Auto Repair and Auto Sales – The Evil Twins

We’ve all heard the horror stories about auto repair and auto sales. Everyone knows at least somebody who’s had a terrible experience. With auto repair, it may be getting ripped-off or not getting a repair fixed right the first time. With auto sales, it may be the sleazy tactics or hidden charges. What’s rarely discussed is the misery and despair experienced by the folks that work in the automotive industry. How do these people feel? The dark underworld of the auto industry wreaks havoc not just on your lives, but also on the lives of those that toil under its greasy thumb. So what does this mean for you?

If you have ever worked for an incompetent, autocratic manager, then you’ll have an idea of what it’s like to work in the car industry. From manufacturers and top executives to directors and managers, the auto industry is full of individuals that epitomize old-school, dictatorial leadership. These so-called leaders miss the most fundamental aspects of their critical roles and pile pressure and blame on their employees. Rather than inspiring and building them up during hard times, they’re shuffled out the door, replaced by even less experienced workers.

The turn over rate in the car business is incredibly high. What few realize is that the industry is set up this way. Folks don’t leave or get fired because the tasks are hard – all jobs have their difficulties. It’s because the focus is not (and has never been) on investing in and retaining quality employees. When one employee leaves, another is put in their place in a heartbeat.

While this may seem like a sweeping generalization, there are few on the inside who haven’t felt the ugliness of the above strategy. Employees are frequently pitted against one another in a fight to earn the company more profit. For example, a senior car salesman, upon return from his vacation, found that two new salesman had been hired. That this occurred in a down economy was hard enough. What was harder was that the total number of sales leads was now being divided 8 ways instead of 6. With no “increase” in leads, this simply meant he was going to be earning less, despite his time with the company and regardless of his experience and sales prowess.

Similar scenarios occur in auto repair. Veteran technicians have repeatedly noted that easy, profitable work is dispatched to new, younger technicians, while they are burdened with repairs no one else can fix. Although the veterans usually earn more per hour, the newer technicians often bill more hours with the easy work and thus earn more money each week. That service managers lack the skill to recognize and fix this is highlighted in the article: The Truth About Automotive Service Managers @ Auto Repair

What this means for you, and you may have already guessed, is the continuation of the horror stories about auto repair and auto sales. It is truly an industry shrouded in a dark underworld of incompetence, lies, and profit-seeking leaders who will do anything to “hit the number.” If and when the car industry wakes up, it may indeed begin to be truly profitable, and to shake off the misery and despair felt by so many in its employ and in need of its services.