"Think You Got Ripped Off If Your Repair Order Looks Like This...You Already Lost"
Car Connection Workshop
Car Connection WorkshopApr 10, 2026
"Think You Got Ripped Off If Your Repair Order Looks Like This...You Already Lost"
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Term
RO
“RO” here means the repair order. It’s the paperwork from the shop that explains what they say they fixed and what they charged you for. Knowing what’s on it helps you spot mistakes or unnecessary work.
A warranty is the manufacturer’s coverage for repairs for a limited time or mileage. If the paperwork isn’t done correctly, the shop may not get reimbursed.
Low mileage usually means the car has been driven less, so it may have less wear. But you still want to check maintenance records and overall condition.
“Pre-owned” just means used cars. The store is selling cars that aren’t brand new, and they may help with financing or leasing so you can buy one more easily.
The segment says to contact Earl Louise Grant if you’re looking for a specific car. They’re presented as experienced and able to help find good-condition vehicles.
“In-house” leasing and financing means the dealer coordinates the loan/lease process through their own finance channels or partner lenders, rather than you arranging everything separately. This can affect approval speed, available terms, and how transparent the deal structure is.
Pattern failures mean the same problem keeps happening to lots of cars. If enough people report it, the manufacturer usually tries to fix it with an updated solution.
A fuel savings challenge is a structured period where drivers change habits to reduce fuel use and track the results. The idea is that small driving and maintenance behaviors—like smoother acceleration and keeping tires properly inflated—can add up over weeks. It’s often paired with a goal (like a target MPG or cost reduction) to keep people consistent.
MPG means how many miles you can drive on one gallon of gas. Higher MPG usually means you spend less money at the pump. People use it to compare fuel economy between cars or driving styles.
Car insurance is what you pay so you’re protected if something happens to your vehicle. It can cover repairs after an accident and other losses, depending on your policy. It’s a big ongoing cost for owning a car.
A service advisor is the person at a shop who talks with you about what’s wrong and writes up the repair paperwork. They’re basically the middle person between you and the mechanic.
A repair order is the paperwork the shop writes up when your car comes in. It lists your car and what work they’re doing, and it’s what they use to bill and—if it’s warranty—prove the claim.
Saying when the problem happens (like “when the car is cold”) helps the mechanic figure out what’s causing it. It’s easier to diagnose when the conditions are described.
“Remove and replace engine” is a high-level labor description that can be legitimate for an engine replacement, but it’s often too vague if it doesn’t include what was wrong, what parts were replaced, and what diagnostics were performed. The speaker’s complaint is the lack of supporting detail.
“Sequence” refers to the ordered steps in the repair process and documentation—concern first, then diagnosis/cause, then correction, then confirmation. The speaker is warning that skipping steps or recording them out of order undermines coverage and can lead to “ripped off” accusations.
Communication means making sure the shop writes down the right details about your car and the problem. If that info isn’t recorded, you can end up arguing about the bill later.
The speaker describes a structured repair workflow: identify the concern, determine the cause, perform the correction, and then confirm the fix (often via road test). This is essentially a documentation-and-process framework for protecting both the customer and the shop.
The speaker argues that if a shop fails to record out mileage, it can’t legitimately claim the road test labor. This highlights how documentation errors can lead to denied payment and disputes over whether work was performed.
Diagnostic time is the amount of labor the shop charges to figure out what’s causing the problem. If you only agreed to pay for a short amount of time, you should make sure they don’t charge you for extra hours later.
Flat rate means mechanics get paid a fixed amount for a job, based on a time estimate. If they’re trying to earn more, they may push extra work you didn’t ask for.
A referral business is one company sending customers to another company it trusts. If the referral is good, customers are more likely to get fair service.
B2B means businesses helping other businesses. In this case, it’s shops and related companies referring customers to each other.
