Tag: auto technicians

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Episode 160: The Games We Play

On this week’s Grease the Wheels, Uncle Jimmy reimagines some popular games to be more on brand with technicians and people who fix things for a living. There’s probably a good 2/3rds of you reading this right now who are playing “Trash Jenga” (we want to see who has the tallest!) but what other games are out there? From the classics: “Battleship”, “Operation” and “Monopoly” we get to imagine the ultimate pick and pull and come face to face with some of the harsh realities of the industry.

Thankfully though there are games like Cards Against Humanity, that allow normal people a brief window into normal everyday shop talk! We also come up with some genuine originals that are going to be a massive hit at your next party such as “F*** That Car!” Finally, we wrap it all up with a fairly serious dive into media portrayal/consumption and branding entire occupations, in regards to a possible solution to the massive technician shortage.

Also Uncle Jimmy has very clearly never played Risk.

This episode is distributed by The Wrenching Network. Whether you’re a technician, a mechanic, or someone who just loves the car scene, The Wrenching Network is a place that you have to check out. They have all sorts of great content, gear, and snacks to keep you turning wrenches in whatever capacity you do it. Also if you see us over there, make sure you say hi and leave a comment with what you think about the episode!

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Episode 149: Won’t Get Fooled Again

On this week’s episode of Grease the Wheels we give you some of the right tools for, well, greasing the wheels! Right now people are looking for jobs in tons of different industries, but in our case the tables are tilted a bit more in our favor because of the technician shortage. No employer is going to advertise the things about their shop that sucks, so it is up to you to find it out. Sometimes you get to find it out the easy way by looking around at a shop full of broken equipment that is half falling down and the techs are pushing cars into the shop by hand.

Sometimes it is a bit harder to spot, but rest assured every shop has things that make it an awesome place to work too. Traditionally interviews are mostly the person doing the hiring asking the questions of the people being hired, however the crippling technician shortage has actually made it so that technicians can be a bit pickier about where they are going to work. The goal at the end of the day is to work somewhere where you can be fulfilled, deal with the least amount of headaches.

So listen to your Uncle Jimmy and don’t get fooled again. Ask the right questions, take a good look at the shop, and read the reviews of your potential future service department on google and you will be all right. Do not settle for less pay, and make sure that they have a schedule to regularly review raises. We also talk about using your sick time, because this is a very physical job, and sometimes you really need to just take an extra day to heal up.

Also Uncle Jimmy retells a story about a tech who greased the wheels in epic fashion for a very good reason! What are some of your employment red flags that you won’t get fooled again on?

This episode is distributed by The Wrenching Network. Whether you’re a technician, a mechanic, or someone who just loves the car scene, The Wrenching Network is a place that you have to check out. They have all sorts of great content, gear, and snacks to keep you turning wrenches in whatever capacity you do it. Also if you see us over there, make sure you say hi and leave a comment with what you think about the episode!

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Episode 147: I Can’t Explain

On this week’s episode of Grease the Wheels, we are talking about a bunch of things that Uncle Jimmy can’t explain about the automotive industry. We go in depth into things that we can’t explain as technicians in regards to some of the higher up’s not having a good grasp on what is going on in their own shops and the industry in general.

We also go into some of the bigger questions that we can’t explain, like why fixing cars for people in a pinch always feels just a little bit better. We also don’t really understand why there needs to be chaos in the shop. It seems like chaos makes itself at home in the form of customers in most cases, because realistically you have no idea what people are going to drag in that day.

Speaking of chaos, Uncle Jimmy works a Saturday and gets cornered by one of the worst customer ever, who also happens to be one of the luckiest human beings on earth by finding the one guy who actually had spare parts that fixed his car well over two hours after closing. We also don’t understand service advisors, because it is one of the most horrendous jobs in the automotive industry, but the good ones are so effective they make it look simple. However, despite this, we don’t understand how getting all of the relevant information from customers and selling the work that the technicians suggest is such a big ask; especially when it is in their job description. What can’t you explain about the automotive industry?

Also Uncle Jimmy succinctly and correctly defines “Karen’s” within a broader set of ungrateful and combative customers.

This episode is distributed by The Wrenching Network. Whether you’re a technician, a mechanic, or someone who just loves the car scene, The Wrenching Network is a place that you have to check out. They have all sorts of great content, gear, and snacks to keep you turning wrenches in whatever capacity you do it. Also if you see us over there, make sure you say hi and leave a comment with what you think about the episode!

