that gives text options
I want to do that too
I want to show everything
that we possibly can
so our our goal is to
put a website together
it's kind of
that's been a big thing
the whole thing with it is to
to be able to
really the goal is for a
a shop owner
to have this site
so that
every aspect of their shop
right can they
they can basically bring
somebody in
and say hey
here you go
start with this part right here
right
whether it's a lube tech
or whatever it is
start with
you know
racking up the car
and everything like that
and then more experience
to like hey
here you go
we're getting into some
electrical stuff like that
but
with what we've got
you know
between the both of us is
we can also get into the
advisors
because we've got the
advisor class
and we've got
also the experience
on the business side of
things
and so we want it to be
kind of an
an all-encompassing
thing
that a shop owner can use
you know
we love the coach as well
but we also
there's only so much time
with two of us here
so
and you know
you know what you don't
realize I found this out
last week
I was at a
another conference
for a huge company
they have that
they have a
training site
yeah
that
how you rock a car up
we already had these
had this in the works
right
and I went to that
and I just
you know
and a great company
but I
can't name the name but
but yeah
they they had this whole
thing set up
it helps there
when they bring a shop in
right when they acquire
a shop or you know
hey
you can use this to train your
tech
we need to have that
in the independent world
100%
and and and
and you guys are going to be
you've got a leg up
on getting the exposure
out there
right
what I love is the idea
like when
when we start to tackle
things like
if you guys could
continue to handle the
comment threads
the way you have been
it will be successful
because like
how to do a break job
right like
you're going to get
10 different opinions
on how that's supposed
to be done
all those kind of stuff
you guys have been
like I said
going back to the beginning
you know
I think that
I can't remember
somebody that's come along
that's just started
at the level that
you guys have
and just continued
to rock it up
and I mean
I'm excited
I'm
I'm so blessed
to be able to get to
meet you guys today
and and get to know you
and and talk
because I'm just a huge fan
you know what I mean
like this is
this is
I truly enjoy
being able to showcase
the talents
that you guys are
and I think it is so cool
that you're putting out
there
we need a shop that's like
as a reality TV series
and and now
that's for what you guys
are
for a lot of us
and you know
Valley Forge
is the tires thing
on Netflix
that TV show
that some people watch
like that's
that's
we all
like that's a comedy
but you guys are
showing what's going on
every day
in a lot of shops
and I mean
I can't thank you enough
for that
because
it's
the professionalism
that you bring
is what we need
to be really
really bringing
more and more
so I want to thank you
both for being here
absolutely
I appreciate you
I thank you
for coming to ASTA
it was
when I heard you guys
were going to attend
I was like
there'll be nothing
that'll stop me
if I have to walk
from Canada
to shake your both hands
and and
and meet you
I was going to do it
so
everybody
as always
you know
I love you all
thank you for being here
and we'll talk to you again
soon okay
thank you guys
right
hey
if you could do me a favor
real quick
and like comment on
and share this episode
I'd really appreciate it
and please
most importantly
set the podcast
to automatically download
every Tuesday morning
as always
I'd like to thank our amazing
guests for their
perspectives
and expertise
and I hope that
you'll please
join us again
next week
on this journey of change
thank you to
my partners
in the ASA group
and to the changing
the industry podcast
remember
what I always say
in this industry
you get what you pay for
here's hoping everyone
finds their missing
10 millimeter
and we'll see you
all again next time
you
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