Grease The Wheels Podcast

Latest Episodes:

Episode 207: Conflict Aug 17, 2022

Show notes

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!

Episode 206: Communication Aug 10, 2022

Show notes

Send us Fan Mail

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.

Episode 205: Stupid Aug 03, 2022

Show notes

Send us Fan Mail

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.

Episode 204: Don’t F***ing Do It Jul 27, 2022

Show notes

Send us Fan Mail

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.

Episode 203: Passion Ball Jul 20, 2022

Show notes

Send us Fan Mail

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.

Episode 202: Indispensable Jul 13, 2022

Show notes

Send us Fan Mail

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.

Episode 201: The Grind Jul 06, 2022

Show notes

Send us Fan Mail

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.

Episode 200: Service Manager To-Do List Jun 29, 2022

Show notes

Send us Fan Mail

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.

Episode 199: Service Advisor Love Jun 22, 2022

Show notes

Send us Fan Mail

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.

Episode 198: Service Advisor Hater Jun 15, 2022

Show notes

Send us Fan Mail

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.

Our TOPPODCAST Picks

Follow Us

Stay Connected

Related Podcasts

Links

Stay Connected