Poor quality work when brake work done; Nasty surprise last night

[KrisZ]

Ok, cool. Explain to me how to weld UHSS or boron alloy with a GMAW, without ruining the crystalline structure of the steel. I’ll wait…

Don’t know, sounds like it’s a specialized application. Which cars use this for body work?

 

[dumkid]

Don’t know, sounds like it’s a specialized application. Which cars use this for body work?

Not Mercedes sprinters. We bought a van with a rotted out windshield and had to form and weld new metal for the windshield to glue to. We did have to buy a gas bottle for our welder because flux core is too splattery for body work. I think to form the metal we just have a vise and some hammers and pliers.

 

[bdcardinal]

Matrix pricing is an interesting topic in the auto parts business
I would expect @bdcardinal to have expert insight for us

Matrix is a thing. We use one at 15% over MSRP per the owner. Not a fan personally, but when the guy who signs my paychecks says to do something, I do what he says. I usually only use it on those "mechanics" that never tell me who they are when they call and get offended when I ask.

FWIW I give 20-25% off MSRP on wholesale even to collision. We make substantially more money selling parts under Ford warranty now, cost +90.89%, that we literally lose money dealing with wholesale and all that is involved with it, compared to billing out warranty parts where there is no questioning or arguement. What shops do when they bill out their parts is up to them, I don't judge or care.

 

[michaelluscher]

Matrix is a thing. We use one at 15% over MSRP per the owner. Not a fan personally, but when the guy who signs my paychecks says to do something, I do what he says. I usually only use it on those "mechanics" that never tell me who they are when they call and get offended when I ask.

FWIW I give 20-25% off MSRP on wholesale even to collision. We make substantially more money selling parts under Ford warranty now, cost +90.89%, that we literally lose money dealing with wholesale and all that is involved with it, compared to billing out warranty parts where there is no questioning or arguement. What shops do when they bill out their parts is up to them, I don't judge or care.

Sounds fair, but some Parts managers don't get the sliding scale part of matrix right

300% markup on a 89¢ washer, that's fine
300% markup on a $1,800 driveshaft, that's a bit excessive IMO

I miss my hook at Toyota parts, they gave me list less 15-30% (depending on size of purchase) and good conversation
OE Toyota consumables were appealing when you can have them today, YZZF1 oil filter for ~$3, CAF for ~$10
A/C refresh kits for ~$20
I miss them

 

[eljefino]

I love how everything can nowadays be blamed on the thing.

So is it just my imagination or was this forum full of stories of bad service and bad work way before the “thing”?

The thing did offer many people an opportuntity to reset and choose a new job that they think they're going to like. There's a lot of inexperience in a lot of fields.

This wouldn't be so bad, people are as honest as they've ever been, and will put the effort in to make things right if the boss lets them. The issue is, "the thing" led corporations to feel invincible in price gouging and whiz-poor customer service and as long as we pay it, we're letting them get away with it.

 

[eljefino]

The other issue is that society has traditionally viewed auto techs as a lower middle class (or lower) occupation - and base their pricing expectations on this belief. In many major metropolitan areas now, auto techs are becoming a solid middle class occupation and as such, the labor rates have to increase in order to pay those salaries.

A part of society is schools and guidance counselors steering non-college bound kids to the trades, instead of kids with good problem solving skills. Someone with a natural curiosity about how things work would make a good mechanic as well as electrician, plumber, etc. We're mismatching people with jobs based on antiquated ideals and trying to please parents and others whose opinions really don't matter.

Then you get snobby Karens who get butthurt when the "dumb mechanic" wants a ton of money to fix a vague electrical problem on their Fiat or whatever. Ok, cool, so watch youtube and do it yourself????

 

[Ethan2]

Don’t know, sounds like it’s a specialized application. Which cars use this for body work?

Almost all new vehicles.