On this weeks GTW: we want to hear your worst customer stories- everyone has one and most of them are hilarious given enough time. The customer is most certainly not always right, in fact in our industry, more often than not they are completely wrong. In this episode we are going over all of the ways customers can be the absolute worst. Customers who ignore major problems with their cars, customers who try to skip out on paying for their repairs, and customers who try to drive a wedge between th...
Feb 21, 2019•24 min
On this week’s Grease the Wheels, we talk distractions- there are a million of them (including your favorite automotive podcast) and they are almost all better than working. Some of them are pretty benign like your co-workers, daydreams, and even the cars your working on. Some of them can be a bit more invasive like problems at home and the ever present smartphone. Either way they can end up costing you money (except of course your favorite automotive podcast)Also, Uncle jimmy talks park distanc...
Feb 14, 2019•26 min
There are a handful of right ways to fix a car, there are a lot of wrong ways to fix a car. But as technicians we know that there are things that happen and get done a certain way that only another technician could understand. Extra nuts and bolts, clips, and all sorts of other things get left off and the car is going to operate exactly as designed. This doesn't necessarily make a job makeshift or jury rigged: but super glue, epoxy, wire ties, and duct tape usually do! We’ve all been in situatio...
Feb 07, 2019•25 min
On this week’s GTW we talk about working with the fairer sex, and some of the copious amounts of bullshit they have to put up with in our industry. The automotive industry is tough for women, on top of being tough jobs anyways. Service managers who are women often have a lot of problems with customers, even when they know more about cars than that customer. It’s equally bad for women work in a parts store, as we’ve all seen the old customer hang up when they hear a woman's voice. All women think...
Jan 31, 2019•24 min
On this weeks GTW: we talk recalls, an arm of the federal government, and all of the shit that had to be put on cars because the government says so. A lot of the recalls are safety related, and that's good, but when the government tells us what has to be on/in cars that's not so great. We also talk in depth about the awesome times when dealership mechanics became EOD techs (and almost as badly paid). The laws of physics haven't changed, but holy shit the rules around stuff in your car that keeps...
Jan 24, 2019•31 min
As a whole, we are bad at taking time off. We work a lot of holidays, we often take vacation payoffs instead of the time off (you know, if we are even offered it). And as a whole, this isn’t always the best idea. For one This job is extremely physically and mentally demanding sometimes, so time off just to heal is a good call. The other major point of contention here is that people who make way more money than you, and do way less than you take the time off that they are given. When we get paid ...
Jan 17, 2019•26 min
If there is one universal truth about life and working in a repair shop, it is that things are not fair. Often times this is due to different levels of ability, favoritism, or just outstanding debts- but we cant help but see the fact that in a lot of cases a select few are getting all of the gravy. This entire situation gets magnified because of the fact that your manager or dispatcher knows that there are differences in skill or knowledge on specific systems. For example, transmission specialis...
Jan 10, 2019•29 min
If technicians were guided by a major deity, there's really not a lot of doubt in our minds that it would be the Norse Trickster god Loki. From constantly spouting off movie quotes and hazing the new guys, to squirreling away extra parts in people’s toolboxes and personal space, the pranks and humor that we use to keep ourselves entertained are literally endless. In today’s GTW, we are going to talk about them. Also, we’re going to talk slightly less about choosing your moments and knowing when ...
Jan 03, 2019•30 min
In this week’s GTW we take a break from running Service Managers and Advisors into the ground to describe the type that we all would want. Basically what it comes down to is that if we are respected, appreciated, and paid: we’ll do ANYTHING that person asks us to do. Service manager’s should be in the building- not hiding from problems in their bunker while you go over the top. Service managers should be able to do everything in the building- were not saying that he should do all of that stuff, ...
Dec 27, 2018•25 min
If you’ve been a technician for more than a few years you have probably thought about not doing it anymore: either through winning the lottery or just getting a better paying job. After all, this is one of the only careers on planet earth that if you ask, “should someone go into this industry?” it gets met with a resounding and often times overwhelming “NO!” We love you guys, but at the same time we think that EVERYONE should have a plan for their post-technician career. Maybe it's somewhere els...
Dec 20, 2018•21 min
Work anxiety is something that most people face, but folks, a car that isn't repaired correctly is one of the least dangerous pieces of machinery on the planet (unlike an airplane that isn't fixed correctly as Uncle Jimmy recounts). Sure, if you don't put a wheel on right it could fly off and if you don't put in a drain plug after an oil change it could blow up the engine- but at the end of the day it all culminates to things that you have seen before. Also we talk the “Push Button Timing Challe...
Dec 13, 2018•22 min
In this weeks Grease The Wheels: Uncle Jimmy gets nostalgic about how common, relatively cheap and fairly easy it used to be to make cars go faster. Also we talk the politics of when your friends ask you to help them make their cars go faster (short answer: do it, it’s a shitload of fun) even when faced with the certainty of turning piston no.8 into chiclets. Finally, we etch another commandment into the petrolhead credo- thou probably should not fuck with thy daily driver. GTW is a weekly podca...
