Yeah, we are expecting 10" of snow by tomorrow morning. I look at this as a positive thing as it gives us an extra day to get the shop ready and we can turn away repair work without question....and the phone hasn't been ringing much anyway. Once the cold snap happens in a few days ( 10 degrees and less ) cars will be breaking by the dozen and we need to be ready.
Yes. We already had free wifi at the old location. I thought it was secure, but one of my friends that is a MINI owner took a look at my settings and fixed everything to be much more secure.
You don't want customers wifi to be secure. If it is, they can't readily access it. You want YOUR wifi to be secure. My doctors office has wifi that requires a password. It's supposed to be for waiting patients use but, since it's password protected, nobody can use it. Worthless.
We have it set with a password and the password is written in a visible location. I change the password every month. I don't want to leave it unsecured as there are condos next door to the shop.
22 January 2014. Day 22
Not much to report. We all made it to the shop on time despite the snow. The contractors did not come though. Joey spent her day taping and spackling. Ryan and I spent our day moving the smaller stuff. I have the front end computer set up in the entrance too. By the end of today, we will be a functioning shop, but not done with the build. I still have the phone calls forwarded to my cell phone and we won't have our credit card machine or internet functional until Friday.
The only thing I must have done today is to get our sign on the building. Anything other than that is second of importance.
We have it set with a password and the password is written in a visible location. I change the password every month. I don't want to leave it unsecured as there are condos next door to the shop.
Dave
If you have unlimited data, it wouldn't matter but I see your point. Having the password in a visible location would do it.
If there's someone doing something illegal on it, leaving it unsecure is a major issue.
x2, use a service like opendns, its free and will limit what the average customer (or employee) can get to, anyone with enough know-how to get around dns filtering, well, they are more then likely going to get around anything you setup.
the small amount of people you have access the wifi and the fact that they will be in a public place, I doubt anyone would chance doing anything too bad on it tho. might wana change your password 2x a month tho, just my opinion.
edit: I would makesure the customer wifi is a separate network then what your work systems are on tho... most access points support multi SSID's and vlans.
now back on topic, shops looking good!!
[This message has been edited by hookdonspeed (edited 01-23-2014).]
My SSID for my side of the shop is not broadcasted, so unless you know it is there, the average guy can't find it. The guest account is listed as Autobahn Guest and I'll keep the password on it for my safety.
23 January 2014. Day 23
I spent most of the day pissed off as the electrician and I are not seeing eye to eye. They stopped showing up and when they were there working (there are 3 of them), they had such a crappy attitude about work. I made a priority list as to what I needed done in what order and they were doing it backwards. I finally had it out and got them to at least get the alignment rack and the air compressor wired up. They are at double what they quoted me and not near done. The head guy worked sooo slow and kept saying he didn't care cause he got paid hourly. The apprentice looked like he was high all the time. The owner of the company just lost additional work from my employee, Ryan who wants electric added to his boat dock and was going to use them.
We got the sign on the building. It was 8 degrees outside and we were out there drilling into the concrete. I'll take a pic today of that. We plan to add a sign to the roof to be better seen from the road.
We also had a customer drop off a six pack of Sam Adams Cold Snap for us to try. I liked it. It was very similar to Shock Top.
Other than that, Joey and Carson are cranking out getting the rest of the stuff done. Carson built the floor up by the stairs as I am up to falling 3 times so far. There is a drop down and then back up between the stairs. If you don't catch it just right, you are face planting.
The compressor is now in the basement and we just have to plumb the air.
The first coat of paint is done in the hallway.
The shop is still cluttered badly, but we are starting to take on some work to pay the bills.
Today's plan is simple. Get a few cars done. Keep prepping and painting. Hang some sheetrock. Move stuff from the old shop to the new shop.
We had our first trial run day at the new shop. There are some changes that need to be made. The floor is too slick by the bay door. I pulled a car in that had some snow on he tires and I came within millimeters of crashing into another car. We are going to add some aluminum oxide to the floor asap. We got 5 cars done yesterday even though we don't have air in the shop yet.
The internet, phone and tv got hooked up around 3pm yesterday, so I can start feeling normal again. I've had the calls forwarded to my cell and it got tricky when the calls started piling up.
I only took two pics yesterday, but today I should have some more pics to post. All the major construction should be completed today. The waiting room should be ready for use as well. All that is left is paint, air lines and organizing the shop. We have to get our street sign moved as well, but we are hoping to wait until it warms up to at least 40 degrees.
Here is Joey braving painting the edges of the corner that no one wanted to paint.
Dave
[This message has been edited by bmwguru (edited 01-25-2014).]
