On this week’s episode of Grease the Wheels, Uncle Jimmy unveils the K-Plan. This is a system that shops and dealerships can use to basically build a farm system for their new technicians while rewarding the technicians that train them to a level of autonomous productivity. It benchmarks what people know against what the new people have to learn, providing clear expectations for knowledge and how a shop wants things done. We also get into the Master-Apprentice relationship and what that needs to be like for long term success. We have been working on it for a while, and that is why the episodes have been bi-weekly! We finally needed it so bad, that we ended up building it! 

Also Uncle Jimmy calls his shot and does an impression of the outgoing president. 

On this weeks episode of Grease the Wheels, Uncle Jimmy gets into how to get along with your coworkers better. As the weather begins to cool, yes even in Texas, the doors of the shop are going to stay closed more often and you’ll be working in closer quarters. The better that you all get along determines the overall vibe in the back of the house as well, so try to be helpful and courteous. Creating a cohesive atmosphere in the shop is important to getting along, which can make you more money in the long run and lead to lower turnover. 
 
 Also Uncle Jimmy keeps it above the belt when it comes to service advisors. 

On this week’s episode of Grease the Wheels, Uncle Jimmy makes some of his own lists as to why people are not joining the automotive trades, although the current slate of youngsters is picking it up more than the millennials and Gen X did. There are tons of reasons both internal to the shop and external that cause people to leave the automotive profession. Societal pressures for 4 year degrees, lack of access, and even a lack of passion for vehicles have caused the ranks to dwindle - but the real carnage happens inside the shop. From this being an incredibly physical job, to inept and uncaring management, the automotive service industry is fraught with challenges. This is why so many people who get into the automotive trades end up leaving. However, the biggest problem is the rapid pace of advancement for the cars that we work on and the compensation that we receive to do it. 

Also Erik forgets to hit “publish”

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! 

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!

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! 

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! 

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! 

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!  

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! 

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! 

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! 

On this week’s episode we delve into the churning gears of capitalism and talk about the Grind. The Grind begins the moment your feet hit the floor, and with the sheer amount of knowledge that we have to do our job, it doesn’t stop until our heads hit the pillow. This week we are going over the article, “Five Common Traits of Savvy People Who Escape the Rate Race” and straight away - two thumbs up! One of the best ways to beat the grind while you’re still in it is to make sure that you use all of your allotted vacation time, because after only a few years of not using any of it you will begin to notice that you’re wearing very thin. It’s also a good time to brush up the resume and get out and talk to some of the other shops either in your area or possibly the area you are vacationing to see what they're looking for and what they pay. We also go deeper into the idea of working for yourself and talking all of the money for the labor you produce in various capacities, and we are here to be a resource for what you need to get started. 

Also Uncle Jimmy exposes one of the weak links of connected cars and talks about some of his favorite people who escaped the grind. 

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! 

On this week’s episode of Grease the Wheels, Uncle Jimmy goes into what the internet thinks is the top 10 causes of cars breaking down. Some of these haven’t been relevant in almost 30 years, while some of these we have never seen once in our wrenching careers - this is a bit dated so we have a fair bit of fun with it. In a weird semantic sort of argument, a lot of these are more “reasons why your car isn’t working in the first place” rather than the cause of mid-trip breakdowns. We also get into some of the incredible advancements in user friendliness that cars have baked into themselves over the past 50 years, as well as Uncle Jimmy’s own personal “I wasn’t home yet!” experience. Coolant, charging systems, and tires are more the culprit to modern breakdowns, but you already knew that! This is a jam-packed, double-barrelled episode that you are not going to want to miss even though you probably won’t learn anything! Wait, we lied! Tune in for how to easily diagnose starter motor batteries on some of your various high voltage, mild hybrid vehicles.

Also Uncle Jimmy lists his favorite repair manuals. 

On this week’s episode of Grease the wheels, we take a look at, ‘9 Things that Service Managers Should Do”. Right off the bat, the problems have not changed in the 10 years since this article was written, and in some points it is weirdly prophetic. Overall, this article pitches a lot of pretty solid things such as: regularly reviewing the calls that service advisors make in order to figure out where to make more money. As a tech, this can often be infuriating as the service advisor downplays or outright neglects to tell the customer of repairs that their car needs - but this problem can be devastating to a Service Manager. At the end of the day, a good service manager should be able to do most of the jobs of the people that they manage and that is not limited to writing repair orders. Often times service manager are called on to be the customer service lightning rod, but the best ones use that to make their shop run better. What does your Service Manager do right? What does your Service Manager not do right? We want to know! 

Also Uncle Jimmy calls for a standardization of the number of points on a vehicle multipoint inspection. 

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! 

