Ole: (strutting into the local café wearing his best flannel) Yah, Sven, I have an appointment today at dis fancy auto shop in Albert Lea. I called ahead, told ‘em I’m Ole Gunderson, a big-time farmer from Kiester. Dey gotta roll out da red carpet for me, you betcha!
Sven: (laughing) Oh, yah, Ole? You tink da auto shop is gonna treat you like some kinda Viking king? Dey’re fixin’ cars, not servin’ lutefisk!
Ole: (puffing out his chest) Sven, I got da premium oil change package! I read it on da internet - $99.95 for the “Platinum Elite Service.” Dat means I get the works: free coffee, a shinned up truck, and maybe even a foot massage while dey change my oil!
Sven: (still laughing) Foot massage? Ole, you been eatin’ too much pickled herring. Dey’ll probably just hand you a stale donut and tell you to sit in da watin’ room with last year’s Field & Stream magazine.
Ole: (waving his hand) Nah, Sven. I told ‘em I’m a loyal customer. Well, okay, dis is my first time here, but I mentioned my cousin Lars who got his snowplow fixed there last winter. Dat’s gotta count for somthin’!
(Ole pulls right up to the big shop door and honks his horn. Nobody responds right away, so he honks again. A gruff mechanic wipes his hands on a rag while walking up to Ole’s window and tells him to pull around to the front door and talk to Normandy. Before Ole could respond, the mechanic turns around and gets back to work.) (Ole pulls around front, parks, and heads inside to the front counter and finds, Normandy, a mountain of a man waiting for him.)
Normandy: Good afternoon, you must be Mr. Gunderson? What can I do for you today?
Ole: (grinning wide) Yah, dat’s me, Ole Gunderson! I’m here for da Platinum Elite Service, Norm. You got my complimentary coffee ready? Maybe one of dem fancy lattes?
Normandy: (raising an eyebrow and laughing) Latte? There’s a hot pot of premium Folgers in the corner and if you’re lucky there might be a few creamer cups there too. Help yourself. My note says you would like an oil change and you said “Your brakes are squealin’ like a pig in a snowstorm.” That’s going to take several hours.
Ole: (looking deflated) A couple of hours? But I got da premium package! Don’t I get, like, a VIP lounge or somethin’? Maybe a foot massage and a free truck wash while I wait?
Normandy: (snorting) VIP lounge? This ain’t the Ritz, Mr. Gunderson. I have just the one waiting room with a TV that might be playing some Perry Mason reruns. A truck wash will cost you an extra $20 and the shop dog might lick your toes if you're lucky.
Ole: (fully deflated now) Uff da, $20 more? I thought da Platinum Elite Service included everythin’! What’s so elite about it?
Normandy: The Platinum Elite Service includes full synthetic oil, tire rotation, and a visual inspection. Nothing more, sign here and I’ll get the guys started on your truck.
(Ole slumps into a chair, sipping strong overcooked coffee from a Styrofoam cup. He calls Sven on his flip phone.)
Ole: Sven, you was right. No red carpet, no latte, no nothin’! Just a chair in the corner of the office of a mountin’ of a man that looks like he wrestles bears for fun. Dey’re chargin’ me $120 now ‘cause my air filter’s dirtier that Uncle Olaf’s barn!
Sven: (laughing) Told ya, Ole! You thought you’d be sippin’ cappuccinos while dey polished your hubcaps. Dis is Minnesota, not California. Next time call them and see what’s included in da service packages!
Ole: (grumbling) Yah, well, at least I got dis free coffee. It tastes like burnt toast, but it’s free. Maybe I’ll ask Lena to knit me a VIP badge for next time.
Sven: (still laughing) Good luck with dat, Ole. Tell Normandy to check your muffler too- it’s louder than your snorin’ at church on Sunday!
(Ole hangs up, sighs, and flips open a crumpled Outdoor Life magazine from 2007, muttering “Uff da” under his breath.)
What do you expect when you bring your vehicle into the shop for service? Are your expectations aligned with the reality of what it takes to maintain and repair your vehicle? Do you know how to identify the differences between shops and what to expect from those facilities? Let’s jump right in and see if we can help turn you into the smartest one in the room.
Quick Lube vs Breakdown Repairs vs Maintenance and Repair
Quick Lubes
Many people think that changing their engine oil is all that’s required to keep their car in reliable working order and seek out a quick lube facility. Quick lubes specialize in 7-10 minute services and don’t require an appointment. On the surface, they seem like a convenient option for vehicle maintenance. Their business model is to focus on short service times and quick vehicle inspections. They are great at identifying and selling easily changed filters, wipers, and quickly serviced fluids, and are staffed with minimally trained service technicians. A vehicle that is only serviced at a quick lube would be considered neglected from a proper maintenance perspective, and they are not the best choice for maintaining the long-term reliability of your vehicle.
Breakdown Repairs
Following the adage, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” Breakdown repair is when you wait for something to fail before servicing or repairing anything. There are repair facilities out there that specialize in this and wait until there is an obvious problem before talking to the customer. Even if they do a decent job inspecting the vehicle, if they don’t communicate the details of the inspections with you, how can you be expected to make informed decisions about your vehicle’s maintenance and repair. Waiting until something fails before repairing it might save you some money in the short term but costs you significantly more in the long term. For instance, an automatic transmission fluid service can run anywhere from $200-800 depending on the fluid and transmission design, but replacing an automatic transmission can sometimes exceed $8000. Unfortunately, there are a significant number of dealerships that fall under this category. Waiting until something fails is a costly and inefficient way to keep your vehicle on the road.
