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On this week’s episode of Grease the Wheels, Uncle Jimmy outlines the service advisor boot camp that will break your service advisors of all of their bad habits, and build them back up with all of the right ones. All it will take is sheer psychological torture for a few days, weeks, or months! The real idea here though is to make Service Advisors do the job the way that everyone wants them to do it. From actually walking around the customers car and possibly pre-selling the repairs right in the drive on, to watching the video to gather the evidence they need for their followup conversations, to utilizing the proper communication method for where that customer is at in the building — the service advisor boot camp will make monsters out of even the most slovenly examples that the industry puts forward. We also get deeper into the idea that going with a blank slate, and even service advisors that don’t know anything about cars can be a good tactical choice when it comes to choosing them, because you get to indoctrinate them the way that your shop wants them to get the job done. 

Also Uncle Jimmy keeps it under a dozen quotes from the eternal R. Lee Ermey. 

This Episode of Grease the Wheels is brought to you in partnership with Surfwrench Digital! For more on Video MPI Training Visit https://www.surfwrench.com/video-mpi-training-landing/ to learn more. Video MPI Training built in the shop, by your Uncle Jimmy. Use code “GTW” for 50% off your training access!  

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On this week’s episode of Grease the Wheels, we delve into the world of statistics, and come up with some genuinely novel applications of baseball numbers and terminology to help your shop run better. RBI for service advisors, Errors also mostly for service advisors, and techs having to bat 1.000. There area already hundreds of datapoint for shops to utilize to make better decisions, but more often than not we find that the data is being underutilized, and no one really knows what it is. There are many reasons for this, but it leads to one of the most pressing concepts in the automotive industry today, a takeoff of the stat line WAR from baseball that we named Repairs Against Replacement. Are the new guys able to actually turn the hours with the accuracy of the people that they are replacing - more often than not. Will your shop have the payroll to effectively replace high performing techs who decide to grease the wheels - also probably not. 

Also Uncle Jimmy is still salty about the Bills and has used the time between football and baseball season to binge some Ken Burns. 

This Episode of Grease the Wheels is brought to you in partnership with Surfwrench Digital! For more on Video MPI Training Visit https://www.surfwrench.com/video-mpi-training-landing/ to learn more. Video MPI Training built in the shop, by your Uncle Jimmy. Use code “GTW” for 50% off your training access!  

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On this weeks episode of Grease the Wheels, Uncle Jimmy goes over an oldie-but-a-goodie with his 10 thesis on automotive diagnosis. With modern automobiles becoming more and more complex, checking batteries (especially when there are tons of weird or seemingly unrelated problems) is always a good Bet. Things like Visual Inspections and Scanning the vehicle for faults seem to be a given, but can be complicated when an advisor is diagnosing from the chair. Any time that you have access to a vehicles repair history or CarFax report is a good thing, especially when they are in for the fourth time in a month for the same problem and hoping that somehow that problem has gotten cheaper to fix — which is hasn’t, it never has, and that isn’t how this works! 

Also Uncle Jimmy talks about the best tasting parts of a wiring harness (for a mouse) and does his best Joe Cocker impression while impersonating customers. 

This Episode of Grease the Wheels is brought to you in partnership with Surfwrench Digital! For more on Video MPI Training Visit https://www.surfwrench.com/video-mpi-training-landing/ to learn more. Video MPI Training built in the shop, by your Uncle Jimmy. Use code “GTW” for 50% off your training access! 

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On this week’s episode of Grease the Wheels, Uncle Jimmy channels Aristotle to the tune of Charlie Manson and comes up with a much more nuanced 10 point code of ethics for technicians. “Thou shall know what you’re doing, thou shall not rip people off blindly,” that kind of thing. We also get the rest of the service department involved and come up with codes of ethics for Service Advisors and Service Managers alike! This one basically comes down to, “do your job!”, or the burning bush will be arson instead of the almighty! The only one here that Jimmy really struggles with is messing with the sporting equipment in cars- and we want to know some of your favorite things to find in cars! 

Also Uncle Jimmy completely misses a chance to call this episode “the codes of Jimm-urabi”

This episode is distributed by The Wrenching Network. Whether you're a technician, a mechanic, or someone who just loves the car scene, The Wrenching Network is a place that you have to check out. They have all sorts of great content, gear, and snacks to keep you turning wrenches in whatever capacity you do it. Also if you see us over there, make sure you say hi and leave a comment with what you think about the episode! 

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On this week’s episode of Grease the Wheels, Uncle Jimmy gets into the constant corporate kerfuffle of ethics. Specifically this week we examined the ASE’s technician code of ethics and found that it was really pretty hard to find! We get what they are going for here, but we don’t agree with the orthodoxy that “in order to be a good tech, you must be ASE certified”, because quite frankly we know brilliant technicians who just don’t test well. The meaning of this article is well, but we actually wish it was hammered home a little bit harder in the literature or directly included themselves. We also get into an article about what it takes to be a successful mechanic and see how it syncs up - pretty well. Bottom line, there is more than enough honest work for all of us, so let’s stick to that and do good work to raise the general PR stock of mechanics in general. Because after all, when was the last time the customer paid you directly for work you did at your shop! 

Also Uncle Jimmy poses the ethical question of owning 100 cars if most of them are parts cars and the proverbial “GTW bus” example makes it into the meeting minutes in the shop for real. 

This episode is distributed by The Wrenching Network. Whether you're a technician, a mechanic, or someone who just loves the car scene, The Wrenching Network is a place that you have to check out. They have all sorts of great content, gear, and snacks to keep you turning wrenches in whatever capacity you do it. Also if you see us over there, make sure you say hi and leave a comment with what you think about the episode!

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On this week’s episode of Grease the Wheels, Uncle Jimmy takes aim at another batch of misconceptions spread by corporate entities when it comes to the direction of the automotive industry. Unless the good folks at Area 51 have come up with some new types of fasteners that use nano-bots and electricity to hold stuff together - we’re still going to need toolboxes! Seriously, some of the ideas being peddled by this article are not even close to where the industry is going, so at least it is good for a laugh. We know this article was probably written by an AI, and if so they have very low opinions on the people who actually fix stuff. If it was written by a human and they have anything to do with the current state of the auto industry - they should be fired! 

Also Uncle Jimmy talks politics briefly. 

This episode is distributed by The Wrenching Network. Whether you're a technician, a mechanic, or someone who just loves the car scene, The Wrenching Network is a place that you have to check out. They have all sorts of great content, gear, and snacks to keep you turning wrenches in whatever capacity you do it. Also if you see us over there, make sure you say hi and leave a comment with what you think about the episode! 

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On this week’s episode of Grease the Wheels, Uncle Jimmy goes down the angst-inducing rabbit hole of aftermarket warranty companies and adjusters. First point of contention, just because you “used to be a mechanic” does not give you carte blanche to be an asshole - we’re not on the same team anymore because it is literally your job to not pay us. Second point of contention, do not accuse Uncle Jimmy of not performing work on a vehicle just because it is clean - this will earn you a short drop and a long gurney ride. We kid, but this is something that can eat up tons of time, and directly cost you money so we needed to napalm it thoroughly. Third, we ask the very pointed questions, “are aftermarket warranties ever NOT a shitshow?”, and “what obscure Lithuanian labor time guide did you pull THAT time from?” All of this, while having a very authentic New York reaction to having his paycheck tampered with. However, aftermarket warranty companies are one of the few unifying forces in a dealership - because no one likes them - and the enemy of my enemy is my friend. 

Also Uncle Jimmy gives all of the definitions to the term, “blowing up an engine” and lays out what sounds constitute the “Danger Zone” for having to push it out of the shop. 