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Episode 136: See Me

On this week’s episode of Grease the Wheels, we talk about some of the things we have seen as mechanics. From the way that customers treat their cars like rolling dumpster fires to some of the terrible previous “repairs” we have seen literally everything. When it comes to the senses, we can tell a lot about a car by the way it looks. As technicians we have seen cars broken in every which way humanly possible, and it never ceases to amaze! We also talk about some useful tips for finding cars on a crowded lot, some of our favorite trunk and glovebox finds, the rate of decay on cars due to pure neglect, and whether or not clutches and brake pads still have asbestos in them (they do). It’s a well loaded episode, so let us know what you see out there!

Also Uncle Jimmy channels Carlin in a single-sentence destruction of golf.

This episode is distributed by The Wrenching Network. Whether you’re a technician, a mechanic, or someone who just loves the car scene, The Wrenching Network is a place that you have to check out. They have all sorts of great content, gear, and snacks to keep you turning wrenches in whatever capacity you do it. Also if you see us over there, make sure you say hi and leave a comment with what you think about the episode!

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Episode 135: Service Managers

On this week’s Grease the Wheels, we are going back to our meat and potatoes of doing angry diatribes about service managers. As a disclaimer, if you have a good one thank them because this is a bit like finding a virgin on a maternity ward. Or if you have one that has potential to be good, please help to steer them into doing things the right way. We run through the job description of your service manager in depth and want you to gauge how well your’s does their job. We also go into the technician hiring process from the point of view of someone who has no idea what constitutes a good technician. Either way this is one of the worst chokepoints in the automotive industry where customer service and handling a service department meet their apex, so no wonder why it is so hard to find a good Service Manager.

Also Uncle Jimmy describes the phenomenon where the worst employees never leave and theorizes that some of them could possibly have cost their company more money than they have earned it.

This episode is distributed by The Wrenching Network. Whether you’re a technician, a mechanic, or someone who just loves the car scene, The Wrenching Network is a place that you have to check out. They have all sorts of great content, gear, and snacks to keep you turning wrenches in whatever capacity you do it. Also if you see us over there, make sure you say hi and leave a comment with what you think about the episode!

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Episode 132: Exploitation

On this week’s episode of Grease the Wheels, you get to hear a podcast from a host who hasn’t had power or running water for 7 days prior to recording! We’re not going to get into it this week (it’ll probably have to be a two parter), but these few upcoming episode’s are going to be a special brand of insane that only your beloved Uncle Jimmy can provide. This week’s dive is on the definition of exploitation and its prevalence in the automotive industry. We crunch some numbers and figure out what a good team of technicians can actually make a shop, and what percentage of that gets paid out to the technicians of that shop just in the labor that they produce. We aren’t knocking capitalism, we love it (it’s listed as Erik the Producer’s religion on his marriage certificate). We are just pitching a more Adam Smith minded version of it where profits are a little bit better distributed and the market rates are competitive with the level of knowledge that we need to function in this occupation. This isn’t even factoring in the actual investment that is needed to do the job. So no wonder why shops can’t find anyone to work for them and why fixed ops managers whine about the tech shortage on LinkedIn all day long. In the automotive field exploitation often comes down to a simple question: “Are you being paid what you are worth?”

Also Uncle Jimmy gives some fairly decent accounting advice to anyone looking to start a shop.

This episode is distributed by The Wrenching Network. Whether you’re a technician, a mechanic, or someone who just loves the car scene, The Wrenching Network is a place that you have to check out. They have all sorts of great content, gear, and snacks to keep you turning wrenches in whatever capacity you do it. Also if you see us over there, make sure you say hi and leave a comment with what you think about the episode!

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Episode 126: Evolution

On this week’s Grease the Wheels, we are talking about evolution: both as technicians individually and in regards to the cars we work on. When it comes to the cars, the amount of technological change from the first cars Uncle Jimmy was working on as a lad to where we are now is staggering and because of this, we have all had to learn a lot of things and hone some extra skills to be able to stay effective at what we do. We also talk about the incredible strides that cars have made in terms of safety, unfortunately you can’t engineer better drivers. Finally, Uncle Jimmy buys a 335 with 24 bent valves from a dude who tried fixing it with his PhD in Philosophy and Cam Position Sensors!

Erik the Producer’s sidenote: I witnessed this transaction, he 100% said he could fix this thing with reasoning… It was hilarious.

Also Uncle Jimmy hits on one of the interesting cross-shop touchstones that we can all relate to: “what car got you into working on cars, and what did it teach you?”