LIVE
Good morning folks. You're tuned to Car Connection where the coffee's hot, the tools are ready,
and the talk is always tuned up. I'm your host, Niall MotorMouth Jenkins, coming to
you straight from the Car Connection workshop, where we mix a little humor, a little know-how,
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So wherever you're pulling your podcast from, just place Car Connection workshop in the search
bar and you will find us there. All of our podcasts are now populating up and into, they're
exporting, I think is the term. I'm a mechanic. Come on. Try to learn as much as I can. Are they
exporting, importing, or uploading? Does it matter? They're arriving there. Let's just say that
into our YouTube channel. And I have to go in and populate, turn them from
private to public 10 per day until we get series one done. And I'm working, I think we've got it,
but I'll check that today that the current podcast should automatically become public. So we'll see
if we accomplish that. You know, they don't, these things, they don't make it easy for you to navigate
to figure it out. They kind of give you like a, an order, but then there's another box somewhere
else hidden somewhere under a log. And you've got to click that to save the changes. It's the most
bizarre thing. I'm glad they don't work on cars. Honest to goodness, we would, we would have vehicles
probably circling the roadways and going nowhere. Hey, well, you know what today is? Today is Vimy
Ridge Day. The Battle of Vimy Ridge in 1917 went on for, from the 9th, from the 9th till the 12th
was when they finally eradicated the enemy. And about 150,000 soldiers lost their lives there
at the Battle of Vimy Ridge. Not, not between nine, the 9th of April and the 12th, but it began,
that battle for Vimy Ridge began around Easter time. Yeah. And early, early into March. So you can,
you can read it. There's a whole bunch of information about it. And the Canadians
were the ones who pulled it off. So I think of all those soldiers past, present, future today,
gave their lives that we would be free. Amen. That's huge. I lost my granddad
in the Second World War was taken down by a German sniper. I never got a chance to meet him. So
Private John Nightingale. That's right. I am related. Private John Nightingale
was my granddad. Well, let's move on this morning on a lighter note, but please, you know, think of,
think of the soldiers past, present, and future that work hard to keep us free, that we have our
freedom. It's important. It's very important. I think it's important that kids know the history.
Not bury the history, but they need to know the history, the pioneers,
the ones that carved the way for us. Well, if you're just rolling through the drive-through,
double check your order. I did that yesterday. I went through a drive-through. I don't do that very
often, but I was out at our printers and graphic designer getting some, some materials put together,
some new materials and they got a brand new McDonald's in Thorold. It's huge. Sits up on a hill.
Yeah, very cool. So if you're out that way, check it out. I hadn't been out that way for quite some
time and it wasn't there the last time I went. So, hey, it was a good cup of Joe. That's all I can
say. It was pretty decent. So if you're pulling through the drive-through, lock that beverage down
your cup holder and join us for the next 30 minutes or so. Keep an eye on the road and if you
have a driving partner, a co-pilot today, make sure they're taking the notes for you. But we
have everything for you on the homepage of our website. That's the biggest drawer in our toolbox
where we have everything available to you just by a few clicks. Go to our homepage at CarConnection
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monetized yet on our YouTube channel. We are working hard and diligent on that. Skippy and I
put in a lot of time, a lot of effort, a lot of energy to bring you amazing videos that teach
you the basic fundamentals of ownership of an automobile. You don't need to be a rocket science
scientist or a brain surgeon. You just need to understand and take in some information that
will help you and prevent you from being ripped off. That's what we're going to talk about this
morning. The topic is what about the RO? We're going to unpack that because that is the beginning
of the process to protect you against being taken advantage of at a repair shop. I've mentioned this
before. I spent a whole week. That's what we were being taught as a warranty input dude
for a major car manufacturer. Let me tell you, you miss a dot or a tittle. You're done.
You're done as a warranty clerk and making sure that warranty on a car dealership level is getting
paid back by the manufacturer. If that money has gone out the door because of lack of information
and the claim gets kicked back, that money's gone. It's gone, gone, gone. That's probably going to
get you a discussion. In fact, it might even show you the outside of the building indefinitely.
So we're going to talk about that this morning because it is a critical, critical point to
protect your person against being ripped off. And that's one of the number one emails I have
received for over 31 years is can you check this invoice? They scan it and send it over to me.
And do you think I got ripped off? Well, you got to have both parties. You got to have the invoice
in the car. So I've got to be able to look the vehicle over against what's been built out on the
invoice. Sometimes I can spot some things that are just stick out to me and go mmm, mmm, eh.
I don't think so. That kind of thing. But most of the time, if I don't have the vehicle to check
against the work order, the repair order, I'm just guessing as well. I don't know if they
really took advantage or not. Did that item need to be fixed or replaced? I can't see it.
I didn't see it before. All I see is the after and did it get changed? That's the big problem right
now. So we're going to cover that in just a few moments. So hang in there. We've got the daily
weather coming up brought to us by Earl Louise Grant, husband and wife team, their car guys.
Let me tell you, I have never seen vehicles as clean as the ones that they provide you.
