Nose on the grindstone. Walser Buick GMC Bloomington (BGB) Semi-Skilled Technician Sophie Nystrom has the bar set high for herself.
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Nose on the grindstone. Walser Buick GMC Bloomington (BGB) Semi-Skilled Technician Sophie Nystrom has the bar set high for herself.
View full postIT Infrastructure Specialist Spencer Wyrick and IT Technician Jacob Marsnik met over six years ago at their UW River-Falls freshman dorm. They quickly became friends because they both studied computer science and shared interests like board games, biking, hiking, and video games.
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🔧 We're Hiring Experienced Technicians at Toyota of Corvallis! 🔧
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It's a great day to be alive!
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When it get hot we get the staff ice cream!
View full postHappy Friday! Almost every Friday our Parts team makes the whole dealership breakfast!
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Hello, I'm Bill Vickery, Sales & Leasing Consultant here at Tom Wood Subaru. Here’s why you should consider purchasing the 2025 Subaru Crosstrek Wilderness:
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Getting our Thursday started right! Staying busy and getting vehicles completed and back on the road!
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Day 2 of Dealer Pro training for our advisors. All about SELLING today!
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One of our Junior Technicians replacing a heater support pump.
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Summer's in full swing! Which Chevrolet EV are you gearing up to take on your next road trip?
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Both sides of our Audi shops have multiple large ceiling fans that run throughout the day in order to keep the shop cool. On hot days, we will also close the bay doors in order to keep the excess heat out.
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SHOP SAFETY IS OUR PRIORITY
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What do you want to get straitened out this year?
Technician
Craig, I love fixing cars. I've loved gm vehicles since I can remember. Grew up in the back seat of a 1984 Buick LeSabre, first car was a 1981 Cutlass, and most of my vehicles since have been gm. Was there anywhere else I was going to go when I started wrenching? I became a full line tech when I left the army in 2013. I struggled to meet time. After nearly 2 years I joined the aftermarket, struggled there, decided it was me and went back to the dealership. I've always been bumper to bumper, so if I see a labor op more than 2-3 times, that's a high frequency repair. Those repairs always seemed to be moving targets. No matter how good I got at them, if everything went right, we had all the parts in stock, nothing went sideways, at best I'd come out an hour ahead (on big repairs) but the reality is I usually came out behind. There must be something wrong with me, right? Wrong. Had a conversation with a manager from the OEM last month, in which he told me, in reference to replacing an engine in a Tahoe, that we have to look at it from gm's side of the picture and does it make any sense to pay someone 18 hours for 7 hours of work. Seriously. As a generalist, I've only done one, took me 26 hours (if I recall correctly), twice what gm reduced the time to. Somewhere there's a specialist who can change that engine in 7 hours. I'm glad they didn't reduce it that low, but there are jobs even the specialists can't win at. We complain to our dealership and are told, "That's what gm pays." We complain to gm and they say, "You are dealership employees, talk to your dealer." Flat rate is supposed to encourage production, efficiency, and quality, but when the OEM consistently lowers times that can be beat there comes a point where one realizes "The System" is designed only to punish. Thanks to Illinois and their OEM must pay CP times, the OEMs have put significant pressure on the aftermarket labor time guides to bring times into line. High frequency ops are often within a couple tenths of warranty time. When the OEM is moving the goal posts, not even the aftermarket is a safe haven. Yeah, I love fixing cars, but when those who have power have decided you are defrauding them by beating the times they set, I have to ask, "Why would I keep putting myself through that?" Love of the craft doesn't put food on the table or shoes on my kids' feet.
Thanks for the response Russell, I hear ya, I started wrenching for a living in 1987 and up until the 2000s it was fairly easy for a seasoned tech to beat the book. Like you pointed out the book is way off these days and people do struggle to even meet it let alone beat in as a majority rule. When we estimate these days we go 20% over book as the book time was for newer stuff. Plus if you add in rust and bent or mutilated we will go higher. I believe a lot of independents know or are figuring out what it takes the seaned tech to do the job right and do it as fast as possible and still put out a great product. We are estimating by what the tech ask for plus what we have learned to help this problem. I do hope you find that home that is right for you and the industry does need you. Take care and let me know if I can do anything to help. (This thread does not let me know there are updates so feel free to email me at craig@craigscarcare.com and that goes for anyone that wants to bounce around thoughts and ideas.)
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