HOW I SEE IT: The politics of better auto repair

By: Steven James Redlon, Culpeper | Culpeper Star-Exponent
Published: September 15, 2009

Mechanics, the little bundles of joy that devote their lives to keeping your vehicle running, are becoming disenfranchised and extremely burned out at an alarming rate.

The politically correct term is actually automotive technician, but as one myself, I still cannot figure out the difference. Whatever the preferred method of terminology is, the politics of the trade have a few drawbacks. Here is what I propose to make the industry better for both consumer and automotive professional.

Consumer education: In the world of business, it is written that the customer is always right. Although I refer to this as more of a guideline, the automotive consumer is often left in a state of shock when he or she gets a repair estimate. Technology is not cheap, and as our cars become more complex, the costs of diagnosis and repair will have to increase to keep up with the technical demands of finding a fix for the problem. The technician is not at fault for this; he is not the one making the cars.

Flat Rate: The flat-rate pay scale dates all the way back to the war factories. Pretend you go to work for 10 hours a day and you pick oranges. You get 25 cents for each orange you pick.

Obviously the more oranges you pick, the more money you make. Technicians’ salaries work the same way. Although technicians get paid a lot more than 25 cents, the more hours they turn, the more money they make. The problem with this is that warranty times do not pay what they should; flat rate is one of the leading causes of shop turnover, causes turmoil among fellow colleagues and promotes fraud. It is an old-fashioned pay scale that, based on today’s high cost of living, no longer works in a modern society.

Hurry up: I do not know what school the office girl went to who schedules appointments, but when you have one service bay to work out of and five waiters, the math is not hard to figure out. This practice only infuriates customers; it does not help in auto dealer/customer relations. Also, speed does not fix cars — proper diagnostic and installation procedures do. This is where communication skills become an asset.

The car business is a people business; let’s make it better.