They're like brand new. Earl really picks them well. City auto sales and leasing provide low
mileage quality vehicles at fair prices. They sell no junk whatsoever. Their Greater Toronto
Area's premier pre-owned auto store in-house leasing and financing available. They do have a pretty
decent sized inventory, but you know what? You can't carry it all. Simple as that. So if you're
looking for something specific, connect with Earl Louise Grant. They've been in the business 25 plus
years. They have the resources to find these clean vehicles with low mileage. Let them do the legwork
for you and save you a thousand steps. You can find them on our website. Everything is there.
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They're all teaching videos. Some are short. Some are a tad bit longer. We're not doing our videos
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Conscious. I'm conscious of your time and that way you know what if it has to be a three or four
or five or six part series where they're 15 minutes each you can take a break and come back
and watch the remainder but on each video you will learn five things. What it is, where it is,
how it works, how it breaks and the fundamentals you could have learned through our videos that
would have prevented you from having to spend that money in the first place because the more you know
the more freedom and peace of mind you have when it comes to an automobile because I'll tell you
right now and I'm going to continue to harp on it is the older vehicles are better far better
and more reliable than this new stuff coming out. It's got tons of problems, tons of problems
and if you want to get tied up in that that's up to you but for me no thank you. If you parked
one in my driveway this afternoon I say would you please remove that rubbish. Thank you very much.
Yeah they're just not hanging in there there's lots of engineering problems every day I'm studying
and doing research I come across yet another another disaster vehicle more pattern failures
and these are big it's not like you know your club box lid won't stay closed kind of thing no
that's big engine transmission that's huge it's car down and the problem is
you know they got a retool to make correction and all they can do is if the engine the first
engines junk and they're going to change it and give you a new one you're getting the same thing
that came out so guess what you can expect car down again anyways let's not harp on that too long
we got stuff to cover this morning and first and foremost thank you to Earl, Earl and Louise Grant
at City Auto Sales and Leasing Greater Toronto areas premier pre-owned auto store 44 degrees
right now currently windy conditions wind is making it feel colder about 30 degrees cloudy
conditions from 5 p.m to 6 p.m with partly cloudy conditions expected at 6 p.m today's temperature
range will be from 43 to 62 degrees will feel more like because of the wind 29 degrees to 52
degrees we don't have to shovel that right yeah any of you see that that winter storm out in the
midwest two to three feet of snow e-gads man they can have it let's see if we got any precip on the
map today well possibility of 0.15 of an inch that'd be like a debit card wouldn't it possibly possibly
so that was what that's what we have yesterday we actually hit a high of 55 I think it was a little
warmer yesterday sure felt like it was beautiful it's beautiful here along the south shores of
Lake Erie all right we have to have our swiggy together so whatever your morning
beverages here's how we do it if you're joining us for the first time and we thank you to the
Greenville family at Niagara Block 5000 Montrose Road Niagara Falls building Canada since 1931
building supplies all the building supplies you can muster hardscape landscaping materials they have
a list of contractors if you don't have a contractor lined up speak to Kathy Grimo
and let her know that you're you're wanting to connect with a contractor to come out an estimate
and put that beautiful backyard space together for you whatever it is maybe you're building a
workshop a garden shed I don't know whatever your project is stop in at Niagara Block 5000 Montrose
Road Niagara Falls building Canada since 1931 I think they know how to do it don't you yeah well
here's how we do it whatever your morning beverages raise your cup we count it down three two one
and we have a swiggy together three two one
yep that's like gas in the tank
speaking of gas you getting gas pains yet at the pumps that's an e-gads man I'm telling you
85 bucks just to fill a little car I can't even consider what it would cost to fill
a minivan or one of these other trundle buggies out there the big guys
it's gotta be hard well we're gonna help you we can possibly help you but you have to participate
as soon as we taper off with this crazy temperature outside temperatures up and down
sideways back and forth and again one more lap around the mountain uh it's gonna it's going to
level out soon I'm sure we need about 60 degrees to really pull this off our 30 day fuel savings
challenge you do the work I'll be your coach guide you every day and what you need to do
to get through the 30 days and then after that we do another 30 day fuel saving challenge
which could double your savings is that of interest to you I use it myself all the time
and you know what it works and it works very well very very well yeah I'm driving a Toyota FJ
cruiser and I'm getting between 27 and 28 mpg's yeah forget this per 100 liter garbage give it to
me in freaking English thank you I'm okay now treatment's going well yes just let's not talk
about car insurance or insurance period not yet I'm not prepared mentally yet to have that discussion
and maybe we'll bring a guest in for that that would be helpful and medication
yeah fuel mmm and I don't think we're going anywhere on the downward scale for a while so the
best we can do is to do everything you possibly can to reduce your fuel cost in your automobile
