On this week’s episode of Grease the Wheels, we are talking about what happens after a customer hits something with their car. It seems that recently the trend is for the collision shops near us to get the car straight and send it down the road for whatever else it needs. And when it goes down the road, it almost always ends up in our shop. Folks, we’ve all been here. A customer brings in their car after a significant amount of collision work and don't say anything, but we quickly find out that ...
Apr 08, 2020•33 min
Episode 86: Corona BabyOn this week’s Grease the Wheels, you’re getting a little bit of everything as we actually delve into the COVID-19 madness taking a look at it from several angles. This includes large corporate shops, small indy shops, and some of the businesses that support the automotive industry. Also, we use the way-way-back machine to talk about what is going to happen once this pandemic is over in the automotive industry and the country at large. More importantly we go over some of t...
Apr 01, 2020•1 hr 12 min
On this week's episode of Grease the Wheels we are actually sort of topical to what’s going on with the world at large: sharing. Unlike the rest of the media who are saying things like “shelter in place” and “don’t come within 6 feet of other people”, we encourage sharing in specific circumstances even in these pandemic ridden times. The sheer number of different cars, and all of the years they have slight variations make it mathematically impossible for every technician to have every tool to do...
Mar 26, 2020•39 min
On this week's episode of Grease the Wheels, we take a look at what should be the most profitable thing that we do all day: Multipoint inspections. However, most of the time when a dealership or shop says that they have complimentary multi point inspections, they are really complements of the technicians doing it. Meaning, they do the job for free and the shop doesn't charge the customer. This is wrong on many levels, but then gets compounded when you have service advisors declining service to t...
Mar 19, 2020•30 min
On this week’s episode of Grease the Wheels, we are back to our bread and butter: complaining about service advisors! In this episode, we are going to be focusing on how they sell jobs, or in most cases, how they completely fail to sell jobs. As we’ve established they are dealing with an unknown element in the customer, so their jobs can be excruciatingly difficult. However, when they don’t sell things like tires or other maintenance items that are easy money for the technicians our feathers get...
Mar 12, 2020•30 min
What is your favorite generation of the BMW 3-Series? This is a question that has been asked in pubs, locker rooms, car shows, autocross events, and even some of the cooler dinner tables all over the world for the better part of the last 40 years. In this new podcast from Grease the Wheels, we break down the history of the BMW 3-Series from its company-saving and genre defining predecessor, to its most modern and slightly massive iteration. For the past 40 years, the preeminent contender for bes...
Mar 05, 2020•2 hr 25 min
On this week’s episode of Grease the Wheels, we’re talking about snacks. We have seen all of the pictures of the snacks that we stash in our toolboxes like a bunch of amphetamine-fueled bipedal squirrels. From the heavenly Divine Bovine beef and bacon jerkies, to chips and crackers with cheese; what we eat on the job varies as much as the things that we work on. Often times they can be broken down by regions as well. Either way these quick little pick me up’s do just the trick and keep our gears...
Feb 27, 2020•30 min
On this week's episode of Grease the Wheels we are asking the age old question, “why can’t we all just get along?” Well let's start out with something easy like those friends who only call you when their car is broken. From there, we move into the building with getting along with the parts guys and helping them out as much as you can. It doesn’t have to be a lot, but simple details can quicken you getting the right parts to finish a job. Also we argue to try to get along with your service adviso...
Feb 20, 2020•31 min
On this week’s GTW we’re talking about the scourge of cheap motorists everywhere, the state safety and emissions inspection. As technicians, we should be deeply in favor of these state mandated inspections because they often give us some gravy work from customers who otherwise would absolutely decline it 100% of the time. However, where does the line between useful government oversight protecting people on the roads and blatant cash grabbing from the motoring public come in? That is what we’re g...
Feb 13, 2020•33 min
On this week's episode of Grease the Wheels, we are paying serious homage to one of our biggest listenerships on this show: the guys and gals who are fixing the really, really big stuff. We’ve gotten to know quite a few of you and now we’re ready to tell what your job is like to the rest of the wrench twisting public. Some of the challenges that these technicians face make our day to day look extremely easy, like when was the last time you needed a crane to remove and install a starter? Some of ...
