Automotive Dealership Service Explained. Next Episode: Why I left.

Hello, This is Shane again and today I will be explaining the workings of an average Automotive Service department, with concentration on the Mechanic, or Technician position. That will be followed up with another post, once you have an understanding of how things work of what happened that caused so many people including myself to leave.

Almost every position at a Dealership is payed based of off sales, and/or performance. Very few employees make a simple hourly wage.

-Car salesmen are paid based on number of vehicles sold, and profit made on the sale of each vehicle with used cars being far more lucrative due to the higher profit margin. This gets more complicated and includes extended warranties, GAP coverage, and financing.

The service department is usually comprised of a Service Manager, one or more Service writers, and the Technicians.

-Service Managers are generally paid off of bottom line gross profits for the department, they are responsible for Customer service above the Writers, they are the "Who's your boss!!" Also generally manage and over see the shop with the help of a lead tech, or shop foreman.

-Service writers are paid a lot of different ways, but the most common is based off of labor hours sold, and an unfair system called CSI or Customer Service Indicator which is a score created by Surveys. Have you ever had an oil change and then a few days later receive an E-mail asking you to take a survey? A list of questions basically all saying rate us on a 1-10 scale with a few yes or no questions. Basically if even one question is below a 10 or you answer no to even one question, it's considered a failed survey. People who do not know will be honest on these surveys, and unknowingly potentially cost you your bonus, which at some dealers equals half or more of your pay.

-Service Technicians are paid an hourly rate, but it's what is called flag time. Basically, each repair GENERALLY has a preset time it normally takes to complete, whether it's under factory warranty or customer pay. I'll have an example after this. It is quite possible for a good technician to work a 40 hour week and make 60+ hours in pay.

Example:
-A VW owner brings in their 2014 Tiguan with the 2.0L Turbo engine and 75,000 miles. Upon arrival at the dealership the Service writer would greet you, ask what services or concerns you are there for today.
-Customer states Coolant warning light keeps coming on and they have to keep adding coolant/water to the vehicle.
-Then a visual walk around of the vehicle is performed where any pre-existing damage is noted, mileage is recorded and maybe more depending on the dealer.
-You sign the sheet saying you accept the dealer working on the vehicle to perform the above services or diagnostics. (You also agree to a one hour diagnostic charge if you decline repairs after diagnostics are completed.)
-The technician gets assigned the ticket and brings the vehicle into the bay where a full inspection is performed, and in this case a cooling system pressure test and visual inspection for leaks is performed. They find that the water pump seal has failed and has caused a leak.
-In 2014 the VW warranty for powertrain which does include the water pump was 5 Years 60,000 miles. So this repair is outside of the factory warranty and is either customer pay, or if the customer bought a policy, extended warranty (And all repairs are at the discretion of the Extended warranty company and can be rejected).
-They go to parts and quote a water pump and other necessary parts to perform the repair, and quote time, in this case the water pump job is sold at 4 hours of labor.
-The Service writer gets the quote, and adds up the parts cost and the labor cost, gets a total and contacts the customer to sell the job. Any other issues or concerns found during the inspection are also mentioned, and possibly quoted for repair. Repairs, and if known, the causes for the repairs are explained.

A moment real quick, a lot of people complain about this part. "They quoted me to fix my concern, but then the A-holes quoted me all this other work! The repair I came in for was expensive enough!" I saw this on several many surveys, and it has a very simple answer. If I do not inspect, report, and quote everything, when you leave and something else fails, I as the technician am at fault for having just had your vehicle. If I inform you, and you decline the repair then the fault is totally on you. Such as, by LAW tires with a tread of 4/32nds or less have to be quoted for replacement as a safety issue. If I fail to do that, there is legal precedent from previous cases where a vehicle left a repair shop, had a tire blow out that resulted in a fatality. This led to a civil suit, and the repair shop lost a large sum of money, the tech lost his job, and so on. I can't afford all that, so I quote everything and write a detailed description.

• At this point the customer approves or declines the repair. Approval means we proceed, declining means they have to pay a basic diagnostic fee of one hour labor to cover my time spent diagnosing. This is to protect us from customers having us find the problem, taking the car and trying to fix it themselves.
  -Once approved the work is performed, and quality checked, which means the leak is fixed, the coolant is filled to the appropriate level, and the water pump operates properly and the engine does not overheat.
  -Now the technician is paid 4 hours for this job, whether it took them 2 hours, or 6 hours to complete. Whoa hold up! Labor rate is $120-150 depending on the shop, so why did you just potentially pay around $600 for something that took half that amount of time?!? So, factors including skill, experience, and owning the right tools all come into play here. This is also one of the few attractive traits of being a mechanic these days. It's hard work, your hands and body take a beating, the equipment is ungodly expensive, and if you're good this is really the only reward in all of it to ever even consider doing this to make a living.

This job paid a lot of people. The parts department, the technician, the writer, and the service manager all get a piece with whats left going as profit to the service department budget.

Now there is a term in the industry called "Gravy work". This is the stuff that is easy or unnecessary to diagnose, including major services, some common repairs, and certifying used cars (Certified Pre-owned inspections). Where I worked for instance a 40,000 mile service on most vehicles included an oil change, tire rotation, replacing the Air, Fuel, and Pollen filters, Spark Plugs (Except Diesel) and a full inspection. It paid 2 hours labor and took roughly 45 minutes to an hour without rushing, and generally wasn't anything difficult or back breaking. This work is what helps a technician fill out his pay check, instead of only ever having heavy jobs like engine overhauls or replacement, electrical diagnosis and repair. It's essentially the fluff between tough stuff.

Now the vehicle is repaired, all work performed is recorded and saved in a story which is printed on the work order, which is saved in the server, and a copy given to the customer. Several days after the customer leaves with the vehicle they are generally contacted by phone or E-mail to see if everything is still operating properly or if there are any other concerns.

If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to leave them. I'll answer what I can and ask you to understand this isn't a 100% description. This is more of setting a quick education so in my next chapter when I explain the dysfunction of my previous job (Names and locations withheld of course) the people who actually read my post will have an idea what the hell I'm ranting about. Also I like to offer the opportunity to answer any questions, having been a VW technician for the past 3 years. And No, I do not know shit about older VW's. I worked at a dealership and 2004 was the oldest vehicle we would even dare touch.