and it's doable as I already said I've been running my fuel savings tips for years and years and years
and yes my FJ gets close to 30 mpg and it's not because of the rig I'm going to tell you that right
now it's not the car that's the problem I leave that with you there's a question for you what do
you think the problem is that's that's costing you a ton of fuel economy you're giving it away
and maybe not really realizing all these little things that you could be doing well if you implement
them will bring money back to your pocket and reduce your monthly fuel bill it works I'm almost
getting 30 mpgs on a big trundle buggy it's only a four liter six slugs in the hole it's a v6 four
liter it's got lots of power it does everything I need it to do but I need to do everything I can do
to let it do what it can do for you and that is save you fuel so where's the problem
it's not the vehicle in most cases it's something else so stick around for that we will jump into
that and it will take your efforts along with me coaching you to help you get to that fuel
savings to maximize the fuel economy on all the automobiles you have in the driveway exactly
so let's jump into the topic this morning brought to us by our certified financial
planning professionals Tony Miele that's how it's spelled you can find them on our website just click
on his logo in the open and Larry Teatro T E A T E R O they're my brothers from other mothers
50 years experience as fiduciaries they currently have been working many years now with IG wealth
management managing portfolios helping people retire debt putting together estate planning
if you have a checkbook and a bank account you need and kids and children yeah it's not something
you do yourself you don't go to the W store and get a $20 packet but if you read the whole thing
in the fine print it'll tell you you need an attorney to check it it's still going to cost you
you need to have an estate plan put together properly I can't tell you how many stories I know
of actual situations where that person has passed suddenly and the eyes weren't dotted
and the T's weren't crossed and it turns into an absolute nightmare for the person who is the
executor it turns into a nightmare folks don't do it don't do it to your family don't do it to
anyone make sure you have a proper airtight estate plan they arrange mortgages I haven't
had a mortgage with a bank for almost 15 years and I'm never going back to the bank period period
I'm with a credit I changed over to credit union only after my bank manager looked me in the eye
and said now I hate small businesses and another person that I knew in business was standing behind
me and he looks at me and I look at him and I we had a few words outside the door of the bank I
said I'm out of here I said that's it I used to work with the guy's brother and it was just like
I was shocked that a bank manager would say that and that's when you know what I worked for a
military instructor he was a mechanic great teacher and he he knew how to serve up discipline let me
tell you and it's helped me today and we need we all need a little more discipline and responsibility
for our actions period that's my point I got out of there and he my boss used to always say
if you don't like it quit if you can't fix it finish it but do something about it so I did I
left the banking went to credit union and you know what haven't been haven't missed going to the bank
ever they treat you like a person at the credit union that's my personal opinion and they have a
as well as the what we call the discovery meeting that's an hour and a coffee we call it and leave
your wallet and your your checkbook and your purse ladies at home they're not going to be
selling you anything this opportunity they don't need any more clients these guys I've known them
20 years they've been my my personal financial planners for 20 years these guys are amazing
there's nothing you're going to put on the table that's going to shock and awe them trust me there's
not but I'll tell you this they know how to work it so if you're drowning in debt listen to me this
morning listen pick up the phone connect and get that discovery meeting sit down and get some of
that weight off your shoulders okay just do it trust me do it connect with either Tony
or Larry arrange it by zoom meet them in person meet in a coffee shop invite them to your home
go to the boardroom but no no more excuses get your questions answered by those who have the
credential certified financial planner they deal with taxes the whole nine yards you'll never get
the kind of service that you deserve from a service advisor at a bank
they sell cookie cutter programs that's it no disrespect but they're not there that's not helping
you it's not helping you at all they don't do tax planning they don't listen to all your struggles
they don't listen they can't do anything outside of selling you did you want gravy on those fries
that's what i'm talking about an automotive apprentice is not a certified licensed technician
they're in training so you need to meet with someone who has the CFP credentials certified
financial planners they can help you they can put together a game plan because i know a lot of you
out there are struggling and you're not in you're not the only one in the canoe okay just so you know
i know that's a bit of a long introduction but i hear these conversations where i traveled
yesterday i'm traveling and getting things organized for the next step for us and you hear
these conversations people are struggling they're in over their heads you got to sit down and get
some help and it's not going to come from your neighbor your co-worker everybody else
can solve everybody else's problems except their own it's true it's absolutely true so what does
this mean what about the ro well around 2001 is that right yeah i guess that would be around
yeah just after the turn the millennium 2000 yeah 2001 was uh when i had to close the shop because