This episode is distributed by The Wrenching Network. Whether you're a technician, a mechanic, or someone who just loves the car scene, The Wrenching Network is a place that you have to check out. They have all sorts of great content, gear, and snacks to keep you turning wrenches in whatever capacity you do it. Also if you see us over there, make sure you say hi and leave a comment with what you think about the episode! 

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On this week’s episode of Grease the Wheels, Uncle Jimmy cues the John Barry and suggests that one of the best ways to fix a shop or dealership is to send in a tech undercover to find out all of its strengths and weaknesses. It’s benevolent corporate espionage with just a hint of Grease the Wheels HR methodology. In terms of finding out how a shop either works or doesn’t work, a technician with a set checklist of things to figure out could be a ruthlessly efficient way to skunk out problem personnel and procedures that are directly costing a shop money. Did we just reinvent mystery shopping? 

Also Uncle Jimmy is looking for input on this plan, while Erik tries to figure out how you get “00- status”.  

This episode is distributed by The Wrenching Network. Whether you're a technician, a mechanic, or someone who just loves the car scene, The Wrenching Network is a place that you have to check out. They have all sorts of great content, gear, and snacks to keep you turning wrenches in whatever capacity you do it. Also if you see us over there, make sure you say hi and leave a comment with what you think about the episode! 

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On this week’s episode of Grease the Wheels, Uncle Jimmy goes into his K Plan for onboarding new hires and setting them up for success in your repair shop. The first part of this is having a deep understanding of the flow and chemistry of the shop, because if they are going to spoil this chemistry- you might want to back off on hiring them. The goal is to reduce the massive attrition amongst new hires in the auto industry - and we think this could definitely work. The K Plan is pretty comprehensive and can take anywhere from a few months to over a year for some of the higher end requirements to get the last few hundred points. Obviously we go over how to use the shop's tools and equipment, where it goes, and how not to break it. The K Plan allows you to mold a new hire into someone that is going to be a valuable member of your team by having all of the mile markers and paths laid out for the new hire before they even walk in the door. 

Also Uncle Jimmy artfully dodges getting sued by Disney in naming the mentor for the K Plan “The Guru” instead of the obvious film reference. 

This episode is distributed by The Wrenching Network. Whether you're a technician, a mechanic, or someone who just loves the car scene, The Wrenching Network is a place that you have to check out. They have all sorts of great content, gear, and snacks to keep you turning wrenches in whatever capacity you do it. Also if you see us over there, make sure you say hi and leave a comment with what you think about the episode! 

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On this week’s episode of Grease the Wheels, Uncle Jimmy lays out the real first step of the “K Plan” for new guys and outlines what has to happen in the interview process. Before that even happens, the job posting has to be succinct and tell the potential hire what they need to know - especially in terms of benefits and compensation. Also, where you place these ads and the keywords you target can have a drastic effect on the quality of the applicants you get. The real goal of the interview process is to figure out if they are going to be a good fit in the shop, while also figuring out what they know and what they don’t. We go into the weeds with Indeed’s “15 Interview Questions and Answers for Hiring Auto Technicians”, and right off the bat some of these answers should get you thrown out of an interview. The questions overall are good ways to get the prospective hire to tip their hand a bit as to how they approach the job and problem solve - but figuring out things like competencies on equipment really only pertain to the equipment they have in their shop. This is also a great way to gauge a potential hires attitude towards continued learning, how they deal with conflict, and their personality overall. Not nearly enough time is paid in the interview process to either of these two things, mostly because the sky high demand and extremely low supply. In this episode, we lay out some of the highlights that hiring managers need to follow if they want to find and retain any real talent within the automotive industry. We also lay out the “technician in interview” guideline which makes the competency part of an interview a lot more concrete. 

Also Uncle Jimmy gives a short review of the Hunter Revolution and provides several examples of why he should NOT be a Service Manager.

This episode is distributed by The Wrenching Network. Whether you're a technician, a mechanic, or someone who just loves the car scene, The Wrenching Network is a place that you have to check out. They have all sorts of great content, gear, and snacks to keep you turning wrenches in whatever capacity you do it. Also if you see us over there, make sure you say hi and leave a comment with what you think about the episode! 

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On this week’s episode of Grease the Wheels, Uncle Jimmy talks about something that is kneecapping just about the entire economy right now: the lack of replacement parts for stuff that we have to fix! For some systems in cars this was a problem before the pandemic, but since it has spiraled out of control and has increasingly come under the microscope as the transition to EV’s has been hampered by production and quality control issues. That is nothing to talk of the massively underpaid and apathetic individuals who operate the nation's fading auto parts stores as e-commerce continues to dictate the terms and conditions. We go into some of the reviews on the remaining auto parts stores from a negative light, and share some excellent stories spanning Uncle Jimmy’s often hilarious career in the auto parts side of the business before joining the dark side and picking up the tools professionally. 

Also Uncle Jimmy fires back against the parts cannon. 

This episode is distributed by The Wrenching Network. Whether you're a technician, a mechanic, or someone who just loves the car scene, The Wrenching Network is a place that you have to check out. They have all sorts of great content, gear, and snacks to keep you turning wrenches in whatever capacity you do it. Also if you see us over there, make sure you say hi and leave a comment with what you think about the episode!  

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On this week’s episode of Grease the Wheels, we Tarantino it.  Uncle Jimmy begins to formulate the answer for how to lower the “Verdun-esq” attrition rates among new hires. To do this, he’s going to need more time, but in the meantime we take a look at how corporate minds plan on dealing with the solution. The problem is that they are taking the position of the shop when in order to solve this problem you need to solve it from the perspective of the new hire themselves and address the root causes of this high attrition. We also have to continue to work on the overall occupational PR that we (don’t) enjoy as mechanics to continue to recruit new talent. The one thing that we will give these articles is that they do address that pay is one of the main barriers to entry in this field, and that tool expenses are out of control and can set new technicians up for failure. 

Also Uncle Jimmy muddies the waters on the “technician” versus “mechanic debate” again, and slams EV’s. 

This episode is distributed by The Wrenching Network. Whether you're a technician, a mechanic, or someone who just loves the car scene, The Wrenching Network is a place that you have to check out. They have all sorts of great content, gear, and snacks to keep you turning wrenches in whatever capacity you do it. Also if you see us over there, make sure you say hi and leave a comment with what you think about the episode! 

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On this week’s episode of Grease the Wheels, Uncle Jimmy examines ways to be less cranky. Getting enough sleep, avoiding being hangry, and regulating your caffeine intake are all tried and true mood stabilization methods. We also talk about the echo-chamber-inducing smartphone and how that can be an enormous cause of anxiety in people’s lives - the weird part though is just how self-inflicted it is. Anxiety in the workplace is a recurring trope here on GTW, and with cars getting even more complicated Uncle Jimmy writes a two sentence horror story: “Was out for 3 months. Came back to a new model of 7 series with an IMax Screen in the back, the IMax didn't work.” We also do some pseudo automotive journalism by ask the hard hitting automotive journalist questions of , “what happens when an irritable mindset IS your normal self?” and “what is your favorite piece of sports equipment to play with when a customer leaves it in their car?” 

Also Uncle Jimmy gives his insight on percussive therapy: beating the tool or object that is the cause of your frustration until it is no longer frustrating you. 

This episode is distributed by The Wrenching Network. Whether you're a technician, a mechanic, or someone who just loves the car scene, The Wrenching Network is a place that you have to check out. They have all sorts of great content, gear, and snacks to keep you turning wrenches in whatever capacity you do it. Also if you see us over there, make sure you say hi and leave a comment with what you think about the episode!  