Maintenance and Repair
A quality maintenance and repair facility will provide you with thorough and complete vehicle inspections. They will take the time to review your vehicle service history and the manufacturer's maintenance requirements to create a recommended maintenance plan specifically tailored to your vehicle. Identifying potential problem areas before they lead to a major breakdown. Proper maintenance can’t fully eliminate the need for the occasional large repair, but it can greatly reduce the collateral damage associated with ignoring problems as they occur, leading to a major breakdown. A properly maintained and repaired vehicle can provide many years of reliable and efficient service; sometimes spanning several generations.
Now that we have identified three different kinds of shops and maintenance types, I’m going to zero in on what the customer service experience is likely to be specifically for the maintenance and repair facility. Since that is what provides you with the most reliable vehicle in the grand scheme of things. Let’s see if your customer service expectations line up with what it actually takes to properly maintain your vehicle.
Oil Changes
- Allow for about an hour for quality service and inspection.
- Includes a thorough visual vehicle inspection with pictures/video.
- Inspection will be shared with you via email, text, or in printed form.
- The Service Advisor will review your inspection, vehicle service history, and factory maintenance schedule to present you with the overall health of your vehicle and make any recommendations for maintenance and/or repair.
Maintenance Services
- Any service that is done to prolong the life of your vehicle.
- Fluid exchanges are important to maintaining the reliability of your vehicle.
- Can include replacement of parts like timing belts and water pumps.
- Tune-ups are still a vital part of maintaining the efficiency of your vehicle.
- Regular maintenance ensures that your vehicle will be ready to go when you need it the most.
Testing and Inspection
- Quality inspections are critical to maintaining the reliability of your vehicle.
- Experienced and qualified technicians can identify the intricacies of complex automotive systems and known problem areas often overlooked by inexperienced technicians.
- Early detection of problem areas will save you money and time.
- It is important to test, not guess.
Repair Services
- Access to proper repair information and specifications is key to consistent and quality vehicle repair.
- Access to quality parts in a timely manner is another piece of the puzzle.
- The final piece is seasoned and qualified service technicians to complete the repairs properly and professionally.
Tires and Alignment
- Knowing how to match the properly designed and quality tire for the customer’s intended use and vehicle design ensures the best overall vehicle performance.
- Understanding how the vehicle wheel alignment changes affect vehicle ADAS. (Advanced Driver Assistance Systems)
- Possessing the proper equipment and knowledge to adjust ADAS.
ASE Certifications
- Automotive Service Excellence certifications are voluntary tests to ascertain and evaluate the skills of an Automotive Technician.
- Require a minimum of two years of field experience and successful completion of specific tests to be validated and require recertification every five years to maintain those certifications.
- Automotive repair has a total of 8 standard certifications and 4 advanced level certifications.
- Completion of the 8 standard certifications is required to reach the level of Master Automotive Service Technician.
- Quality repair locations will have ASE Certified Repair Technicians.
Warranty
- Professional repair facilities will stand behind their work and offer a parts and labor warranty.
The final consideration when bringing your vehicle to a quality maintenance and repair facility is time. It takes time to properly inspect a vehicle; it takes time to review your service history and inspection; and it takes time to complete quality service and repair. For example, let’s say you schedule a 10:00 AM drop off to change your oil. As stated above, an oil change and inspection usually take about an hour. In your mind, your vehicle should be ready for pickup at 11:00 AM. In reality, unless the shop has separate staff and space dedicated solely to oil change services, then your vehicle service will be blended into the current shop flow. Meaning, vehicles already on the hoist or that are in the process of being actively repaired will likely have priority over your 10:00 oil change reservation. Quality maintenance and repair facilities are likely to be consistently busy, and their staff of service technicians will be working on a variety of vehicles. Let me ask you this question for your consideration. Would you rather have your vehicle inspected and your oil changed by an entry level technician or an experienced service technician? Your access to an experienced technician may take longer, but it is worth the extra time. So, what should be your expectations as a customer? Typically, the goal of most shops is same day service for oil changes and light maintenance. Meaning whether you have a 9:00 AM or an 11:00 AM drop off reservation, the chances are high that either car might not be ready until late in the day. It’s just the nature of the automotive repair industry. There are always uncontrollable factors that contribute to delayed completion times. Securing the correct parts, repair challenges due to age, wear, and rust, time sensitive repairs of other vehicles, and complexity of the vehicle designs can cause such delays. Many professional shops offer options to help minimize the inconvenience of automotive repair, like free shuttle services, loaner cars, and pick-up and delivery services.
Ways to maximize the efficiency when your vehicle is at the shop
- Schedule your service drop off time to begin when the shop opens for service.
- If you need your vehicle back by a certain time, communicate that expectation when you make the initial drop off reservation and again when your vehicle arrives for service.
- If possible, drop your vehicle off the day before your scheduled time. The vehicle sitting in the lot is likely to be the first one in the building that day.
- Take the time to clearly communicate each concern you would like to have looked at. The better the details about what the vehicle is doing when a problem occurs, the faster the technician will be able to isolate the cause of the problem.
- Let the shop know about your transportation needs while your vehicle is in for service. They understand how inconvenient it is to be without a vehicle and usually have options available to help you out.
- The reward for patience is quality service and repair. Rushed repairs lead to oversights and mistakes.
A vehicle that has been taken care of and regularly serviced by a quality facility, like Sanderson Auto Repair, will be reliable, efficient, and a joy to drive for many years to come. Working together, we can minimize your downtime and increase your joy of ownership in what is likely one of the most expensive investments of your life. That sweet ride of freedom you get to enjoy every day.
Aaron Bjorklund