our automotive shop in the hamilton mountain because a man i damaged my back really bad
lifting some carpet of all things blew out some discs yeah it was an interesting period of time
for about a year and a half and uh i wrote out my lease there because they wouldn't let us out of it
so i had to hire someone to come in and every day and move cars around because i could hardly get
out in and out of a car it would take about 20 minutes and if i got down on my knees i couldn't
get back up it was just over so anyways that's a story for another day but having uh taking the job
with a major european car manufacturer let me tell you i learned a lot behind the curtain
and i haven't even begun to share even a fraction of what i learned and how things work
at a dealership so i i put myself in a pitch position as a mole and i did my job but i learned
what i i i learned what i always wanted to find out was the nuts and bolts between the car manufacturers
and the selling dealers and any of the politicking going on uh on both parties i learned i became a
very good player and thank goodness for that because me going in there and doing that and
they worked me 80 plus hours a week yeah exactly i made the money and they wouldn't cut me any time off
sick days vacation nothing i couldn't even leave the dealership to have lunch
it would cause a major problem yeah in the upper echelon the elites but anyways
i got sent to a course on how and just think about this i probably i probably have written like
almost a million repair orders not only in my own shop over the course of you know we were
we were in business in 1990 early 91 and made it to almost halfway into 2001
i wrote a we wrote a lot of work orders call it a work order the actual term for it is
ro repair order so they sent me off to ro school it was uh around four days of grilling because
if the ro is not filled out appropriately and it is a warranty claim for a customer the warranty
claim will get kicked back and it'll say uh something like unacceptable um incomplete information
so they don't tell you exactly what's incomplete why because you should know
that it's incomplete just by looking at it so then you got to go through that ro
and make sure every what got missed uh part of a description and four things have to be covered
on every ro for every sequence so if you go into the shop first of all let's start at the top of
ro the repair order customer's name address contact number email smoke screen pigeon whatever
how do we get in touch with you yeah is it one big cloud two short ones i don't know
but that information has to be there so customer's address postal code contact information next
the vehicle the vinn number the plate number the make the model in the year
intake mileage the vehicles arrived for service the arrival
mileage must be in that intake box so it's that usually says in yeah that's pretty easy right
it's the out part that can wreck the whole ordeal
we need after all the repairs have been done there's a very important sequence
that has to be followed and here it is so if you have five items of concern on your vehicle that
you're bringing to the service desk and handing the keys in it's important to make sure and this
tell you what there's a lot of lazy service advisors out there they cut things they cut corners
and it's not a good idea because it leaves them open and it leaves you open if things go awry
documentation accurate documentation is the only thing you're going to have to present
it to whomever if the information is not accurate and complete guess what out the door it goes
it works exactly the same way for a warranty claim at the dealership the warning clerk has
to make sure the service advisor advisors and the service mangler have to make sure
that every work order is filled out with accuracy so if you have sequence one is an oil change
service you pick whichever one it is you want you make sure all the details are in there
oh i'd like my tires rotated that's sequence number two okay
can you check my brakes sequence number three
i'm hearing a noise somewhere under the hood when the car is cold sequence number four
are you following me that's how it should all appear on the repair order not sequence one blah
blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah all in one no each operation becomes a sequence
on that work order why because you want the particulars on each sequence if they found
something during the oil change they can record it there and give it to the service advisor
come to the window service window and the service advisor let and the tech lets the service advisor
he's working with no there are some complications you're probably going to need to get in touch
with the customer those items if you choose to have them done will become another sequence
sequence number five and all those things that you've you've authorized through the phone
or by zoom whatever it may be goes there in sequence number five and that's where the
advisor should write customer authorize these repairs and put a date and sign and print
that's what the service advisor is to do record that information so here's where it all goes
awry first of all they now have computer programming where the if they're using a
really good program certain sequences like oil changes tire rotations uh some some of the basic
stuff had already has a description that they just have to click and insert it into the ro
but that's not the case with other stuff there needs to be details put into each and every
one of those sequences period so how does that get inputted through the service advisor so we
here's what we don't want to see service transmission the labor and the parts no
description well what did they do well they service the transmission well really what did they do
there needs to be a description of the service that was performed in that sequence
no details there's no report there's nothing to report the worst one i ever saw was a bill for