Feb 06, 2020•1 hr 2 min
In this very abridged but very much uncut preview, Uncle Jimmy and Erik the Producer talk about how Erik got his first car: a Luxorbeige 1987 BMW E30. Turns out Uncle Jimmy and his sister are major league tricksters, but the worst party foul was Erik’s dad using his car as a straight-6 powered, positraction ski wagon...after dropping Erik off at school. The rest of the episode is available to our patreon subscribers, so if you want to get in on that go to patreon.com/greasethewheels and help kee...
Feb 01, 2020•9 min
Episode 78: Rosy PictureEvery time that you end up greasing the wheels, you end up getting promised a lot of things. Weather it's the company that you’re leaving trying to keep you for just a few more weeks, or the new place across town, when skilled labor is in flux, a lot of promises get made.When interviewing for a new gig, the hiring manager is going to fill you up with hyperbole and that everything is different in their shop. There's plenty of work, advisors always sell things, and the rate...
Jan 30, 2020•32 min
On this week’s episode of GTW, we’re talking those weeks where the planets align just right, and you don’t make any money. We all know the reasons and the players in this: a few jobs that you cant “make time” on, plus a few “squeaks and rattles” and diagnosing problems that the customer is well aware of from previous visits, and suddenly you didnt turn any hours this week! It happens to all of us, some pay periods we get paid for doing the work of 3 people (or at least the hours turned of 3 peop...
Jan 23, 2020•31 min
On this week’s episode of GTW, we’re talking about toxic shops. What makes a shop toxic, what can you do about it, what can your management can do about it? There’s a lot of ways shops can become toxic, but there are only really a few solid methods that can fix them. We want to know what has made some of the shops that you’ve been in toxic, and how it made you want to leave. We also talk about some ways to decompress from working in a toxic shop, so you don't take that toxicity home with you and...
Jan 15, 2020•31 min
On this week’s episode of Grease the Wheels, we are giving credit where it is due. There are on the order of 300 Million cars roving the roads of the United States, and they continue to do so because of a large segment of our listenership. (We kept it in the US because we have up to date stats on that on the top of mind, but we know our listeners everywhere else are doing a good job as well. A little bit of praise goes a long way in a shop, which more often than not feels like a thankless job de...
Jan 09, 2020•31 min
On this week’s episode of Grease the wheels, we’re talking about training. As technicians, brand specific training is some of the best educational and time investments that you can make. The downside is that many manufacturers are seemingly cutting back on the training that gets offered. Whether this is from dealers who need their techs in the shop making them money every single day, to the lack of instructors available to teach these very hands on, and often quite extensive classes; we are unsu...
Jan 02, 2020•30 min
Let's just call it straight out, we’re wrong a lot. We’re wrong so often that we don’t even know how we get it right sometimes. First big thing that we’ve been wrong about is that a lot of techs make over 100k a year. A lot of these guys are in California though, so the cost of living is so insane that it doesn’t really count. The next thing that we’ve been wrong about is our stance on service managers and advisors. We really should give new ones the benefit of the doubt, and their job is very d...
Dec 25, 2019•25 min
We’ve been reading articles about the impending doom caused by the lack of automotive technicians, and in our research might have found the dumbest statement ever made by someone on the topic. One article stated that, “some service managers are penalizing fast working technicians by not letting them move onto another job until the book time on their previous repair has elapsed.” Have you ever heard of such a thing? That is a serious question actually, have you ever heard of a shop that won't let...
Dec 19, 2019•29 min
If you’re good at something never do it for free, right? So why do people think that they can get their car fixed for free? From service advisors asking if you, “could just scan it and take a look” to customers coming in saying that something worked when it came in when they know very well that it didn’t! Ladies and gents, there is really nothing worse than looking through a pile of spent repair orders and seeing 0’s next to the labor times- so just say no. When someone wants you to do something...
Dec 11, 2019•31 min
We have all seen epic fails on the part of DIY’ers (and in fact, we highly suggest you share them on this post) but how much of it is on the person who did the “repair”? That is a serious question because some of the larger auto parts companies spend a lot of time and money telling people that they can do various repairs themselves. They further enable them by loaning the tools needed to do the job at little to no cost. The bottom line for why this advertising works, and it absolutely does work ...