On this week’s episode of Grease the Wheels, we get to the bread of the complement sandwich with Service Advisors and give them some serious tips and tricks on how to do their job better. This of course comes with the underlying message that if you find yourself seriously deficient in any of these categories, you may want to exit the business. You have to have the right personality to be successful as a service advisor. For Example, if you have deep seated racism or misogyny, you’re pretty much automatically disqualified from being a service advisor - because literally anyone can come in for anything on any given day, and if they’re coming to you, they typically have a problem that needs to be solved. However, one of the more bleak outlooks on this job is that even if you do everything right, people are still going to hate you because you are going to tell them things that they don’t want to hear. Also, being proficient in the written and spoken word is really non-negotiable, you have to be able to communicate because that is 95% of your job. So if you can handle the B.S from customers, management, and technicians - you might just have what it takes to be a success as a Service Advisor in the Automotive Industry. 

Also Uncle Jimmy breaks down the history of loaner 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! 

On this week’s episode of Grease the Wheels, Uncle Jimmy goes over what complaints customers have about Service Advisors on an industry wide basis. Turns out customers and technicians are in agreement on a lot of this list! From diagnosing from the chair and being wrong, to not getting the entire story on upcoming issues and incomprehensible promise times - the rift in the perception of what we do to the public eye begins and ends with the Service Advisors. Uncle Jimmy pitches a few lines that all service advisors should add to their customer interaction such as: “Barring any unforeseen circumstances…”, and removing such phrases as “goodwill repair”. That is of course if you can find one at all! Let us know on facebook what service advisors can do that will make both their lives and our lives easier!

Also Uncle Jimmy proposes the terrifying new concept of “Monday the 13th” and does a terrible impression of Anthony Kiedis. 

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! 

On this week's episode of Grease the Wheels, Uncle Jimmy dives into the disgusting swamps of the forums to find out what customers really think about us as automotive mechanics. In the process, he ends up making the case that typically the most ignorant voice their opinions the loudest on the internet, often with flimsy reasoning or dubious evidence. Some of the negative experiences that people had with their mechanic’s were simple misunderstandings, while others might have been entirely chalked up to ignorance on their/the mechanic’s part. At the end of the day the fact that everything in the world keeps moving is a testament to the fact that at least some of us are good at our jobs. But given the sheer volume of things moving, we would argue that that makes a LOT of us good at our jobs, even when the general public has a less than stellar image of us. We also get into how doing some of the little things can be the biggest word of mouth advertiser there is.

Also Uncle Jimmy misspells “savvy” and gives the killer method to get you off of the “car extended warranty” call lists permanently. 

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! 

On this week’s episode of Grease the Wheels, Uncle Jimmy thanks all of our fallen service members in addition to all of the wrench twisting folks who keep the world moving, However, we are still very much in the throes of “The Great Resignation”, so we are talking about some of the scientific reasons why people quit their jobs. Most of them are complete no-brainers, such as not getting paid enough and not being recognized for the work that you do. However, when you compound that with rapidly rising prices, you are going to get a whole lot of people who are no longer on board. We also get into the very real concept of burnout, and how the average worker in America adds tons of job responsibilities in order to justify higher wages. Those higher wages ARE actually a good way to combat burnout, but they will not solve the underlying problems within your organization that cause people to burn out unless the processes and procedures are improved.

Also Uncle Jimmy does some stereotypically BMW owner driving on the American Autobahn. 

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! 

On this week’s episode of Grease the Wheels, Uncle Jimmy gets into some of the cold hard economics of the current automotive technician labor market and talks about how to get a raise. When techs can’t afford to live in the city that they work in, you are going to have major personnel problems- you don't have to be JD Rockefeller to figure that one out. When you throw the rampant inflation into the mix, the situation becomes a lot more acute and visible. The pain is real, and wages need to go up. How do you do that? Ask for a Raise. On this week’s episode we take a look at some white collar tips and tricks to getting a raise and jerry rig them to fit the utter insanity of the automotive market. There is a fair bit of science to it, but if you time it correctly and have the skills to back it up, if your manager doesn't give you a raise, they’re asking you to leave!     

Also Uncle Jimmy DayDreams about channeling Keith Moon in the exit interview while pitching some of his favorite business concepts. 

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! 

On this week’s episode of Grease the Wheels, Uncle Jimmy goes over a laundry list of things that you shouldn’t say to your manager in a while collar setting, that more often than not you SHOULD say to your manager in a blue collar setting. Reminding your manager of “The Great Resignation” works well in a white collar setting, but in the trades it punches just that little bit harder. When you get to the automotive trades, it can be a powerful tool to leverage higher wages in the face of a continuing economic downturn made only worse by inflation that Jimmy hasn’t seen since he was a wee-lad. Bottom line, good communication with a manager doesn’t happen in the automotive industry often, because more often than not they are a lightning rod for everyone from the customer, service managers, techs, and other management. When you have good communication with management you’re more able to solve problems they way they are supposed to be solved instead of the way it is always done. 