like almost six thousand dollars and here's what it said on the on the late on the part side was
an engine well did the engine need coolant oil fluids belts hoses spark plugs whatever
was enlisted just one used engine and a total didn't show anything broken down not a thing
all the additionals there's always incidentals by the way when you're changing an engine out
there always is this broke off that isn't any good we need to change this hose there's always
something incidentals that needs to be recorded so then i look at the work order on the labor side
here's all it said remove and replace engine the total is like 5800 and change in the bottom
right hand corner okay well where's the details on that remove and replace engine you understand
where i'm coming from that is a real record i i read that work order was given to me
by a listener way back many years ago do you think i got ripped off i go i got nothing to go with
here this is a this is the worst repair order i've ever seen in my life and there wasn't any
in mileage or out mileage indicating what you know what the purpose of the out mileage is
get ready the force the four c's this is how a repair order has to come together to put in a
warranty claim this is how a repair order needs to be put together to protect you from being ripped
off that's why i'm spending some time on this i get that all the time a scanned invoice do you
think i got ripped off well i i don't know i didn't have the car in front of me all i can do is look
down the list and go does that all make sense i don't know it's an idk i can guess but i can't
really say for sure put my finger on it unless i saw the vehicle a before the work was done
after the work is done all i can look at is making sure that everything's put back the way it should
be and that the work actually got done because that's a big problem today we're going to talk
about that in a few minutes out mileage if there's no out mileage then here's what didn't happen
concern cause correction confirmation the confirmation is a road test folks
so if it came in with a mileage and it needed to be road tested to verify the repair work
and there's no out mileage was it road tested it's an idk i don't know
that's how warranty looks at it too if there's no out mileage then it wasn't confirmed that you
repaired it the four c's didn't get covered concern cause correction confirmation period
i listened to that for four days we actually had to fill out our rows by hand not on a computer
by hand and hand it in and get it for it to be checked and you wouldn't believe how many people
still would not fill it out correctly so concern write these down or relist it you need to make
sure that for every sequence what has been followed diagnosis first of first all is the sequence
uh concern what is the customer's concern determining the cause that's diagnostic time
you only allow them one hour and you make sure that goes right on the workload or
diagnostic time if you don't want the five o'clock surprise folks this is the only way you're going
to do it if you don't want to what i thought it was going to be 400 bucks 850 bucks what happened
what happening here communication that's what happens if you don't take charge of dropping
your vehicle off and making sure that the details are recorded it's on you not on them it's on you
and standing in front of that person claiming you've been ripped off if the prepare order is
not in order and it's not the information is not recorded properly it's on you folks that's what
i'm trying to say it's on you you can't point your finger at somebody else you didn't make sure
that that person recorded your information correctly sequence one that is a concern
it needs an oil change service but the service lights on sequence two
diag time gotta get to a cause well what's the cause
only authorize one hour on that sequence i'm authorizing one hour of diagnostic time and
then a follow-up by either phone email text zoom whatever you tell them is the best way to connect
with you you sign it you print your name you date it and even go one step further and put the time
right there next to that sequence now you're protected so in it you know in one hour when
they get to that diagnostic sequence they've got to get to the cause so concern cause
correction and what's the final one confirmation they got to drive it road test it to make sure
it's fixed so there should be an out mileage on that vehicle even if the tech just drove it in the
parking lot there's still an out mileage period you're going to be some kind of movement on the
odometer unless he put the vehicle on his back and carried it in and out of the shop and that's
what was drilled into our heads if it didn't need to go for a road test for whatever reason
and warranty always paid 0.6 on a road test half a little over half an hour 0.6 so if there's no
out mileage you can't claim a road test so if if the tech really did road test it but there's no
out mileage it really didn't get road tested following me you're not going to get paid for it's over
yeah you can't go oh we forgot to put the mileage on there and then you just make up a mileage
nope not going to fly you're done that's not that text time is not going to be covered
so you've got to remember for every sequence I hear a rattle at the back of the vehicle
okay that's a concern that's another sequence okay cause we don't know yet so there's going to be
some diagnostic time okay so there's going to be dyag time cause getting to what is the component
that's failing or has failed or is working on failing and what needs to be replaced so concern
cause correction confirmation the four C's need to be covered on that repair order to protect
you and why repair shops wouldn't want to protect themselves and make sure that the
RO is filled out properly I don't have that answer for you it's just tardiness that's what it is
laziness call it what you want just brush them in get them in get them out get paid