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On this episode of Grease the Wheels, Uncle Jimmy outlines all of the ways that flat rate technicians lose time and money to the inefficiencies of the dealership system itself. Support staff and Service Advisors are key culprits, between not separating items on repair orders, repair orders that are poorly written or feature hand written add-ons, and not going over cars to check and see what else is wrong with them such as check engine lights. This problem is massively amplified with porters and lot personelle when they do not follow proper procedures such as putting the car in numbered parking spots and not hanging identifying hang tags. When you start adding it all up, there is a lot of this going on in any shop that utilizes the flat-rate system, and it doesn’t cost the dealership a nickel! There are also tons of things that the technician is expected to do for free, such as airing up the tires, “complementary" inspections , checking and filling fluids and again — they cost you time, which in this system is costing you money. Also major time wasters; the systems themselves such as internal, OEM, and third party software  even when they work right! Bottom line the best system that a shop can have to be fair and equitable to the talent that keeps that shop making money is a hybrid that features salary with production bonuses — and that might just fix the tech shortage overall! 

Also, Uncle Jimmy completely forgets about the Ford Explorer Firestone Tire Scandal and talks about his favorite secret societies. 

This Episode of Grease the Wheels is brought to you in partnership with Surfwrench Digital! For more on Video MPI Training Visit https://www.surfwrench.com/video-mpi-training-landing/ to learn more. Video MPI Training built in the shop, by your Uncle Jimmy. Use code “GTW” for 50% off your training access! 

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On this week’s episode of Grease the Wheels, Uncle Jimmy returns from his medical leave to a lot of new faces - who have never been in the business before. So this being a podcast for the auto industry, we look at how to set these new guys up for success because no one else has thought to do that - as seen in the atrocious 2 year attrition numbers for new mechanic hires. The first real goal is to have them have tangible touchstones where you can sort them out. If they are struggling to understand how to do an oil change and tire rotation, you’re not going to be giving them a job that is going to have them changing connecting rod bearings. The amount that technical schools teach you is directly proportional to how much effort the student in question put in, and for getting a rudimentary understanding of how cars work they are a solid option. However, this pales in comparison to the amount of constant on the job training that auto mechanics just do by learning new systems and new vehicles as they make new systems that break. This, in combination with the coming EV tsunami, gives employers even more reason to set their techs up for continued learning and future success with regular raises based on skill level. 

Also Uncle Jimmy examines the extremely sharp double edged sword of training people and counting their hours as your own. 

This episode is distributed by The Wrenching Network. Whether you're a technician, a mechanic, or someone who just loves the car scene, The Wrenching Network is a place that you have to check out. They have all sorts of great content, gear, and snacks to keep you turning wrenches in whatever capacity you do it. Also if you see us over there, make sure you say hi and leave a comment with what you think about the episode!  

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On this week’s episode of Grease the Wheels, Uncle Jimmy dives into the things that we love about cars. To be clear, you don’t have to love cars to be a mechanic, but it definitely helps when the job is hard. From some of the noises they make to the memories made in them, cars have been an integral part of the human experience for the last 100 years. Cars occupy every space of the sensory field- from how they touch and feel to how they interact with the road or off road environments. We also talk about how time affects the way cars smell - what creates the patented “old GM smell” and “old BMW smell”. We also go over some of the high points of the auditory experience when it comes to cars - from wide open 4-barrels to screaming Ferrari V12’s. One of the other things we love about cars is junkyards - the combination of never knowing exactly what you’re going to find with the premise of cheap parts for what you need is like combining Costco with Raiders of the Lost Ark. We go over some of people’s favorite things to do in cars, as well as some of the preferred makes, models, and body types. 

Also Uncle Jimmy shares his thoughts on automotive oddballs and butchers “Homologation” and amazingly never mentions a single European example. 

This episode is distributed by The Wrenching Network. Whether you're a technician, a mechanic, or someone who just loves the car scene, The Wrenching Network is a place that you have to check out. They have all sorts of great content, gear, and snacks to keep you turning wrenches in whatever capacity you do it. Also if you see us over there, make sure you say hi and leave a comment with what you think about the episode!  

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On this week’s episode of Grease the Wheels, we lighten the mood by talking about what the internet thinks is wrong with their cars and how they are going to diagnose them. This article from Family Handy Man is very erroneously titled “15 Car Problems that You Can Diagnose (and Fix!) Yourself”. We go over the difference between the “low Oil Pressure” Light and the oil change interval light - because apparently this article thinks they are the same thing and makes the bold assumption that every car on the planet takes 4 quarts of oil. We also dispel some serious internet myth about the check engine light, because the only reason it knows your car is misfiring is because it's making too much pollution. We also get wade into the sublime, as this article pitches everything from folk magic, to “the shoe trick” , to breaking the laws of thermodynamics to get your dead car to start. Because of this, Uncle Jimmy sets off on his own path defining the various problems in a repair shop environment, and giving you some level of diagnosis trouble tree of each. 

Also Uncle Jimmy goes full Obi-Wan on how to make a trouble tree and expands the term “car problems” to be more inclusive of people who can fix them, but mostly keep buying them and storing them on their property. 

This episode is distributed by The Wrenching Network. Whether you're a technician, a mechanic, or someone who just loves the car scene, The Wrenching Network is a place that you have to check out. They have all sorts of great content, gear, and snacks to keep you turning wrenches in whatever capacity you do it. Also if you see us over there, make sure you say hi and leave a comment with what you think about the episode! 

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On this week’s episode of Grease the Wheels, we get into the heavy side of our listener demographic. This is clearly not a job for everyone, especially considering that some of the lug nuts you guys take off weigh several pounds. Uncle Jimmy has some diesel training in the brand that he works for, but typically they don’t weigh 15,000 lbs or require frame in rebuilds. Becoming a diesel tech can be an incredibly lucrative career choice, and if you’re a night owl you will find a surprising amount of opportunity! However, this article completely drops the ball on some of the key issues by a sheer lack of any understanding. The author seems to think that getting dirty is a con, folks, you’re going to det dirty as a diesel mechanic - if you think you’re not going to, you’re delusional! Despite the shoddy nature of this article, the demand for diesel technicians is going to be one of those things that continues long into the future just because of the sheer number of jobs that diesel engines do. Our hats are off everyone that turns a wrench on diesels, because those are the machines that are keeping the world moving.

Also Uncle Jimmy goes to DEFCON 2 on Journalists. 

This episode is distributed by The Wrenching Network. Whether you're a technician, a mechanic, or someone who just loves the car scene, The Wrenching Network is a place that you have to check out. They have all sorts of great content, gear, and snacks to keep you turning wrenches in whatever capacity you do it. Also if you see us over there, make sure you say hi and leave a comment with what you think about the episode! 

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On this week’s episode of Grease the Wheels, we talk about some of the sobering mental health aspects of the job. Seriously, a lot of us commit suicide, which is not the first thought you have when you think of technician mortality (insert Rolls Royce video here, we’re not going there). Because of Uncle Jimmy’s staunch “you’re not allowed to die before me” rule, if you are having these thoughts, please reach out! This article is interesting because it gets right to the heart of the issue - a lack of financial stability has a direct correlation with a lack of mental stability. They get it, and one of the easy ways to find a lot of fulfillment is to go out and do this on your own. We also heap tons of praise on all of the various subgenres of listeners we have who use wrenches to fix what is broken out there in the world. A lack of appreciation, and oftentimes outright hostility from the general public towards what we do for a living is a part of this equation as well. Cheery stuff, so Jimmy goes on a few good rants just to lighten the mood. 

Also Uncle Jimmy flunks math.

This episode is distributed by The Wrenching Network. Whether you're a technician, a mechanic, or someone who just loves the car scene, The Wrenching Network is a place that you have to check out. They have all sorts of great content, gear, and snacks to keep you turning wrenches in whatever capacity you do it. Also if you see us over there, make sure you say hi and leave a comment with what you think about the episode!  