Also Uncle Jimmy drops one of the best conspiracies out there: management listening to GTW! 

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! 

On this week’s episode of Grease the Wheels, Uncle Jimmy fires up the Delorean and goes back to the magical time of 1972 to figure out if technicians were better off then or now. The most shocking thing that we uncovered is the concept of “Flat Rate Percentage” which is an awesome way to get paid that desperately needs to make a comeback (and never, EVER will!). As far as the cars go, technicians were way better off, because odds are that in 1972 somewhere in Middle America, you’re probably not working on anything more or less complicated than a GM A-Body. Now, absolutely nothing on the road is anywhere near that simple because of government emissions standards - but some of the components still work in the same way because the laws of physics haven't changed much. The overwhelming thing that we have noticed though between those two worlds is that the price of everything has gone up, and our wages have not kept up despite the incredible levels of complexity to the systems that we have to work on every single day! 

Also Uncle Jimmy briefly talks geo-politics. 

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! 

On this week’s episode of Grease the Wheels, Uncle Jimmy gets into the weeds on some of the perceptions that the general public has about various factions of the automotive repair industry. For good or for ill, your reputation as a mechanic is tied directly to your shop’s reputation, and as this survey suggests, having that reputation being well represented in the form of glowing reviews can make you a lot of extra money. How trustworthy are dealerships? How well do quick lube places know their stuff? Do Indy shops sell unneeded work? All of these questions and MANY more are answered in this podcast! 

Also Uncle Jimmy works on the theory of “Genre Shops” and shamelessly plugs his love for Rock Auto. 

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!

On this week’s episode of Grease the Wheels, Uncle Jimmy takes aim at some of the glaring fallacies of articles running down mechanics on the internet. This article states that saying a phrase like “I wouldn’t drive that very far” as a mechanic should disqualify them from servicing a customer’s car. However, this fails to take into account whether or not cords are hanging out of the tires and the brakes are metal to metal, and the ball joints are hanging on by a thread; this becomes less a matter of feeling and more about objective reality that you shouldn’t drive that car very far if you’re not going to get those issues fixed. We also get into the savage statistics of “common problems” and what constitutes that designation. There are a lot of major misconceptions about mechanics mainly propagated by the management of our shops and dealerships, but we definitely have a solution that will not only allow us to rebuild our reputation with the public, but also put more money into your pocket for the work that you do.

Also Uncle Jimmy explains the mechanics of lighter weight oils and “Loaner Car ghosting” before rattling off some of his favorite knockoff tire brands. 

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! 

In this week’s heavily delayed episode of Grease the Wheels, Uncle Jimmy talks about the people who think the world revolves around them. We also do a seriously deep dive on the differences between being confident and being arrogant - turns out it's a pretty fine line dictated entirely by how you treat people! You can have tons of knowledge and use it for all the right reasons, but the minute you can’t back it up, or problems are suddenly not you daily - you’ve made the switch. Confidence isn’t a bad thing, and can go a seriously long way towards advancing your career, but when it traverses into arrogance, people are going to start rooting for you to fail! 

Also Uncle Jimmy wants your “Ego Check Moment” Stories!

On this week’s episode of Grease the Wheels, we talk about how we respond to the naturally chaotic and often perpetual stupidity that we deal with on a daily basis. The natural response to this is anger, but if you’re in Texas like Uncle Jimmy, they will kill you if you kill someone- even if they are stupid! Instead we talk about some of the more practical ways to not get old sparky when you lose your cool with people. Trying to remain calm almost never works when it comes from the outside, but when it comes from within and is met with being able to recognize some of the physical signs of anger, you can get out in front of it. Throw one tool and someone sees it, congrats you now a “ tool thrower”. At the end of the day though, being able to control and use your anger is a very useful skill to have, because small doses of anger get the job done. However, this comes with the very human fact that some of the most irrational stuff that people do happens because they’re angry. 

Also Uncle Jimmy describes his father’s mood-ring setting and massively underestimates just how funny he is when he is losing his shit; specifically in the content coming out of his mouth as opposed to it just being funny that he is pissed off. 

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! 

On this week’s episode of Grease the Wheels, we deal with the image the public has when it comes to the people who fix their cars: they think we’re scumbags! Are we dirty? We definitely can be; when you’re dealing with things as gross as other people’s cars you can get really dirty! As far as looking the part, point taken but the second part of being a scumbag lies in how you treat others. If you are one of the people who keeps the world moving by fixing things, it is hard to actually be a scumbag because you are performing such an important service. However, if you’re not doing it above board, not fixing the problems correctly, or just blatantly ripping off your customers - congrats you’re a scumbag but in the pejorative way. We say that we are all scumbags because that is the light the society has cast our profession in, in what Uncle Jimmy calls, “employment racism”. There are a lot of ways that we are working to improve our image as a whole, but the biggest way that people are doing that is with their feet, as they leave the industry in droves with no one to replace them. All we can do as the people who turn the wrenches is remind the general public, “when was the last time you paid THE MECHANIC?”