that won't protect you you have to protect you and it starts with the repair order making sure
that that service advisor is recording your request properly period and again when it comes
to diagnostic time you give them one hour and you make sure you lock it down and it's written
right on the work order customer authorizes one hour of diagnostic time requires a follow-up
by email phone zoom whatever it is and then you sign it sign and print your name put the date
and put the time right beside it when that conversation happened now should something
go awry and you get there at the end of the day and they go oh it's all you know they call you
and they go yeah yeah we checked it over it's all taken care of but what they haven't told you is
they're going to bill you four and a half hours when you want on the authorized one hour following
me I hope so I'm here to help you I'm not here to hurt you so you get there to pay your bill
and now all of a sudden you you authorized one hour of diagnostic time but they've
billed you four and a half hours and they fixed it this is happening all the time
and stuff that's not even being replaced but you're getting billed for it you got it the last part
I'm going to share with you is please ask questions ask questions don't be shy don't think that they're
you know the well what are they going to think when I'm asking questions you're asking questions
ask questions if you're not understanding what they're telling you say I'm not understanding
what you're telling me can you break it down a little in simpler terms and that's the whole purpose
of our youtube channel is to teach you this stuff teach you the basics the basic fundamentals are
owning and operating an automobile you don't need to be a service tech you don't have to sign up for
a course you're going to learn five things simple what it is where it is how it works how it breaks
and what could you have understood better about your automobile to prevent that damage
from happening in the future the more you learn the less you get ripped off out there and it is
wicked right now the stuff I'm seeing the stuff I'm hearing is incredible but it's a sign of the
times I've been through this type of economy twice before yeah we opened our shop during the last
recession and my business mentors say if you can survive this one year under this economy
you can survive anything and we did we did survive but my back did not that was an
unforeseen so when it comes to a repair order I'm going to say this again you're in the driver's
it's all on your head not the shop if the information is not being recorded properly
you're dropping the car off not the shop dropping it off you're dropping it off for repairs
secondly if you can't trust that service center you're taking your car to then you're in the wrong
place period you need to find another repair shop you need to ask around ask people at work at church
at your lady's group whatever ask around who do you know that's all you gotta ask who do you know
where do you go has it been good there they treat you all right they don't rip you off
but if you're going somewhere and I'll tell you right now the big chain stores they're paid the
guys are paid flat rate plus commission and they have to upsell they're told what they need to sell
so if your vehicle doesn't need shocks and struts they're gonna push it if your vehicle doesn't
really need a set of tires they're gonna try and sell it and I think it's a disgusting part of
the trade but it's still around it's still with us it's not changing anytime soon but
you're gonna have to be extra sharp if that's where you're taking your vehicle you're gonna have to
be super duper sharp because the guys get paid flat rate plus commission and if they're not selling
stuff out the door they go it's a corporate world for them I never agreed with that for many many
many years and now it's it's a bono contention again in 2026 you know Ford's got a huge problem
yeah 22 service bays and no tax vehicles sitting no tax to do the job but you can't be paying
telling people that they're making 160 thousand dollars a year when they're actually only making
24 thousand dollars a year on flat rate that's the truth so that's why they don't have any tax
I wouldn't even consider going on somebody's shop floor for 24 bucks an hour when I've got
150 thousand dollars of tools I bought out of my pocket even before I opened my own shop I had
you gotta buy your own tools as a tech you don't get to write them off because you're not a business
you're a service tech you use your tools to make them money that's right that's how it works a lot
of people don't get this the technician side but now they're starting to wake up because
the young generation does not want to get into the business they don't want to get their hands
dirty they don't want to do the slug work they don't want to do it so now there's a problem
getting tax but I I say that to say be careful where you're going to have its service if you if
you walk away out the door and you got questions did he really check my spec my spare tire to make
sure that there's air in it did he really check my fluids if those are little things those are
just little things that I've heard over the years what I'm sharing with you is what I've been entertained
with for 31 years being on radio and now you have even more ways to watch and listen and engage
with a fully licensed automotive service tech for free I don't know where else you can get that to
be honest with you because if you want to ask a tech you got to pay online ask the tech cha-ching
I'm here for free and I just paid my licenses again they were due April 1st all looked after
so I'm I'm in I got my stickers where they need to be and I'm I'm working still and working in the
trade very much so so repair order it's all on you secondly if you're always thinking of wondering
if you've been ripped off at the shop you're taking your car too then it's time to really look around
