75% Percentage of owners of vehicles newer than two years who get all the recommended maintenance. When the vehicle is between 2 and 5 years old, that falls to 64%. When the car is older than 5 years, only about…
By Susan Hitchon There’s no question that loyal clients are highly coveted in any industry. Under stable or normal market conditions, almost any business owner would agree that client loyalty needs to be at the top of the priority…
By Allan Haberman If you think advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) are brand new on the automotive scene, you might be surprised to find out they’ve actually been around for a long time. In fact, the earliest systems are now…
By Bruce Eccles Few things can frustrate my technicians more than a missing wheel key. And nothing spoils the mood in the office like an unreasonable customer. Funny how these two situations are often go hand-in-hand! Dealerships can get…
By Jeff Mowatt Have you ever had a potential customer who seemed nervous and reserved, rather than excited about doing business with you? It happened in a weird way for me. The senior managers seated around the boardroom table…
By Allan Janssen Two automotive trends have come together to create new opportunities for aftermarket chassis and suspension manufacturers. On the one hand, public appetite for robust SUVs and light trucks has grown dramatically in recent years. Indeed, by some…
By Bob Greenwood Measuring the productivity of individual employees is important in any business. It’s a valuable statistic to track, and is an excellent starting point for a staff review, encouragement, and sometimes counselling. But what about team productivity? Can…
By Allan Janssen There are plenty of ways to lose money in a repair shop. Avoiding the pitfalls in the bays, the manager’s office and at the front counter is what defines success in this business. When it comes to…
By Zara Wishloff Gamification is a new buzz word in the marketing world. It refers to adding the aesthetics and functionality of games into things that are not really games at all. You’ll see it everywhere if you know where…
By David Bry Diesels have long had an image problem. They were known to be smelly, slow, and dirty. But that picture is very much out of date. Diesels don’t stink like they used to. Many are extremely powerful. And…
Top 10 vehicle platforms 1. Volkswagen’s PQ35 (A5) 32,675,765 units (2.6%) 2. Nissan/Renault’s B Platform 24,152,170 units (1.9%) 3. Volkswagen’s NQB 14,420,969 units (1.2%) 4. Volkswagen’s PQ24 (A04) Platform 13,197,432 units (1.1%) 5. Peugeot’s PF1 12,832,679 units (1.0%) 6. Toyota’s…
˙Could this be someone’s way of making brake pads last longer? David Kelsey of D. Kelsey Auto Repair in St. John’s, Nfld., found one brake pad welded onto another on a 2015 Civic. “It is unreal that our province of…