Also Uncle Jimmy describes pick-and-pull haute couture. 

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! 

On this week’s episode of Grease the Wheels, Uncle Jimmy doesn’t skimp on the praise as we talk about how employers can appreciate their employees, and tailor it more to the automotive industry. Appreciation is best shown in the Automotive Industry through paying well and trying to make the job as bearable as possible. Balanced feedback prevents managing from the negative, which can be a big problem for more sales based managers. Also, a healthy amount of respect also goes a long way as well, because all of the wrench twisting bastards really were the people who kept the world moving in a time when the veil of society seemed(seems) perilously thin. Also Uncle Jimmy goes over an R/O with the sitting president, and goes over science fiction that car’s have become in the last two decades. As the great Squirrely Dan says, “and that’s what I’s appreciates’s about’s ya’s”

Also Uncle Jimmy tackles complex paradoxes: 1. Getting more work done when your manager ISN'T there. And 2. How good employees never stay and bad employees never leave in poorly run shops. 

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! 

On this week’s episode of Grease the Wheels we take a look back at some of the finer points of the origins of this show: how little auto mechanics are paid and why. The numbers are pretty pathetic and for a lot of us wouldn’t even get us to return an employer’s calls if they offered us a job at that wage. This of course has precipitated a disastrous drop in the amount of people doing the job which will only get worse as time goes on. However, we look at the ways to command a higher price when applying for jobs, anyone with all of their ASE training (even though we have mixed feelings about their effectiveness) and having experience and training in EV/Hybrid drive vehicles is going to be worth their weight in gold. 

Also Uncle Jimmy pitches the most original fix to the technician shortage yet: reanimating the corpses of dead technicians to fill the empty bay next to 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! 

On this week’s episode of Grease the Wheels, we look at the final bit of the employment process- the point where you have had enough or circumstances change and you need a new job. There are a lot of really good reasons to quit your job as an auto mechanic: partner gets a better job somewhere else - go with them, cars break everywhere! Wanting to go back to school is usually a pretty good way to get a raise and get out of that stuck feeling. We also talk about some of the ways that someone quitting actually affects a shop, for instance the immediate pay bump to everyone else when the workload remains the same and the number of people doing it has been reduced. We briefly touch upon “rage quitting” which is not an unfamiliar topic to anyone in the automotive industry, but this is a more in depth look at the reasons why people quit. We definitely want to hear those rage quit stories though, they almost never disappoint! Weather your departure is going to be spectacular with donuts, or more of a prolonged leave to take care of a sick family member; there are a lot of good reasons to Grease the Wheels.

Also Uncle Jimmy poorly explains Onlyfans and completely forgets that the best opportunity for a technician's career advancement is to start their own 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! 

On this week’s episode of Grease the Wheels, we are talking about happiness in the workplace. Seems like a bit of an oxymoron in the automotive industry, but Uncle Jimmy is co-opting articles written for cubicle workers for Auto Mechanics again, so hilarity ensues. The key to being happy at work is in maintaining a good work-life balance and there is a lot to unpack there. Some of the best tips for this include checking the baggage for one at the door of the other, and mentally training yourself to forget work when you see a mental save point at a specific point on your commute home. We also talk about the declining efficacy of the Pizza Party as a management tool, but it has amazing effects when it is unplanned (or involves doughnuts). But what really makes people happy or unhappy in most instances are the people that they work with, so we encourage you to go paint balling or drinking with them regularly.  

Also Uncle Jimmy and his shop get murdered in softball and looks for old cars for sale on Facebook Marketplace as a form of therapy.

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! 

On this week’s episode of Grease the Wheels, we complete the interview process by coming up with some intelligent questions to ask your interviewers. Admittedly, we have covered a lot of this in the last two episodes, so this is a bit more general (if you hate pushing cars, make sure you ask how they get dead cars into the shop) Asking the person you are interviewing with some of these more broad questions will be more helpful, because they might not know a lot of the specifics about equipment, those questions are better left for other technicians in your perspective shop. Also we give an incredible piece of advice for anyone hiring technicians in 2022, bring in one of your trusted technicians as a built in bulls*** detector! It works every single time if your tech knows what they're talking about, and can give you an advantage if a prospective hire thinks they are all that, and they’re not! 

Also Uncle Jimmy describes working in a family business and the pull factors of working on German cars in a warzone.

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! 

On this week’s episode of Grease the Wheels, we continue to explore how to game job interviews with well thought out answers to the most common job interview questions. The important thing to remember when you are getting interviewed is that this is also an interview between you and the shop, so find out as much information as you can from the people that already work there. If the narrative that your potential employer is giving you is massively divergent from the operational realities on the ground, it will be pretty easy to figure out. We also talk about using up all of your vacation time before giving your two week notice, because that is one of those legal things that gets a bit sticky sometimes, and often its a lot better to have the time off before a big change so you’re fresh and ready to rock and roll at your new shop. Do people even give two weeks notice in the automotive industry? Sometimes, but if you broach the subject some more short sighted management might just show you the door immediately. 