it really really is shoot me an email let me know where you are and I have lots of connections
in the trade I can point your compass needle in that direction we're right now focusing on rebuilding
our car connection business network we had lots of businesses as referral businesses and all walks
of life and through the COVID campaign it wiped 90% of it out and it was a good thing it was a
really cool thing we had going since 07 and people were really benefiting from it and then
towards the end what was great was the referral businesses on the business network were giving
each other business so B2B was happening and that's what I always wanted to see happen was
businesses doing business with businesses with businesses that are in the car connection
business network so pray for us that's what I'm working on right now is I really want to revamp
that and bring it back to life so that you may not be in my area or in somebody else's area we
can start building another car connection business network where I vet the businesses myself I don't
care about their their money to pay for the advertising what I care about more so is that we
have a vetted business that I can put my stamp of approval on because I have turned down some amazing
offers over the years but there's no way I could put myself in that position because I couldn't
endorse it I couldn't if I can't endorse the products or the services I'm not in I will not
compromise myself for anything or anyone period so till tomorrow study your RO next time you drop
your car off and you watch what happens you watch what happens how much information is not on your
repair order you need to make sure you correct that person and say no this is sequence number three
when you say the if say the term sequence they're going to know you know something
that's going to be a little tell you say oh no no no I want that on a separate sequence
oh a separate sequence you say exactly I hope you got something out of that share it with your
family your friends get them involved in our online community get them involved in our youtube
channel it's designed for all age groups single moms widows orphans children's young adults it's
designed to teach you the fundamentals the basic fundamentals that would protect you
for years to come we'll see you tomorrow have a happy thursday we've almost made it to the weekend
don't forget about fun friday and q and a saturdays one hour I pick three questions that are emailed in
and we cover those three questions in details and it usually takes takes up the hour so if you
have an automotive related question don't be shy it's motormouth dot jankins at gmail.com just as
it sounds motormouth all one word motormouth dot jankins j-e-n-k-i-n-s at gmail.com I always try
and remember in the descriptions of our youtube videos and podcasts I write them myself and I
I'll tell you right now I put a lot of detail into those descriptions that you probably won't
even heard me talk about on this podcast and it can help you even more so take the time to read
the descriptions I always try and make sure I put one of my email addresses into the description
box so you could connect but just the same you'll always see the link for our car connection
businessnetwork.com website everything that you need to connect is on the home page that's all you
got to do get to the home page and you're on your way so making a fabulous thursday drive safe out
there keep it under 100 happy healthy motoring peace patience and kindness friends we'll see
tomorrow morning for another edition of motormouth's morning drive bye for now
About this episode
A wide-ranging shop-floor talk that zeroes in on how repair orders (ROs) can protect you—or leave you exposed. The host explains what to verify on an invoice/RO, why missing details can trigger warranty claim kickbacks, and the “four C’s” framework: concern, cause, correction, confirmation (including out-mileage/road test). He also warns against vague line items, sloppy documentation, and upsell-driven chain shops. Fuel-saving tips and a plug for estate planning/financial help round out the show.
For. 31 years on air, the number one question hasn't changed: "Do you think I got ripped off?"
They send over the invoice...and it's incomplete, unclear, missing details-and right there, the case falls apart before it even starts.
In this episode, we break down the repair order (RO) for what it really is: your only protection when dealing with any repair shop. If the details aren't there-customer concerns, vehicle info, mileage, authorization - you don't have proof. And without proof, you don't have a leg to stand on.
A shop should document everything-but it's your responsibility to make sure they do before you sign and hand over the keys.
As Motormouth says: if it's not written down, it didn't happen.
This episode will show you how to protect yourself, avoid costly mistakes, and make sure you're not left holding the bill with no backup.
Because it's done wrong...you're finished before you even get started.
" They don't put locks on things to keep people out...they put them there to keep honest people honest. Your repair order? That's your lock. Don't leave it open."
Merchandise available at ccbusnet.com our online store, grab some Motormouth gear, join our fight to help those struggling with addiction break free! Proceeds to Total Freedom Addiction Campuses Canada & USA where a new Life awaits those struggling with addiction.. Thank You Friends, You Rock! Skippy & Motormouth.
More Episodes and....project Details & Links are available at Car Connection Business Network.com (ccbusnet.com) you'll find everything on our homepage if you'd like to follow the build & Repair work & connect with our program partners, Thank You for supporting them with. your business. Nile Motormouth Jenkins.
Help our Platforms to grow by: Keeps our engine running smoothly! Skippy & Motormouth
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