Dec 05, 2019•35 min
What is the most important automaker of all time? That’s a difficult question when you really break it down and as is so often the case it depends on who you’re asking Some people might argue longevity and heritage. Hardcore petrol/gearheads might argue motorsport success and bringing gobs of power to the masses. Sentimental people might go with something deeply personal, like the fact that their parents always had one, so the nostalgia factor creeps in. Numbers people would probably argue for p...
Nov 26, 2019•2 hr 6 min
On this week's episode of Grease the Wheels, we explore the idea that not many jobs have gotten harder over the past 110 years. We find ourselves in a spot where were getting paid less but doing and having to know a lot more in order to successfully do our jobs as mechanics. Early on, knowing how to fix cars was necessary in order to own a car, but the cars have gotten a lot better over the past 110 years. However, this degree of difficulty compounded when there are more brands, new systems, and...
Nov 21, 2019•30 min
On this week’s episode of Grease the Wheels, we are covering a topic with a tagline that we all know and love, “that’s not my job!” Things like: topping off the washer solvent, checking tire pressures and windshield wipers, dealing with spent tires or the detritus strewn all over your bay- that stuff. When you’re flat rate, you're right, it's not your job! You're not getting paid to do those things. You’re doing to get paid exactly what's on the repair order. If we don't get paid for it, we’re n...
Nov 14, 2019•28 min
On this week’s episode of Grease the Wheels we are going over a subject that we find very touchy: losing tools. Where do they go, why they go there, and what happens to them when they get there? First off, nothing ruins Uncle Jimmy’s day more than losing a tool, but we’ll get into that a bit later. Some of us can’t function when we lose tools. For the most part, we can afford to buy a new tool when we lose one, but we really don’t want to! We don’t know if you feel the same way about your tools,...
Nov 06, 2019•25 min
On this week's episode of Grease the Wheels, we’re talking about leaving your job for good. This one is near and dear to our hearts and probably yours too (hopefully not, but probably).We’ve experienced every which way to leave a job, with the exception of faking your own death. Leaving a job and knowing where you're going next is fairly important. However, because of the technician shortage, this frees you up in contrast to other industries where there are more bodies than open positions. Were ...
Oct 30, 2019•33 min
On this week’s episode of Grease the wheels, we are talking about people thinking that they can do our job. It’s basic human nature to think that you can do something because you have seen someone else do it. However, “monkey see, monkey do” technicians often cause catastrophic failures. Because these technicians are paid next to nothing, they don't get fired despite finding out pretty much right away that it's a lot harder than it looks. This doesn’t just account for other technicians, we’re re...
Oct 23, 2019•28 min
On this week's episode of Grease the Wheels were talking about some of the horrible things we do to cars. Sure, customers are great at doing terrible things to cars but often times when we do terrible things to cars it's completely on purpose. We don't have any qualms about this because at the end of the day cars are consumer products: you buy them, you use them, and when you're done you throw them away. But before we throw them away, we can have a lot of fun with them. Shooting cars for example...
Oct 17, 2019•23 min
On this week’s episode of Grease the Wheels, we have a message for the service managers and shop owners out there. They're thinking, “god I hate uncle jimmy. He keeps telling techs that they are worth something and they should be paid well!” If you're in charge of the things that happen to technicians in your shop, these are the things that you need to know to keep them. Number one is actually the pay. It's not necessarily the pay right now, but we can see how much you charge the customers and h...
Oct 09, 2019•30 min
On this Week’s episode of Grease the Wheels, we acknowledge that a lot of people who are not auto technicians listen to this podcast. In the spirit of this newfound information, we’re taking a few minutes to fill in the people who are not techs on what it's like. First off, not everyone's experiences are the same but there are a lot of things that most of us have in common. Most mechanics get their start as youngsters, taking stuff apart and sometimes putting them back together. This then goes t...
Oct 03, 2019•32 min
On this episode of GTW, we’re talking about the law. The laws of man, the laws of physics and even Murphy's law, which isn’t necessarily a real thing, but sometimes as a mechanic it feels just as real as the other two. The laws of physics are really kind of important to know as an automotive technician, because they are absolute. They happen 100% of the time. Things like pressure, heat causes things to expand, and the transfer of energy are something we deal with every day in brakes, air conditi...
Sep 26, 2019•30 min