Also Uncle Jimmy contemplates whether or not your manager driving a Volvo projects strength or weakness, and comes up with one of the best game plans for nailing job interviews in the Automotive Industry. 

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!

On this week’s episode of Grease the Wheels, Uncle Jimmy goes over the top 50 questions asked during job interviews. We are still in the throes of “The Great Resignation” which started at the end of last year and is still going strong with people leaving jobs en masse. How is it affecting the automotive industry? Well, if the want ads are any suggestion, it isn't helping anything. If you are looking to grease your wheels, this two-part episode will give you the questions that you are most likely to be asked, because most HR managers can't be bothered to come up with their own interview questions, so they're likely to take them straight off of google. We just want you to think about them and have some sort of response planned. We also go into the idea that if you straight up walk out of an interview when the pay offer is insufficient, it will eventually give hiring managers and owners the hint. 

Also Uncle Jimmy settles the “wearing a suit to a job interview” debate with personal experience, and says all of the things you shouldn’t ever say if you’re looking to get hired!

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!  

On this week’s episode of Grease the Wheels, Uncle Jimmy recounts a recent experience of taking a test for employment and flips the script by coming up with his own survey for you to send potential shops. Obviously sending it as an attachment with your resume might get you disqualified for the job right away, it’s just the nature of the industry. However, if you can snag an interview you often get the chance to ask questions like, “how do you get dead cars into the shop?” or “does all of your equipment work?” and watch their answer. If they give an answer that is satisfactory but sounds like BS, it probably is! One of the best parts of the interview process is watching these people squirm when they don’t have an answer, which will tell you a lot more about them while also speaking volumes to what you value in an employer. 

Standby for the questionnaire to send to prospective shops. We will throw it on the website once we are done updating 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! 

On this week’s episode of Grease the Wheels, Uncle Jimmy takes aim at the divide that exists in many dealerships between the sales and fixed ops departments. It has been noted by several sources that while many techs could sell a car in a pinch - almost no one in your sales department could do anything if they needed to prep a car for delivery, or fix something that was going wrong with it. With the way that the internet is going they really shouldn’t act too big for their britches, but we are a long way off from AI being able to swing a hammer or torch up suspension components. We also go back into the CDK SNAFU, because it is still making lives miserable. 

Also Uncle Jimmy goes 3 for 5 on “reasons no one takes you seriously!” 

On this week’s episode of Grease the Wheels, Uncle Jimmy finds an article on the internet that almost sounds like it was written by someone who listens to this show. The article: Four Reasons for the Technician Shortage, and the first one is money! This guy gets it! The only real part that we disagree with is the idea that the technician shortage could become a crisis, we only disagree because it already is a crisis. We also get into the discussion about working conditions and some of our favorite dilapidated repair shops. The final part of the conversation is a bit more complicated because of the optics of auto mechanics in the general zeitgeist: people don’t respect mechanics/technicians because they think that we are ripping them off. To which we respond with the GTW greatest hit, “when was the last time you paid the mechanic?”

Also Uncle Jimmy adds some auto mechanic caliber language to an extremely well written article about a very real problem. 

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! 

On this week’s episode of Grease the Wheels, we talk about listening, because it’s something that pretty much everyone in our industry is bad at. That’s not entirely true, tech’s are usually pretty good about listening to other techs especially when the information that can make their job easier - or just general shop banter. Other than that though, no one is listening. We also go into reasons for why people aren’t listening: people who constantly whine and complain are generally disregarded because their input isn’t always relevant. There is a lot to listening and being a good listener, but when you are you become an invaluable asset to whatever organization you’re in: because as an Auto Technician or a technician of any type (or whatever else you do) you are a problem solver, and problem solver’s get things done! Pair that with quick and effective communication and you have a recipe for getting a lot of stuff done. 

Also Uncle Jimmy is still salty about the Bills loss and talks about the fear of clowns. 

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! Also make sure you check out the Curien N2 Neuron Bluetooth Automotive Graphing Meter- it’s the stocking stuffer you will actually use! 

On this week’s Grease the Wheels we talk about the inherent difference between Proactive and Reactive in the Automotive Industry, as well as some of the ramifications that being too heavy on one or the other can cause. As a rule of thumb, you should probably be a bit of both: being able to prevent fires in your shop or dealership is just as important as being able to handle them when they show up. By fires, we are usually talking about customers and some of the “unexpected” repairs that we quote. We know that no one ever actually looks at their tires, we just get really annoyed when they somehow try to make it our problem. We also talk about some ways that management can be more proactive and how to be quicker on the draw when you need to react and solve a problem that you didn’t expect. Finally we circle back to the idea that being proactive is one of the ways to make sure that you own the job instead of the job owning you: and this is good for everyone, not just Auto Technicians. 