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On this week’s Episode of Grease the Wheels, Uncle Jimmy does some old school comparing and contrasting between government figures and figures compiled by some of the brightest people in the industry over at WrenchWay. The government thinks that there is going to be little to no change in the need for auto technicians in the next 10 odd years, but we know as well as the folks over at WrenchWay - that is complete B.S. This week we dive into, “The Technician Shortage - Why it Exists and What Needs to Change” which is a rock solid article that comes out to needing 642k techs by 2024. Even though it is the end of January, there is still plenty of time to get your goals in order and have something to aim for in the remainder of 2023. 

Also Uncle Jimmy coins the amazing catchphrase, “taking the WTF out of the situation, by fixing it”

This episode is distributed by The Wrenching Network. Whether you're a technician, a mechanic, or someone who just loves the car scene, The Wrenching Network is a place that you have to check out. They have all sorts of great content, gear, and snacks to keep you turning wrenches in whatever capacity you do it. Also if you see us over there, make sure you say hi and leave a comment with what you think about the episode! 

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In this week’s episode of Grease the Wheels, Uncle Jimmy puts service advisors in his sights with some basic communications sciences. The Service Advisors who are able to effortlessly convey their commitment to solving their customers problems, pre-sell work down the line, and set themselves up for major financial success are very rare. So rare, that when you get a good one you really have to take notes. So we have! The biggest thing here is to always be asking for the sale, if you at least do that we can’t fault you. But if you’re auto-declining work and not even attempting to do the job you are going to be on an expedited path out the door. The customer service arm of your shops is the most responsible for big operational forward facing sentiment about your company, and bad service advisors can ruin it in a hurry. 

Also Uncle Jimmy gives more tips for Video MPI’s and why they are probably going to be a bigger thing in the future. 

This episode is distributed by The Wrenching Network. Whether you're a technician, a mechanic, or someone who just loves the car scene, The Wrenching Network is a place that you have to check out. They have all sorts of great content, gear, and snacks to keep you turning wrenches in whatever capacity you do it. Also if you see us over there, make sure you say hi and leave a comment with what you think about the episode! 

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On this week’s episode of Grease the Wheels we talk about some of the things that can kill you in your shop in both the long term and very short term as Uncle Jimmy is on the mend from going 2 for 2 against cancer. On the longer term side of things, brakes - especially from countries with less than scrupulous manufacturing policies, can still contain harmful amounts of asbestos because the US can't regulate everything. Couple this with smoking as many technicians are known to do and you can have serious lung complications. In the much shorter term, things like sulfuric acid from popped batteries and various degreasing solvents can also be extremely harmful. Additionally as more shops begin to work on electric cars there are a whole extra set of very painful ways to die. We also do a pretty deep dive PSA on the value of routine colonoscopies, and getting checked out by a doctor when you notice something is wrong - instead of waiting for it to be a lot worse. 

Also Uncle Jimmy talks his preferred Colonoscopy Prep Methods, advancements in cameras, and some of the signs that you too may need a prostate delete.  

This episode is distributed by The Wrenching Network. Whether you're a technician, a mechanic, or someone who just loves the car scene, The Wrenching Network is a place that you have to check out. They have all sorts of great content, gear, and snacks to keep you turning wrenches in whatever capacity you do it. Also if you see us over there, make sure you say hi and leave a comment with what you think about the episode! 

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On this week’s episode of Grease the Wheels, Uncle Jimmy takes aim at the horizon and talks “Cox Automotive’s 10 Trends That Will Shape the Auto Business in 2023”. Being that this is Cox, it is mostly sales oriented, but what they are talking about effects the entire industry as a whole - and there's a lot of upside for us! The economy- probably not going to get that much better, hopefully it doesn’t get much worse. But in countercyclical economies, the service side of the businesses typically see solid numbers as people hold onto stuff longer. More EV’s - they think they're going to sell a million in the United States in 2023. With some of the fleet incentives out there, this isn't surprising. People wanting to do more of the car buying process online - no shit! With the economy looking unsteady and some lingering hangover from the global pandemic, the wrench twisting bastards in the back are going to be worth their weight in gold.   

Also Uncle Jimmy is still alive!

This episode is distributed by The Wrenching Network. Whether you're a technician, a mechanic, or someone who just loves the car scene, The Wrenching Network is a place that you have to check out. They have all sorts of great content, gear, and snacks to keep you turning wrenches in whatever capacity you do it. Also if you see us over there, make sure you say hi and leave a comment with what you think about the episode!   

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On this week’s episode of Grease the Wheels we take the lead from SurfWrench for some end of year statistics about technician satisfaction. One of the things that shocked us was just how many technicians at independent shops find the variety of work as an advantage- whereas Uncle Jimmy sees it as a major disadvantage. Typically franchise dealerships have better equipment and climate controls, and that can be a huge pull factor for technicians. We almost all agree that the manufactures are stiffing us on warranty repairs, because they are. We also get into the trenches of the recruitment debate, with 84% of us thinking that high schools are actively discouraging the trades for their students - when that is exactly what the American economy needs over the next few decades is a renaissance of trade schools and students getting degrees that make the world continue to spin. Also an alarming amount of us are immune to corporate recruitment videos, in favor of unscripted interviews about what working in a particular shop is like. Also almost unanimous- tell us how much a job is going to pay in the job posting! Actually, kinda funny timing NYS just made this a law the day we cut this. 

Also Uncle Jimmy annihilates the concept that the ICE vehicle ban in California is to lead to a loss of employment opportunities for technicians - and California in general! Merry Christmas to all of you wrench twisting bastards keeping the planet moving! 

This episode is distributed by The Wrenching Network. Whether you're a technician, a mechanic, or someone who just loves the car scene, The Wrenching Network is a place that you have to check out. They have all sorts of great content, gear, and snacks to keep you turning wrenches in whatever capacity you do it. Also if you see us over there, make sure you say hi and leave a comment with what you think about the episode! 

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On this weeks episode of Grease the Wheels, Uncle Jimmy talks about the nature of customers. No one likes having to pay for their car to be fixed, except some of weirdo’s who can tell when we are running the right gas or not. No, most customers will actively chafe when we recommend repairs to their vehicle, no matter how badly they are needed! This becomes compounded when you do a video explaining what is wrong with their vehicle and the service advisor fails to mention a single recommendation from that video and the customer walks out the door with tires that are showing cords or an oil leak that rivals the Exxon-Valdez. Video however is they key to breaking this down, and with coming improvements to Video MPI and the contextualization and AI integrations that we are going to see in their next iterations, the facts might just turn the tides on these unreasonable people.  What is the most unreasonable customer that you have experienced - let us know over on Facebook! 
 
 Also Uncle Jimmy talks Rez Gas. 

This Episode of Grease the Wheels is brought to you in partnership with Surfwrench Digital! For more on Video MPI Training Visit https://www.surfwrench.com/video-mpi-training-landing/ to learn more. Video MPI Training built in the shop, by your Uncle Jimmy. Use code “GTW” for 50% off your training access! 

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On this week’s episode of Grease the Wheels, we round out the year with reflection in the form of the much-dreaded self evaluation. Being able to quantify your work will give you a unique perspective when you go to ask for a raise, but also have a plan on what you want to improve upon in the next calendar year if you're going to make your move now. The holidays are also a great time to tune up the resume with a few extra days off and time with the family to put your career into perspective. Being able to recognize what you struggle with both professionally and personally will help you to identify the problems and solve them. 

Also Uncle Jimmy does his own yearly self evaluation in typical GTW explicit fashion. 