This episode is distributed by The Wrenching Network. Whether you’re a technician, a mechanic, or someone who just loves the car scene, The Wrenching Network is a place that you have to check out. They have all sorts of great content, gear, and snacks to keep you turning wrenches in whatever capacity you do it. Also if you see us over there, make sure you say hi and leave a comment with what you think about the episode!

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Episode 114: Dangers

On this week’s episode of Grease the Wheels we admit this world is kinda f***ing dangerous! As mechanics this is compounded on a daily basis just because of the sheer number of things that you work with that can seriously mess you up. Some of this stuff can mess you up instantly: wires from a wire wheel turning into shrapnel, presses turning things into projectiles, cars falling, and the good ole harbor freight jack stands (which are still better than just a jack, if you have nothing else). Some of these might take a long time to mess you up, like the dusts that come off of brakes and other metal shavings, or the sort of in between silicosis from sandblasting without proper masks and hoods. It’s extra dangerous if you happen to be a bit clumsy. It’s a lot more dangerous for the dumbasses. Also we seamlessly fold in a “Grim Sleeper” reference and let you know that this is really just because we don’t want anyone who listens to this show to get hurt: because it happens- we’ve seen the posts. But we know by starting a conversation about it, we’re making you a little bit more aware of things that might be able to seriously f*** you up!

Also Uncle Jimmy had something in common with Lady Macbeth and reviews the various fluids in your car by taste!

This episode is distributed by The Wrenching Network. Whether you’re a technician, a mechanic, or someone who just loves the car scene, The Wrenching Network is a place that you have to check out. They have all sorts of great content, gear, and snacks to keep you turning wrenches in whatever capacity you do it. Also if you see us over there, make sure you say hi and leave a comment with what you think about the episode!

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Episode 107: Lunch With My Boys

On this week’s episode of Grease the Wheels, Uncle Jimmy gives Erik the Producer an aneurysm by sitting down and eating his lunch while recording the podcast in a show of solidarity. That’s right, Uncle Jimmy is now banned by some shops (or at least that’s what the data leads us to believe) but more than likely is if he isn’t banned in your shop yet this will probably be the episode to do it! We talk at length about the first amendment, Multi-Point Inspections, and well as doing videos of these inspections. On the point of videoing the multipoint inspection, we have seen several jobs approved when they were unlikely to because it takes a level of salesmanship out of the equation for the service advisor- which is almost always a good thing. The better we are at explaining the problem and showing the customer the problem and often its magnitude, we are able to really help sell that particular repair. Finally, we provide the entire internet with a convenient soundbite for asking for a raise: but be warned it could also definitely get you fired. Use at your own risk.

Also, Uncle Jimmy revisits the theory (and practice) of what would happen if a single technician came in while advocating and illustrating the shift from passive-aggressive to active-aggressive.

This episode is distributed by The Wrenching Network. Whether you’re a technician, a mechanic, or someone who just loves the car scene, The Wrenching Network is a place that you have to check out. They have all sorts of great content, gear, and snacks to keep you turning wrenches in whatever capacity you do it. Also if you see us over there, make sure you say hi and leave a comment with what you think about the episode!

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Episode 102: Flat Rate and the Free Stuff

On this week’s episode of Grease the Wheels, we are taking a deep dive into the methods by which most of us get paid: flat rate. First off, someone at the manufacturer’s factory does a specific job to a car using hand tools to determine how long that job is going to take, which refers to the “book time” of a job. However, there are often many jobs that we can “make time” on, where the book time is significantly higher than the actual amount of time it takes to do that job. Whether it be because you’ve done that job a million times, or it’s just that much easier with power tools- there are many circumstances where we can turn 20 hours in an 8 hour workday. However, this system hinges on the ability of service advisors to sell the job, because when the shop is busy it is a win-win situation for both shop ownership and the technicians who are turning the hours. When there is a pandemic or there are poor service advisors the shop still wins because they are not out anything- but the tech loses, because they are not turning hours. Also, we take a deep dive into how the manufacturers would like us to get paid because believe it or not, they want to pay you a salary because it keeps their products in better shape.

Also, Uncle Jimmy teases a paradigm shift, weighs the pro’s and cons of the flat rate system, and quotes Fat Boy Slim.

This episode is distributed by The Wrenching Network. Whether you’re a technician, a mechanic, or someone who just loves the car scene, The Wrenching Network is a place that you have to check out. They have all sorts of great content, gear, and snacks to keep you turning wrenches in whatever capacity you do it. Also if you see us over there, make sure you say hi and leave a comment with what you think about the episode!