Also Uncle Jimmy talks about destroying things as a “ute”

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! Also make sure you check out the Curien N2 Neuron Bluetooth Automotive Graphing Meter- it’s the stocking stuffer you will actually use! 

On this week’s episode of Grease the Wheels, Uncle Jimmy describes the contents of the automotive pandora’s box when it comes to all of the crazy chaos we run into. The difference here is that we have actually found some ways to attempt to minimize the chaos. People pay us to handle the chaos, and how well you handle the chaos can determine how much you are actually worth. So Uncle Jimmy came up with both a list and an anti-list for when it comes to dealing with the daily chaos of the automotive industry.

 Also, “customers are the sperm-donors for the birth of chaos”- Uncle Jimmy

How to and how not to avoid chaos:

Take Ownership: this applies to everyone in the building. Be the person who solves the problem instead of someone who hands it off. The Service Advisor takes ownership of the customer and finding out information that could aid in the diagnosis and repair, while the technician takes ownership for the repair and never the two shall meet. 

• -OR- Refuse to take ownership of anything 

Clearly Communicate

• -OR- Be as vague as humanly possible

Power Through: when people bring you chaos, grab it by the throat and use your skills to dispatch it.

• -OR-Complain through it: because after all- “F*** that car!”

Work Through Lunch (once in a while): even if you’re just going to mop up some waiters, sometimes working through lunch gives you some easy hours. 

• -OR- Go to lunch whenever you feel like for as long as you want, especially when you see a bunch of waiters. 

Pay Attention to the Details: you can prevent chaos in the future. When you get a leaking oil pan on video during an oil service and then the car comes back a week later with a spun rod bearing- thats an expensive “I told you so”

• -OR- F*** the details, that person has a problem- odds are they wont buy an expensive fix so why bother. 

Complain, but offer the solution

• -OR- Complain just for complaining’s sake

Do Proper Diagnosis: doing proper diagnosis means finding out what the problem actually is. Sometimes things are a slam dunk, sometimes they’re not. But getting to the root cause of the problem is always going to cut down on the chaos. 

• -OR- Shotgun diagnosis: this is going to cause more chaos than you will ever know. The parts cannon gets expensive in a hurry and nothing can cause more chaos than getting it wrong multiple times. 

Use your senses: you can see and hear chaos coming. When you see a service advisor, a customer or a service manager- you know they would love to slice you off some of the chaos. If the car has a problem and you can see it or hear it. When you identify a problem you can solve it and remove the chaotic element from the situation. 

• -OR- Completely ignore the problems that you see and hear. This usually just results in more chaos

Say “No”, or “I'll try, but I'm not making any promises.” This comes down to the idea of under promising and over delivering- because when they have a hard deadline and something doesn't go as planned, the chaos is multiplied across the board from customer down to you. 

• -OR- No, but a lot more rude. 

Have a plan for doing your job, and own your job. There are some people who are just there. In this case, the job owns them. Having a plan will cut down on the chaos because whatever chaos comes through the door you will be prepared to handle it, because you know what you’re doing. This is when you own the job. 

• -OR- Wander Aimlessly and let  the job own you.

On this week’s episode of Grease the Wheels, Uncle Jimmy eschews finding a top 10 list from the internet, and instead makes his own and tells you some of the ramifications of not following them! This week- it's Diag Tips! 