This episode is distributed by The Wrenching Network. Whether you're a technician, a mechanic, or someone who just loves the car scene, The Wrenching Network is a place that you have to check out. They have all sorts of great content, gear, and snacks to keep you turning wrenches in whatever capacity you do it. Also if you see us over there, make sure you say hi and leave a comment with what you think about the episode! 

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On this week’s episode of Grease the Wheels, we take a look at how to deal with difficult employees in your shop. Right off the bat, Uncle Jimmy completely admits to being a difficult employee, but when you weigh it against EVERYTHING else, he genuinely comes out ahead. We get into the optics of a manager calling their shop a “s***show”, when they are in fact responsible for it being in such a state. Additionally, keeping an even hand with your disciplinary practices will help you gain the respect of your remaining employees. Another good rule is if you're going to have a meeting with your technicians, the message needs to be positive - don’t waste our time with negativity because that is time that we are not making money. Feedback and follow up are both doubly important - but they are important with non-difficult employees just the same when it comes to making the maximum amount of money in the Automotive Industry.  

Also Uncle Jimmy discusses management arbitrarily changing your bay(s) and discusses the merits of “messing up big”

This episode is distributed by The Wrenching Network. Whether you're a technician, a mechanic, or someone who just loves the car scene, The Wrenching Network is a place that you have to check out. They have all sorts of great content, gear, and snacks to keep you turning wrenches in whatever capacity you do it. Also if you see us over there, make sure you say hi and leave a comment with what you think about the episode! 

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On this week’s episode of Grease the Wheels, we go into the weeds on how employers can show their employees appreciation. Right off the bat it is never going to be a bad idea to feed your employees regularly, especially when you want their attention. Showing your appreciation can be a matter of shop morale, but even more importantly it can be an important tool to reduce turnover- which is a massive problem in this industry. Happy employees can also do things to your brand reputation that you can’t buy - see exhibit A. Wegman's. When you listen to your employees you can also see innovation coming from the people who have been implementing it and found better ways to do their jobs- see exhibit B. Eastman Kodak. However, Uncle Jimmy has broken down “The Art of Appreciation” for the technicians in your shop into the borderline Stalinist slogan: “Food, Fun, and Money” while also railing against overpriced vending machines.

Also Uncle Jimmy goes off on the “end-of-month sales department chaos-blitzkrieg” waged in shops all over the world on the 28th-31st of every month and promotes feral hog hunting as an “unique incentive”.

This episode is distributed by The Wrenching Network. Whether you're a technician, a mechanic, or someone who just loves the car scene, The Wrenching Network is a place that you have to check out. They have all sorts of great content, gear, and snacks to keep you turning wrenches in whatever capacity you do it. Also if you see us over there, make sure you say hi and leave a comment with what you think about the episode! 

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On this week’s episode of Grease the Wheels, we return to form by dissecting some of the insane things that our customers say. When a customer genuinely understands what is going wrong with their car they are usually pretty capable of communicating it effectively. When they don’t, chaos can ensure with lines that would make the guys from “Who’s Line is it Anyway?” proud. Apologies for how poorly this article is written, but it illustrates just how little people outside of the service side of the industry actually understand how the process works. Very few places even allow customers into the shop - let alone let them watch a mechanic perform repairs. That is the job of video which is probably coming to a bay near you at multiple angles and aspect ratios. We also discuss the very real merits of using “easiness” as the ascending way to diagnose a problem, and reiterate the simple mantra “time is money”.

Also Uncle Jimmy’s blood pressure gets audibly higher and we get a call back to the door pocket burrito!

This episode is distributed by The Wrenching Network. Whether you're a technician, a mechanic, or someone who just loves the car scene, The Wrenching Network is a place that you have to check out. They have all sorts of great content, gear, and snacks to keep you turning wrenches in whatever capacity you do it. Also if you see us over there, make sure you say hi and leave a comment with what you think about the episode!  

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On this week’s episode of Grease the Wheels, we get into the weeds of what makes businesses tick and examine the keys to their success and failure. There are a whole lot of ways that your auto repair business could be leaking cash. One of the major ones that we are going to focus on here is not selling repairs; where there are systemic failures to sell, there can be thousands in lost profits - simply because the Service advisor made an incorrect judgment call. We also go into “6 ways to Increase your Shop’s Profitability” to balance out the success side of the “Keys to Success and Failure”. To be successful auto repair shops need to continually invest in their people, processes, and equipment to stay on top of the game. Treating your customers like family doesn’t hurt either, as we give a series of callbacks to how The Little Speed Shop in Rochester NY does it right!    

Also Uncle Jimmy misattributes a Wayne Gretzky quote to Kobe Bryant, we pitch “The Blind Service Advisor,'' and recount the near universal experience of flipping cars that were completely written off by someone. 

This episode is distributed by The Wrenching Network. Whether you're a technician, a mechanic, or someone who just loves the car scene, The Wrenching Network is a place that you have to check out. They have all sorts of great content, gear, and snacks to keep you turning wrenches in whatever capacity you do it. Also if you see us over there, make sure you say hi and leave a comment with what you think about the episode!  

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On this week’s episode of Grease the Wheels, we annihilate an article about the pros and cons of being an automotive technician. Right off the bat, if you think that $36-48k/year is “an exceptional salary” you are categorically wrong. Being able to work in a variety of environments isn’t always a good thing - because some of those environments will remind you of the third world. Fast paced workdays, being fast paced and chaotic is a bad combination especially when peoples safety is involved. The Potential to work outside - not all automotive jobs allow you to work outside -LIKE THAT’S GOOD THING! Job stability, hey we finally found an actual pro! The technician shortage has given people a lot of mobility, especially when they are extremely well trained. No College Education being needed: this is a plus, but it definitely helps if you’ve got some experience and want to get a further understanding of some of the specific systems. Being able to fix your own car is definitely a pro, and really the only relevant part of the article. You get to meet new people - who will only come to you when they have a problem with their car! The cons list was pretty spot on but done with such a glancing blow that they still warrant criticism. Bottom line is that the pros and cons list for every technician in every shop in the world is going to be slightly different, but if you’re considering a career change this can be a valuable tool to aid your decision. 

Also Uncle Jimmy introduces the slap test for people who want to become auto mechanics and we have a new winner for longest duration DIY brake job.

This episode is distributed by The Wrenching Network. Whether you're a technician, a mechanic, or someone who just loves the car scene, The Wrenching Network is a place that you have to check out. They have all sorts of great content, gear, and snacks to keep you turning wrenches in whatever capacity you do it. Also if you see us over there, make sure you say hi and leave a comment with what you think about the episode!  

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On this week’s pre-hallows eve episode of Grease the Wheels, Uncle Jimmy lays out the Malleus Maleficarum for bad technicians instead of witches. Embracing your co-workers incompetence isn’t really on the table if they are sending unsafe cars out the door, so here are the broadstroke points and you'll fill in the blanks when you look around your shop. 1. They never seem to do any work. 2. Listening to others is not essential to them. 3. Taking the initiative is not something that they do. 4. They fail to follow through. 5. They negatively affect other people’s work. 6. They make mistakes frequently. The rough translation: you can tell pretty easily if someone is incompetent by the numbers, but there are of other external x-factors that can aid in your decision making process as to weather or not someone is empirically incompetent. What makes your coworkers incompetent? Let us know over on facebook.   

Also Uncle Jimmy recounts a car porter damaging a vehicle and blaming it on the foreman.

This episode is distributed by The Wrenching Network. Whether you're a technician, a mechanic, or someone who just loves the car scene, The Wrenching Network is a place that you have to check out. They have all sorts of great content, gear, and snacks to keep you turning wrenches in whatever capacity you do it. Also if you see us over there, make sure you say hi and leave a comment with what you think about the episode!  