Dec 06, 2018•25 min
As technicians we take a lot of unwarranted heat from popular culture and society at large when it comes to ripping people off. In reality, it is about 1% of techs who are scalping people for repairs that they don't need, the rest is just bullshit. However, a lot of this image problem is solved when the part or service we told a customer they needed leaves them stranded on the side of the road. GTW is a weekly podcast for mechanics, technicians, and DIY'ers that can be heard every Thursday on iT...
Nov 29, 2018•22 min
Fixed ops managers like to go on tv and talk about why there is a shortage of techs. They blame everything from shop classes not being taught in school anymore, to millennials and gen z not wanting to get their hands dirty. While they're not totally wrong they are ignoring the big problem- what they are doing to make the workplace harder on us. This week, we talk 100k/year promises, harder work, and shrinking pay by the same people who can't figure out why no one wants to be a technician anymore...
Nov 21, 2018•20 min
Dr. Phil would say that, "communication is key to any relationship", but that becomes really true when people are trying to describe what's wrong with their car. Thankfully(heavy sarcasm) people are often less than forthcoming with the details of their problem for fear of admitting fault. Combine this with service writers who aren't listening anyways and its like trying to solve a puzzle without half the pieces. Thankfully, sometimes we get to talk to the customers directly and we get what Paul ...
Nov 15, 2018•25 min
All men might be created equal, but as for shops- not so much! On this week's GTW we ask the questions that should be asked when looking for a new shop to work in such as: does it have the right equipment? Will you have to push cars in by hand with some of the other heavy hitters in the shop? Is it built to the standards of a 3rd world country? Will you have to go off site to take a shit? You know, the important stuff!
Nov 08, 2018•19 min
On this episode of Grease the Wheels, we give out actual consumer advice about aftermarket warranties. We have found a bona fide way to get these companies to stop calling you, and we analyze the types of warranties - namely the ones that tell you what they DO cover, and the ones that tell you what they DON'T cover. Bottom line, they don't want to pay out, but there are a few of these companies that are SHOCKINGLY good.
Nov 01, 2018•20 min
Some parts of our job are clearly defined by management, but your actual role in the shop often comes down to the intangibles. Weather you're the shop Guru, DJ, Clown, or just the guy who fucks everything up, you have an important role in your shop. Own it, because every shop has one!
Oct 25, 2018•26 min
When working at a shop or dealership there are some situations that are completely unavoidable. From working on a dumpster and not having the right tools, to wrecking a customers car or having desperately needed work declined - some are your fault, but A LOT of them arn't. In this episode we take a look at both types and walk through how best to deal with them. GTW is a weekly podcast for mechanics, techs, and anyone who works on cars. Hit us up on Spotify, iTunes, Google Play for a new episode ...
Oct 18, 2018•33 min
"Service Advisors don't really need any skills except maybe how to type, and some of them cant even do that!" In this episode we look at some of the B.S. that service advisors pull that directly affects your paycheck, and we take a look at how the best service advisor we've ever met didn't know a single fucking thing about cars. GTW is a weekly podcast for mechanics, techs, and anyone who works on cars. Hit us up on Spotify, iTunes, Google Play for a new episode every Thursday morning!
Oct 11, 2018•32 min
Money, its a gas. Except sometimes flat rate can totally suck ass. On this weeks GTW, we talk division of labor, how jobs get doled out, the pitfalls of flat rate, and some of the other payment styles out there.
Oct 03, 2018•23 min
We firmly believe that techs should have each other's backs, but there's a handful of situations where we really don't want to. On this weeks GTW, we talk what it takes to be a technician, and one of the most aggravating situations we've ever come across that resulted in over 100 faults on a fairly new BMW- because of pure laziness.
Sep 27, 2018•25 min
Some are justified, some are ridiculous. They all suck. This week GTW talks comebacks.
Sep 19, 2018•22 min
Believe it or not, there is probably someone at your job more miserable than you are. Coincidentally, they are the only people in the building paid less than you are. This week we dive into the the world of parts guys.
Sep 12, 2018•23 min
In this episode we take a look at the automotive brands- the ones we like to work on, the ones we don't like to work on, and the ones would rather roll out the back door after tossing a Molotov Cocktail into it (looking at you Audi)
Sep 06, 2018•22 min
In this extra explicit episode of GTW, we talk about service advisors- what they do, more often what they don't do, and what it takes to be a good one. Bring your popcorn, this is a good one.
Aug 30, 2018•23 min
We revisit the talent that it takes to do the things we do, i.e. fixing cars. We also explore some of the talent shortfalls in the industry in general.
Aug 22, 2018•22 min
We talk shop, specifically the tools in them. We talk cheap vs expensive. The tools we want, and the times when we have to make our own!
Aug 22, 2018•28 min
The law of Supply and Demand is one of the core ideas of capitalism- but apparently Management didn't get the fucking memo. In this episode we talk about the number of cars vs the number of people who can actually fix them!
Aug 22, 2018•19 min