1. Get the Whole Story: when a Service Advisor is vague and gives your Repair Orders like, “replace a tire” make sure you find out which one. “Has a leak”, well what fluid is it?- so far the weirdest answer is milk. The customer is rarely forthcoming with details especially when they are embarrassing, but getting the rest of the story as the late-great Paul Harvey would say can make it a “ Good Day!”
2. Check the Vehicle History: weather you have a host of information from a dealership network or you are just using the Carfax- there is information on the cars that we work on out there on the internet. It can make your life easier and possibly check a few things off the list of potential problems or can provide a smoking gun if not performed correctly. Obviously these things don't cover everything we have seen cars get fixed out of pocket and it never hit the Carfax all the time! Also don’t ever buy a car that was at a training center. 
3. Assume Nothing: instead find out the answer for yourself. Don’t let anyone else assume for you either- all this leads to is problems. Uncle Jimmy doing the wrong recall on a car and not getting paid for it, because he assumed it was one recall when it was in fact another. 
4. Visually Inspect Things: Every battery has a date code on it, a lot of random sensors and camera’s won’t work when they’re dirty. Sometimes you can tell a lot about a car by looking at it! Comfort Access doesn't work after you’ve sideswiped a tree. 
5.  Duplicate the Concern: When the “it sounds like there's a bowling ball in my truck” actually turns into there's a bowling ball in your trunk. We also do a deep dive on the Check engine light and why Uncle Jimmy loves it. 
6. Check the Battery- they all go dead, and before they do they can cause some seriously crazy faults!  Also take where you live into account, batteries hate extremes in heat and cold so when you get a healthy dose of one or the other, it might be the death knell for your battery. Also make sure the terminals are tightened, not naming any names- but looking at you Autozone. 
7. Scanning for Faults: there's faults in every car that hasn't just been cleared. It doesn't matter how old a car is, somewhere there is a fault where it did not do something right. We also talk about personal records for the most number of faults in a car: 312. Sometimes the faults in a scan are consistent with the complaint the customer has, but sometimes they reveal much more that the customer would rather not think about. Ground problems almost never make logical sense, so if you have seemingly unrelated systems not working, you might want to check your grounds. 
8. Check for Damage:  people drive like shit everywhere on planet earth. As a result of running into things and generally not paying attention, their cars are taking some serious damage. That vibration is probably from bent wheels, and no, we can assure you that they are not under warranty because the manufacturer did not hit that pothole for you. When a customer wants to see that their wheel is bent, put it up on the lift and spin it for them.  The bad driver tax is especially brutal on EV drivers who are looking at excruciating repair bills when they poke a hole in those battery packs by driving over something. 
9. Eyeballs: you have to look at the problem, because you might be able to see it. The worst case scenario for this is when you have to shred the car for diagnosis, just to have to put it back together because the part is on backorder and you are out of loaner cars. Because you know you will have to do this

On this week’s episode of Grease the Wheels, Uncle Jimmy does the boring and predictable thing of talking about goals for a New Years Podcast. However, this is going to be a little bit different, because as Technicians, our goal is to get paid for fixing broken things. One of Uncle Jimmy’s goals this year is to finally open the floodgates on a technological revolution that will let you work from home and collect all of the money for the labor that you create. Having goals is a good thing, but the pursuit of those goals should not and cannot be all consuming- to the point where obtaining the goal will seem anti-climactic. Also goals should be realistic and broken down into a series of obtainable steps. All of that good self help stuff, but with way more swearing about Service Advisors. Get better in ‘22 and make yourself worth more money! 

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! Also make sure you check out the Curien N2 Neuron Bluetooth Automotive Graphing Meter- it’s the stocking stuffer you will actually use! 

On this week’s Grease the Wheels Uncle Jimmy weaves a Dickensian tale about a miserly shop owner and his much more HR-oriented son. As we go, we examine how these businesses got their start, what happens when the second generation actually knows what they’re doing when it comes to the automotive industry, and the attitudes that each brings to bear in the running of day to day operations. We have all worked for a Jack Hoff - but not all of us have worked for a Ripp. That is typically because well-run shops see less turnover. It’s a bit of Norman Rockwell with a touch of “How to Make Friends and Influence People”, all after way too many Christmas Morning Bloody Mary’s. We would like to thank you all and wish you a very Merry Christmas and a happy, safe, and successful new year! 

Also Uncle Jimmy drops the hardest hitting line about the Automotive Industry of 2021, “(Jack Hoff)..had seen what a difference he (Ripp Hoff) had made, so he offered him the job of sales manager at the family dealership - but he low-balled the shit out of him!” 

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! Also make sure you check out the Curien N2 Neuron Bluetooth Automotive Graphing Meter- it’s the stocking stuffer you will actually use! 

On this week’s episode of Grease the Wheels we take a look at all of the points in your daily routine as an auto mechanic where communication breaks down. There are a hell of a lot of them. Any time you have angry people trying to communicate what is wrong with their car you are probably not going to get the whole story. By the time it gets filtered through the Service Advisor the story has changed. It is the age old game of telephone on an industrial level, and it affects your paycheck. That is why we are actually fans in principle of the video multi-point inspection and we try to lay out a good template so that you can do it effectively - but above all else you should get paid for them! We also talk about non-verbal communication, industrial management communication, and where it all goes wrong! 

Also, Uncle Jimmy vents about having a bad day before launching into one of the most concise, vulgar, and accurate tirades about the inefficiencies of communication in the automotive industry and actually backs it up with some science.

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! Also make sure you check out the Curien N2 Neuron Bluetooth Automotive Graphing Meter- this thing kicks ass and takes names!

On this week’s episode of Grease the Wheels, we take a look at an internet article that has almost nothing to do with us: how to treat your employees better. This isn’t because the industry is actively looking to make things worse, more because it was written more for office work in mind. Because let’s be real, casual Friday is pretty much every day when you’re ripping transmissions out of Silverado’s. The overall message of the article though is pretty good- employers should try to make their work environments as hospitable as possible even though they don’t have to. Also Uncle Jimmy shares his thoughts on team building, especially when the whole team isn’t invited. 