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On this week’s episode of Grease the Wheels, Uncle Jimmy actually does his homework and brings us some in depth analysis on an article called, “The Five Most Common Hiring Mistakes for Shops.” Right off the bat, we like the title because it really does transcend whether you are working for a manufacturer brand dealership or an indy shop. So in that case, here are the five most common hiring mistakes for shops:  

1. “They are afraid to pay top buck” Top performers straight up produce, that’s why they command top dollar. This is something that a lot of the industry struggles with, good number one Mr. Cooper! Average employees that get paid average wages produce average results, and average employees will never take you to the top. 

2. “They are afraid to provide a respectable guarantee.” If you're afraid of this you need to spend more time working on your interview process- because you should be able to weed out the bad candidates before they roll their toolbox into the shop. Having a small one says you're cheap, having a big one says, “hey, I trust you to make money”. This can also be a tremendous goal setting tool. 

3.  “They use the wrong criteria when making their employment selections.” Most shop owners hire mechanics and service advisors based on experience, but attitude should factor in as well because not all experience is good. You can know how to do a job the wrong way and it can create anarchy. 

4. “They don’t look beyond the candidate.” The shop owners that hire superstars know that when they hire them, they also have lives at home that will need to be balanced so they can be as effective as possible. This becomes especially important when the discussion swings around to benefits, health insurance, and 401k stuff. 

5. “They forget that the superstars will be interviewing them.” In today's occupational environment where technicians really have the power in the hiring process you're interviewing that Service Manager just as much as they're interviewing you. When they don’t answer questions like, “how do we get dead cars into the shop?'' or “is the tire machine always broken?” in satisfactory ways - you could disqualify them as a place to work faster than they disqualify you to work there. 

Also Uncle Jimmy sneaks in paying $100/hr for the third week in a row which is as close as we have ever gotten to a theme. 

This episode is distributed by The Wrenching Network. Whether you're a technician, a mechanic, or someone who just loves the car scene, The Wrenching Network is a place that you have to check out. They have all sorts of great content, gear, and snacks to keep you turning wrenches in whatever capacity you do it. Also if you see us over there, make sure you say hi and leave a comment with what you think about the episode! 

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On this week’s episode of Grease the Wheels, Uncle Jimmy dies of the plague live on air. JK, he’s fine. But clearly with a bit of NyQuil influence, he found an article called “How Mechanics can Build Relationships with their Managers/Owners”. Overall, there is some pretty good stuff in here, but it needs to be reciprocated back with said managers and owners for it to really work in harmony. Taking initiative and being innovative - how much do your managers love it when you make a tool to do a job and it saves them thousands of dollars? Yea, it happens all the time! We also dive into why technicians are rarely promoted to Service Advisor - even though it can be a really good idea if they have that technician has the right people skills. The older you get in this industry, the better you get at covering your own ass when it comes to things that are going to get broken during the repair process, and this is where having good open lines of communication and mutual trust and respect with your service advisor becomes worth it’s weight in gold. Finally we deal with the idea of not fighting the shitty day’s when they come, just let them happen because they happen to everyone in this industry. The key operational question then becomes how fast are you able to turn it around? 

Also Uncle Jimmy pitches the “Team of Rivals” bonus method.

This episode is distributed by The Wrenching Network. Whether you're a technician, a mechanic, or someone who just loves the car scene, The Wrenching Network is a place that you have to check out. They have all sorts of great content, gear, and snacks to keep you turning wrenches in whatever capacity you do it. Also if you see us over there, make sure you say hi and leave a comment with what you think about the episode!

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On this weeks episode of Grease the wheels, Uncle Jimmy dreams of electric sheep - er, service advisors! Ai is filtering it’s way into dealerships more and more. Some of the immediate casualties of this are going to be in sales, as a well put together data set and website are coming straight for the heads of your underperforming sales people. Getting it into the service department will also completely cull the industry of underperforming service advisors, because an AI will never NOT ask for the sale (which has become a huge problem in some shops given the metrics that we are looking at. However, AI is a LOOOONG way off of being able to fix cars, even if they can sometimes tell you if you need tires. Pairing AI with Video Multi-Point Inspections is going to be an absolute game changer in all of the best ways, and we cannot wait to see how gets it to market first! 
 
 Also Uncle Jimmy prophesies the ultimate AI Sales Consultant - Reese! 

This Episode of Grease the Wheels is brought to you in partnership with Surfwrench Digital! For more on Video MPI Training Visit https://www.surfwrench.com/video-mpi-training-landing/ to learn more. Video MPI Training built in the shop, by your Uncle Jimmy. Use code “GTW” for 50% off your training access! 

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On this week’s episode of Grease the Wheels we take a more thoughtful look at the idea of techs being paid $100 dollars an hour. Some of the ramifications of this could be profound, especially in taking this job deeper into the skilled trade territory in terms of paycheck heft. Obviously this wouldn’t work for a lot of shops - but if the employee retention is that much of a problem and they could afford it it might just be the way to keep the best and motivate/replace the rest. This is completely neglecting to mention the massive influx of resumes from extremely qualified technicians that you would see if you paid your employees that much. Word about stuff like that gets spread around the shops of an area fast because everyone knows someone somewhere else. However, we know that the paradigm is entrenched, so we’re deciding to flank it! While getting an employer to pay you $100/hr might be impossible, getting the customer who you just found through Surfwrench to pay you $100/hr is very, very doable.  

Also Uncle Jimmy hits us with such gems as, “I don’t think anyone thinks I’m lower class, but they’d probably be f***ing right” and confuses ritual suicide for a late-great Cubs announcer. 

This episode is distributed by The Wrenching Network. Whether you're a technician, a mechanic, or someone who just loves the car scene, The Wrenching Network is a place that you have to check out. They have all sorts of great content, gear, and snacks to keep you turning wrenches in whatever capacity you do it. Also if you see us over there, make sure you say hi and leave a comment with what you think about the episode! 

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On this week’s episode of Grease the Wheels, Uncle Jimmy quickly grenades the article that he found for this week and then moves on to a hypothetical that could be a model for how to completely disrupt the industry on a local level. The article is about the average price of repairs, which is something that varies so drastically that the calculus to quantify it hasn’t been thoroughly done. Add to this the unyielding variables of make, model, year, and the problems that are actually going on and you have something that becomes even harder to track. So we disantle that and talk about a hypothetical shop that corners a local technician marketplace by offering ridiculously high wages to the relatively few techs who work in the building. We also go over why raising your labor rate is a good thing, and why those changes need to directly correspond to changes in technicians wages. 

Also Uncle Jimmy makes up some more numbers. 

This episode is distributed by The Wrenching Network. Whether you're a technician, a mechanic, or someone who just loves the car scene, The Wrenching Network is a place that you have to check out. They have all sorts of great content, gear, and snacks to keep you turning wrenches in whatever capacity you do it. Also if you see us over there, make sure you say hi and leave a comment with what you think about the episode! 

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On this week’s episode of Grease the Wheels, we get to the nuts and bolts of all of the stuff nobody covered when they asked us to start doing Service Walk-around Videos. In this episode, we cover Uncle Jimmy’s transformation from complete neophyte to honest to god master of the Service Video Walk-around. Right off the bat, we were not in favor of them in the beginning because there was just no information out there on how to do this. Most of this research was based on feedback from customers as well as good old trial-and-error. However, we go over some of the things to say, and often more importantly some of the things not to say when it comes to the verbal communication part of the Service Video. There is a certain philosophy behind the way that we do our videos that can be summed up by a simple fact, “people don't want to hear bad things about their cars.” So our approach is to tell them what’s good, tell them what’s not good, and ask for the sale. If a car is obviously unsafe - by all means tell them! Keeping away from being accusatory is going to help you sell more service, because it keeps the customer out of the wrong and offers them a clear solution to making the situation right again by performing the repair. If safety items are bad, don’t beat around the bush you let them know they are bad and it might just save you from a lawsuit. When it comes to things like oil and coolant leaks, it is best to qualify them on a 1 to10 scale of severity. 

