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Moonlight mechanicing...



 
 
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  #1  
Old January 10th 05, 01:11 AM
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Default Moonlight mechanicing...

Oh.. things are too quiet here..

http://www.motorage.com/motorage/art...l.jsp?id=96322

Article is about repair work done outside a 'repair shop'.. either by
mechanics after hours, or by non-mechanics.

I'll post my feelings in a few days if the thread lasts that long, but
first I'd like to see what people think.

Motor Age magazine is home to one of my favorite automotive writers..
Mitch Schneider.

Regards,

Jim

Ads
  #2  
Old January 10th 05, 04:42 AM
Daniel J. Stern
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Default

On Sun, 9 Jan 2005 wrote:

>
http://www.motorage.com/motorage/art...l.jsp?id=96322
> Article is about repair work done outside a 'repair shop'.. either by
> mechanics after hours, or by non-mechanics.


Not really much to discuss. Been there, done that, on both sides of the
transaction. It's got its advantages and its disadvantages.

Next topic?
  #3  
Old January 10th 05, 09:13 AM
Ted Mittelstaedt
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Default


> wrote in message
oups.com...
> Oh.. things are too quiet here..
>
> http://www.motorage.com/motorage/art...l.jsp?id=96322
>
> Article is about repair work done outside a 'repair shop'.. either by
> mechanics after hours, or by non-mechanics.
>
> I'll post my feelings in a few days if the thread lasts that long, but
> first I'd like to see what people think.
>


It's a rather one-sided view of moonlighting. The author seems to be
implying
that all moonlighters do shoddy work - there's quote after quote from auto
repair place owners castigating moonlighters. But then he turns around and
implies that most moonlighters are auto repair techs by day. I'm afraid I
don't
see how this is reconciled. If the tech is ASE-certified during the day,
that
certification doesen't go away at night.

I think the facts are that the shop owners know that if their techs do a lot
of moonlighting work and build a client base, that there's a chance the tech
may
say 'to hell with working here' and simply open up their own auto repair
shop.
End result: Auto repair shop now shorthanded, and a brand new competitor
down
the street. I would wager that a large number of existing auto repair shops
that are aside from dealerships got their start this way, and I would bet
that at
least one of the quoted auto repair shop owners got his start that way. I
sense
a large amount of hipocracy among the quoted people. I also noted no quotes
from techs actually doing moonlighting.

I frankly see nothing whatsoever wrong with the practice. A man's skills
are his
means of earning a living, they belong to him, not to whatever shop owner he
works for when he's not on the job for that shop owner. It's a free country
and
he should be entitled to do whatever he wants on his time off as long as he
declares his additional income, pays taxes on it, and otherwise follows the
law
(ie: no dumping antifreeze into the drain, oil down the sewer, etc.)

The only time I see this crossing the line is if the moonlighter does one or
both
of 2 things:

1) Uses employer-owned tooling, such as diagnostic machines, etc. for
his moonlighting business without the employer's consent. That is, it's
wrong to
'borrow' the shop scanner 'to use at home', it's wrong to bring your own
customer's carburetor in 'to work on during lunch' etc.

2) Uses work time during the day to solicit business for his moonlighting
business,
unless he has an arraingement with the shop owner. For example, if a
customer
comes in with a car that's got a Blue Book of about $500, and needs $1500
worth of labor to get it running again, once the shop has quoted the
customer and
the customer has rejected it, I can see where it would be fair for the shop
owner
to turn a blind eye to a tech making a side moonlighting deal to get the car
running.

Ultimately I see most of this boiling down to proper customer management.
An
auto repair shop owner with a bunch of techs working for him (as opposed to
a 1 or 2 man shop) should be greeting the customers when they come in to
get quotes or have work done, and ringing them up when they come to pick up
their cars and leave. He should be acting as a filter between the techs and
the customers so that expensive tech time isn't burned up on time-waster
customers, and so that if the customer has a problem with the repair the
owner is going to know about it and can nip an escalation of the problem
in the bud. Unfortunately I think a lot of owners of repair shops that get
that big figure they are too puffed-up important to deal with customers any
more so they end up hiring service managers and service advisors to do
it for them, then when something blows up they cannot understand why.

Ted


  #4  
Old January 10th 05, 09:38 AM
Jonathan Grobe
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Default

On 2005-01-10, > wrote:
> Oh.. things are too quiet here..
>
>
http://www.motorage.com/motorage/art...l.jsp?id=96322
>
> Article is about repair work done outside a 'repair shop'.. either by
> mechanics after hours, or by non-mechanics.
>

The main thrust of the article seems to be that if repair shops charge
higher labor rates they could pay their mechanics more and the mechanics
would thus have less desire to work after hours (since they are doing it
for the additional money). While this is true, higher labor charges
are going result in customers going elsewhere for repair work. The
bulk of repair work does not involve complicated electronic diagnosis--
instead it is simple parts replacement--something you don't need
high-priced fancy repair shops for.

--
Jonathan Grobe Books
Browse our inventory of thousands of used books at:
http://www.grobebooks.com

  #5  
Old January 10th 05, 03:21 PM
HLS
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Default


> It's a rather one-sided view of moonlighting. The author seems to be
> implying
> that all moonlighters do shoddy work - there's quote after quote from auto
> repair place owners castigating moonlighters. But then he turns around

and
> implies that most moonlighters are auto repair techs by day.


There is little likelihood that a moonlighting mechanic would expose himself
by doing shoddy work if he wouldn't do the same at a dealership. The
accountability is a bit more direct.

I think there may be a perceived ethics issue. If you are paid to be a
mechanic at a garage, you might be seen as competing with your prime
employer by taking in moonlight work. (I was not allowed to compete with my
prime employer, up to my retirement in October. Different industry, however)

People would normally come to a moonlight garage because it is cheaper, or
is more convenient, or because they know their car will be handled by a
specific and qualified mechanic. Those are issues that a dealership or
independent garage might handle differently.


  #6  
Old January 11th 05, 11:02 AM
Ted Mittelstaedt
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Default


"Jonathan Grobe" > wrote in message
...
> On 2005-01-10, >

wrote:
> > Oh.. things are too quiet here..
> >
> >
http://www.motorage.com/motorage/art...l.jsp?id=96322
> >
> > Article is about repair work done outside a 'repair shop'.. either by
> > mechanics after hours, or by non-mechanics.
> >

> The main thrust of the article seems to be that if repair shops charge
> higher labor rates they could pay their mechanics more and the mechanics
> would thus have less desire to work after hours (since they are doing it
> for the additional money). While this is true, higher labor charges
> are going result in customers going elsewhere for repair work.


not if everyone charged the higher rates. What the author is basically
saying is that all the repair shops should get together and all of them
jack their labor rates up about $25/hour.

It is like the record companies all getting together and agreeing to
move to digital music formats that only allow you to play the song
once before you have to buy it again.

Both of these are industry wet dreams.

Ted


  #7  
Old January 11th 05, 10:23 PM
HLS
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Default

> Both of these are industry wet dreams.
>
> Ted
>



Absolutely correct, Ted


 




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