Also we talk about work from home in the automotive industry as a preview of upcoming events. 

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! Also make sure you check out the Curien N2 Neuron Bluetooth Automotive Graphing Meter- this thing kicks ass and takes names! 

On this week’s episode of Grease the Wheels, we talk about those jobs that used to be easy- until the engineers got involved! The problem that this industry has is it’s blistering rate of change, and nowhere is that more evident in some of the insane ways that engineers have packaged these vehicles to resemble 10lbs of manure in a 2lb sack! Exhibit A: Changing the spark plugs on a N55 powered BMW X3. Exhibit B: Same thing, but a 5.4L Ford V8. Jobs that could have taken 10 minutes on the right vehicle 30 years ago have turned into all day affairs in some cases. This is nothing to say of the parts that WE KNOW are going to break during the repair because the materials that they are made out of don’t really like the thermal cycles incurred by being 3mm away from a raging exhaust manifold. Also we get totally medieval on the BMW N63 V8, and explain why it’s still around and in basically everything- hint: class action lawsuits aren’t cheap. 

Also Uncle Jimmy is extremely unflattering to the Germans and wants to know: what are the worst mechanical obstacle courses that you have to do? 

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! Also make sure you check out the Curien N2 Neuron Bluetooth Automotive Graphing Meter- this thing kicks ass and takes names! 

On this week’s episode of Grease the wheels, Uncle Jimmy ventures into pseudo actual journalism talking about the recent cyber attack and ransomware woes of CDK. This one was a big one- big ransome and big outage. This has completely crippled thousands of shops and dealerships across the country being locked out of the software that they use to run the business both front and back, as the articles seemed to have forgotten about the back of the house. Being a solutions oriented person like all of you are, we knew the answer was simple: go back to analogue! Even the fact that the sales manager is chain smoking Lucky Strikes out of pure stress is right out of 1977! Handwritten Repair Orders and sales documents are back, for now at least. This is an interesting opportunity for all of the Reynolds shops as well, because this could definitely happen to any cloud based customer resource software. The business opportunities for R&R just shot through the roof too, because no one wants to be without this technology for long. We just sincerely hope that it doesn’t result in payroll errors, which cause shops all around to hear the greasing of wheels.

Also Uncle Jimmy is fully prepped to work at “Kaczynski Chevrolet” and murders corporate press releases. 

On this week’s episode of Grease the Wheels, we take a dive into the median salary for auto technicians by state. The worst part of this is that the highest median income actually comes from the District of Columbia which isn’t even a state, and all of the other highest median incomes come in states where the cost of living is outrageous to the point where people are fleeing (looking at you California). At the end of the day we all heard it in tech school: “you can earn 100k as an auto technician” but we seriously hope that you didn’t have to break your ass too bad getting there and can maintain a good work-life balance. We got this week’s episode right from UTI and when you take a look at the actual numbers they put that 100k earning level into a pretty stark light in a hurry. 

Also Uncle Jimmy is thankful for family, you all, and not living in California.

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! Also make sure you check out the Curien N2 Neuron Bluetooth Automotive Graphing Meter- this thing kicks ass and takes names! 

On this week’s episode of Grease the wheels, Uncle Jimmy dives into “11 Things I Wish I Knew Before Becoming a Technician” with the resounding thud of “wow, only 11?” What are the things that no one tells you about before going into the automotive industry? Some of this is a bit redundant, because how could you not know some of these things. Do your training- yea, how is that not possible with the rate of technological change in the cars that we work on. The learning curve of this occupation is steep any way you slice it, and there really isn’t an end in sight. However, we also do a bit of a dive into the economics behind starting your own shop as being the best way to translate your skills into serious financial gains! It’s a jam packed episode for everyone from the guy who wants to leave to the brand new guy, so tune in!   

Also Uncle Jimmy gets recall work on a system that he has nearly constantly lampooned, and we want to hear from you: what did YOU wish YOU knew before becoming a technician? 

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! Also make sure you check out the Curien N2 Neuron Bluetooth Automotive Graphing Meter- this thing kicks ass and takes names! 

On this week's episode of Grease the Wheels, we take aim at more automotive misinformation from the ill-informed passing themselves off as someone who knows about cars on the internet. So gather round boys and girls, customers and service advisors, techs of all types: this is one where we get to shred someone for being a moron! After all, the holidays are coming up, right? A little peace-on-earth at the expense of the stupid is a great way to raise shop morale. Check your sources especially when it comes to things that you read on the internet, in this case “Setting the Facts Straight on Common Car Myths” Are electric cars are more likely to catch on fire? Are larger vehicles safer than smaller cars? Can Muscle-Cars turn? Are all SUV’s good off-road? These questions and many more get put under the blazing light of a mushroom cloud on this week’s GTW.

Also Uncle Jimmy talks about accidentally lighting a Power Wagon on fire. 

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!