Also Uncle Jimmy channels his inner Jordan Belfort, by way of Hannibal Lector - but with cars. 

This episode is distributed by The Wrenching Network. Whether you're a technician, a mechanic, or someone who just loves the car scene, The Wrenching Network is a place that you have to check out. They have all sorts of great content, gear, and snacks to keep you turning wrenches in whatever capacity you do it. Also if you see us over there, make sure you say hi and leave a comment with what you think about the episode! 

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On this week’s episode of Grease the Wheels, we look at some of the post-mechanic career options for mechanics. In the wake of last week’s episode about Electric Cars, we have noted that the rise of Electric cars could be the push factor that causes the technician shortage to spiral out of control. Simply put, electrification is going to mean the end of a lot of shops and dealerships- with Buick going so far as to offer franchise buyouts to dealers that don’t want to go electric. Bottom Line: problem solvers are employable, but this article from Monster puts it into clearer focus:

Customer Service: In the wild customer service probably is  not the best idea, but in the automotive industry technicians can be uniquely qualified to be service advisors if they possess good communication skills. 

Management: We think that in a lot of cases technicians can make excellent Fixed Ops managers - it just doesn’t happen nearly enough to make up for the people who have no qualifications to have the job. 

Sales: One of the key tenets of being a good salesman is knowing what you’re selling - and a technician would certainly be at the forefront of that. However, technicians are sometimes too honest when it comes to their assessments of certain vehicles (imagine Uncle Jimmy trying to sell an E65 745!) and this can backfire tremendously on the bottom line. The sales department also has to deal with the grim reaper that is e-commerce. 

Teacher: At a vocational school or in a million other industry applications there need to be technical experts who can teach new techs or train existing technicians in new skillsets. However, they way oversell how interesting the job is, and this would really only become an option if rendered physically incapable of doing the job anymore. This is also easily the most rewarding of the options because you get to help make the next generation of technicians successful. 

Also Uncle Jimmy is getting recruited to be “Professor Jimmy” and coins the phrase, “I need the praise and the raise” for a Seussean appeal to your bosses. 

This episode is distributed by The Wrenching Network. Whether you're a technician, a mechanic, or someone who just loves the car scene, The Wrenching Network is a place that you have to check out. They have all sorts of great content, gear, and snacks to keep you turning wrenches in whatever capacity you do it. Also if you see us over there, make sure you say hi and leave a comment with what you think about the episode! 

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On this week’s episode of Grease the Wheels, we discuss the fence between the forces of the government advocating and (in the case of California) insisting on banning the sale of ICE vehicles, and the general buying public that prefers said ICE vehicles. On the topic of California, we have a weird feeling that this 2035 ICE ban is about to make any tech in that state that knows how to work on EV’s worth roughly their weight in palladium. Because no one is moving in, they all seem to be coming to Texas. We are genuinely on the fence about EV’s because of there pretty clean driving in some areas of the world that derive their power from hydro-electric or nuclear power is being massively offset by the incredible environmental damage caused by creating their batteries. Are they the end all be all, no - but they are a decent stop gap. Is Hydrogen ICE going to be the final answer? We don’t know, but we know that they are going to need people who can fix them. Bottom line, be proactive with your training and be able to fix anything that can come in the door - you will be extremely valuable! 

Also Uncle Jimmy coins a new GreenPeace slogan; “plant a tree, asshole!” and gives some free airtime to Buck-ee’s to keep the scales balanced.

This episode is distributed by The Wrenching Network. Whether you're a technician, a mechanic, or someone who just loves the car scene, The Wrenching Network is a place that you have to check out. They have all sorts of great content, gear, and snacks to keep you turning wrenches in whatever capacity you do it. Also if you see us over there, make sure you say hi and leave a comment with what you think about the episode! 

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On this week’s (correctly uploaded) episode of Grease the Wheels, we dive into improving the work environment in the shop. At the top of all mechanics lists: having working equipment - lifts, tire machines, alignment racks, that stuff! The first article we examine is “20 ways to improve your work environment from Indeed, and in reality only about 4 of them work for us as Auto Mechanics. Obviously climate controls matter way more when you are up and moving, so where you shop is and what climate controls they have make a big difference. How does music affect the work environment in your shop? Does ritualizing your routines help you get into work flows faster?  Is there such a thing as too much light in a shop? We also get into the D.I.N. or otherwise known as why personal injury lawyer’s aren’t a thing in Germany. 

Also Uncle Jimmy accidentally re-enacts Delroy Lindo’s monologue from ‘Da 5 Bloods’ while describing the smell of a shop. 

This episode is distributed by The Wrenching Network. Whether you're a technician, a mechanic, or someone who just loves the car scene, The Wrenching Network is a place that you have to check out. They have all sorts of great content, gear, and snacks to keep you turning wrenches in whatever capacity you do it. Also if you see us over there, make sure you say hi and leave a comment with what you think about the episode!

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On this week’s episode of Grease the Wheels, we talk about one of the major discrepancies in the automotive industry: the difference between managers and leaders. Managers are appointed, Leaders are ordained by the people they work with. When they are the same person, things can be great - when they are one or the other it can lead to conflict. We also do a deep dive on intergenerational differences in work, management, and even leadership that we see on a daily basis and some of the ramifications of not meeting your employees needs. This episode has more information than the entirety of some Business Communications classes and it is specifically tuned for the Automotive Industry - with just the right amount of Uncle Jimmy zest and 4-letter words. 

Also Uncle Jimmy comes up with the “direct deposit theory”, and it tracks REALLY well.  (Updated the episode, sorry for the confusion!)

This episode is distributed by The Wrenching Network. Whether you're a technician, a mechanic, or someone who just loves the car scene, The Wrenching Network is a place that you have to check out. They have all sorts of great content, gear, and snacks to keep you turning wrenches in whatever capacity you do it. Also if you see us over there, make sure you say hi and leave a comment with what you think about the episode! 

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On this week’s episode of Grease the Wheels, we take aim at another one of the omniscient themes that runs through our industry; conflict. Anytime you have people with broken things, you are going to get a level of conflict. This week’s butchered white collar article is “How to Handle Workplace Conflict”, and buddy there isn’t enough space in the margin for even the expletives involved when it comes to conflict in a repair shop. One of the main differences between conflict in an office and conflict in a shop is the language - folks, we’ve been privy to some of the throwdowns in some of the shops out there and the language is often beyond foul (and hilarious). We also talk about the difference in being reactive or objective when it comes to conflict in the shop, but mostly we talk about how we aren’t good at it! At the heart of almost every interaction is some level of conflict, because the sheer chaos of the shop and the way that we work and are paid lends itself to make a chaotic situation even more rife with conflict. This is to say nothing of the idea that there are some customers who come looking for a fight when their cars are broken. 

Also Uncle Jimmy doesn’t understand why people steal other people’s lunch and describes his legendary ability to fly off the handle.  

This episode is distributed by The Wrenching Network. Whether you're a technician, a mechanic, or someone who just loves the car scene, The Wrenching Network is a place that you have to check out. They have all sorts of great content, gear, and snacks to keep you turning wrenches in whatever capacity you do it. Also if you see us over there, make sure you say hi and leave a comment with what you think about the episode! 

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On this week’s episode of Grease the Wheels, we dive into one of the hallmarks of dysfunction when it comes to the automotive industry: communication. Whether it is customers being extremely vague when it comes to explaining their problems to Service Advisors, to Service Advisors telling customers the wrong thing (or even worse a promise time), to how the parts departments get parts to technicians, communication in our industry is vital and most places aren’t good at it. We also take a look at the K.I.S.S. method when it comes to writing job stories and explaining what is going on with a car, and we delve into the ways that technology has the ability to simultaneously polarize and connect shops better than ever. Keep it simple and stick with the channels that keep the most people happy while still being able to achieve your company’s maximal aims. In this episode, we break down some of the white collar world's tips for better communication through the lens of being an auto technician - because in this business communications skills can be tied directly to your paycheck. 

Also Uncle Jimmy ponders the odds of meeting your future spouse at work to what percentage of technicians own guns while closing it out with a quote from either The Animals or Lana Del Rey depending on what generation you’re from.  

This episode is distributed by The Wrenching Network. Whether you're a technician, a mechanic, or someone who just loves the car scene, The Wrenching Network is a place that you have to check out. They have all sorts of great content, gear, and snacks to keep you turning wrenches in whatever capacity you do it. Also if you see us over there, make sure you say hi and leave a comment with what you think about the episode! 

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On this week’s episode of Grease the Wheels, it’s time for some good old fashioned rants as we take a look at all of the stupid things that are going on in the automotive industry. From people in a tizzy about BMW’s heated seat subscription, to the customers in general- there is a genuine lack of understanding between consumers, companies, and the middlemen. We also take a very real world look into the manufacturing process and the dubious claims of some that are betting the country on an electric car driven future. We also get a major critique of the way that people use hybrids based on the faults that they are constantly coming in with, obviously some customers aren’t stupid and charge them - so those one’s work pretty well! We finally round it out with AutoBlog’s “Stupidest Cars of All Time” and expand on the internet-fact that every car has some sort of online following. We also applaud those who choose alternative means of getting to work so they are off the road, and out of our way! 

Also Uncle Jimmy answers the question: “how hard is it to steal a Hyundai?” with “ask the kids at their factory in Alabama!”, while having no idea what an IUD looks like.  

This episode is distributed by The Wrenching Network. Whether you're a technician, a mechanic, or someone who just loves the car scene, The Wrenching Network is a place that you have to check out. They have all sorts of great content, gear, and snacks to keep you turning wrenches in whatever capacity you do it. Also if you see us over there, make sure you say hi and leave a comment with what you think about the episode!  

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On this episode of Grease the Wheels, we talk about some of the pull factors that are in fact causing the tech shortage. This is a significant problem in the industry, and thankfully some seriously high up people are actually talking about it. To illustrate this, we talk about the massive tug of war that happens regarding the money in the industry, and how to fix this massive problem that is causing people to leave the industry or more likely avoid it all together. The shop and dealership owners that are feeling the tech shortage the worst are the ones who are not understanding this tug of war, and are often pulling the hardest on the existing money in the system — offering incredibly low wages that cause their existing talent to leave and new talent to not apply to their god-awful job postings. They deserve this! We also talk about how warranty times have caused many experienced technicians to leave the industry, as it is a losing proposition to do some of these jobs which can cause tickets to stack, cars to not get done either on time or at all, and one star reviews to pile up like so many spent tires and brake rotors. Bottom line, it is the money in many cases that are causing experienced techs to leave, and tech schools to go under attended across the industry. 
 
 Also Uncle Jimmy has a poltergeist that occasionally makes his life more difficult than it needs to be, most likely because it is his white collar father! 

This Episode of Grease the Wheels is brought to you in partnership with Surfwrench Digital! For more on Video MPI Training Visit https://www.surfwrench.com/video-mpi-training-landing/ to learn more. Video MPI Training built in the shop, by your Uncle Jimmy. Use code “GTW” for 50% off your training access! 

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On this week’s episode of Grease the Wheels, we take a look at “10 Repairs You Should Never Try to Do Yourself”, of course that really only applies if you’re not a mechanic. Right away, the marketing concept that people can fix their own cars is objectively wrong in most cases.  Bodywork is number one for a good reason, a lot of people think that they can paint a car, but the amount of work actually involved in doing it right makes people do it wrong!  Number two is ECU tuning, which might just be the bane of the indy shop existence in some markets due to their incredible popularity, and their propensity to break stuff. Chasing down electrical gremlins goes from frustrating to expensive when you poke a hole in your fiber optic audio bus cable. We have to agree with the article when they say that amateurs should avoid working on their transmissions by themselves, because long gone are the days of the Turbo 350 and 400, now they have 8-10 gears and are basically indestructible, because when they go bad you just throw a new one in it. Really the big one that we agree with is brakes, because we have seen the evidence all over facebook that no one in the general public has any idea how to do it right.  

Also Uncle Jimmy gives helpful restoration timeline tips, and talks about his greatest nemesis: paint.  

This episode is distributed by The Wrenching Network. Whether you're a technician, a mechanic, or someone who just loves the car scene, The Wrenching Network is a place that you have to check out. They have all sorts of great content, gear, and snacks to keep you turning wrenches in whatever capacity you do it. Also if you see us over there, make sure you say hi and leave a comment with what you think about the episode! 

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On this week’s episode of Grease the Wheels, Uncle Jimmy watches a video from CNBC on the automotive technician shortage and actually agrees with most of it. There is however, one big thing that they kinda skimmed over that we wanted to elaborate on: passion. Having passion for cars and having the passion to fix them for a living are two different things. With the sheer number of things in modern life that you can be passionate about, it is no wonder why people have put their cars on the back burner even as they rely on them more and more. However, to explore this, Uncle Jimmy talks about another thing that he is passionate about to try to make a more mainstream comparison. Baseball is one of the world’s most popular sports, and there are a lot of similarities between it and the Automotive Industry at large. The brands are like teams- they rise and fall, have good times and bad. Sometimes the lineup is full of big bats, and sometimes they strike out. The shops that we work in are kind of like the stadiums that ball players play in- they have a variety of build dates and feature a spectrum of amenities. Lube shops are basically the minor leagues, and we propose the position of “equipment manager” for a shop - wouldn’t that be awesome? There is a batting average for technicians, but you definitely want to be closer to 1.000, even with Ted Williams number’s your boss will probably want a word about 2 out of 3 cars being comebacks. Unfortunately, the pay scale is still closer to the first few episodes of the Ken Burn’s series Baseball because no one is offering any of us $440 million dollars to turn wrenches for 15 years.

Also Uncle Jimmy pitches HR departments using WAR (Repairs Against Replacement) in evaluating new-hires.

This episode is distributed by The Wrenching Network. Whether you're a technician, a mechanic, or someone who just loves the car scene, The Wrenching Network is a place that you have to check out. They have all sorts of great content, gear, and snacks to keep you turning wrenches in whatever capacity you do it. Also if you see us over there, make sure you say hi and leave a comment with what you think about the episode! 

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On this week’s episode of Grease the Wheels, we embrace the meaning of that term and take an article from Indeed called “15 Ways to Become Indispensable at Work” If you are one of the people who solves problem for a living, you are already indispensable- especially if you do it with tools. There are some good points in this article that work well for our profession, but sometimes don’t mesh when it comes to their application. Going above and beyond is great - if you’re getting paid for it! In the Automotive Industry it is easy for entire organizations to hinge on a singular “Indispensable” individual, but the better the communication is within the group, and the more the group is committed to continual development - the more the load gets spread and the more total money can be made. 

Also Uncle Jimmy cleans the shop for his mental health. 

This episode is distributed by The Wrenching Network. Whether you're a technician, a mechanic, or someone who just loves the car scene, The Wrenching Network is a place that you have to check out. They have all sorts of great content, gear, and snacks to keep you turning wrenches in whatever capacity you do it. Also if you see us over there, make sure you say hi and leave a comment with what you think about the episode!