I'd consider adding a second compressor. It would really suck when you only have one compressor and it goes down without anything to back it up. I have two compressors in my shop just to keep up with the air demand for my 4 techs tools and shop equipment needs.
That compressor barely runs now. The only things that require air in our shop are: inflating tires during a service, the tire machine, the air locks on the alignment rack and the occasional air tool. 90% of our air tools have been switched to electric. We hand torque every wheel to ensure no torque variance. When the last compressor did break, I went down to Lowe's and picked up another and we were back in business in about an hour. Dave
[This message has been edited by bmwguru (edited 01-25-2014).]
I said I thought it looked like a skating rink to Melanie when I showed her pictures. definitely add the sand to a clear coat or how ever that's done to add some texture/grip.
Couldn't you have found a set of drywall stilts for Jo or was that really as high as it looks? Maybe gone to the local high school and got the tallest guy on the basketball team, to do that?
You definitely owe that wife of yours a night on the town after this,
edit to add ,
Without you, margaritas at the holiday inn with her girlfriends.
Steve
[This message has been edited by 84fiero123 (edited 01-25-2014).]
Once this is done and we catch up on rest...and money, there will be a celebration. I am way over budget on this move and the stress is wiping me out. By 4pm today, we were done....we were too tired to finish carrying equipment, painting or anything else. I didn't take any pics today, but by tomorrow the shop should be more organized and the waiting room complete. The carpenter/framer/builder has completed his work today, so all that is left is on us to move stuff, paint stuff and set stuff up. All I can say is that we are on schedule to have the repair shop built in my 30 day window and I am impressed with everyone who pitched in and helped (except the electricians....I would have fired them on their first day if I could have gotten a replacement in time). I will post some pics as I am proud to show off the final product. I also am looking for a day off in the very near future.
Joey and I are going to the shop today. My plan is to move more stuff from the old shop and set up the waiting room and she is going to be sanding and painting the outside walls of the entrance/lobby.
Thanks Steve....you got Joey thinking that she wanted stilts....lol
26 January 2014. Day 26
The shop is starting to come together. All that is left in the shop area aside from the outer walls of the entrance lobby are to organize and clean up.
Here is a shot of what you will see when you walk in the front door of the entrance lobby.
I still have to go out and buy door trim for all the doors. My office needs to be painted as well. I had a keypad lock installed on the office door so that I am the only one with access.
I was losing my mind today....I spent 3 hours searching for the power cord for the waiting room tv. I know that i had it yesterday, but couldn't find it today.
Dave
[This message has been edited by bmwguru (edited 01-26-2014).]
That white counter was in my old shop for 9 years and it is still pretty clean...lol. Latex gloves help absorb the grease/dirt and not transfer it back out.
Thanks Steve....you got Joey thinking that she wanted stilts....lol
26 January 2014. Day 26
I was losing my mind today....I spent 3 hours searching for the power cord for the waiting room tv. I know that i had it yesterday, but couldn't find it today.
Dave
For dry walling they are the best and quickest way to do it. not exactly the safest but she looks like she is doing dam good for a first timer, especially on a pair that high.
Depending on how far you are from a store I sometimes give up on looking for things after a couple of hours and just go buy a new one, I know its not very productive to spend hours looking for something when you can just go and buy a new one in 5 min. but then that depends on how much money your time is worth and how much what you are looking for costs. that's something you and only you can decide.
Dave you can't lose something today you lost years ago now can you?
pay attention to Joey getting on and off those stilts, those are the most dangerous times, walking around on them is a peace of cake compared to then. Especially a pair that high.
great job from both of you and all your employees getting this all done on schedule and so well.
What kind of daily car count do you expect to run through your shop? Just wondering. FYI, I ran over 3800 repair orders through my shop last year.
We do 20-25 cars a week. The average repair bill runs around $800 and the typical oil change is $120. It is enough to keep the 3 of us busy. Most of our work is diagnostics, programming, interior work (heater cores), and the typical brakes, suspensions tune ups etc. My day is typically spent diagnosing the cars and passing them on to the techs to fix. I like puzzles, so that is what I choose to do.
This was the official opening day at our shop. We got a bunch of stuff done and the only thing we moved from the older shop was my orange Fiero. It fit right in at home there. The electrician came in and we broke the bill down and it was a misunderstanding on my part. I told off his apprentice and made it clear that I would have fired him and he wouldn't last a day in my shop. Maybe I helped him develop a sense of direction and not be so lazy.
The rest of the week is going to be spent cleaning the spackle dust off of everything and try to move the rest of the shop. Joey's truck is still broken. I diagnosed it as a bad pcm and sent it out for repair because it has a custom tuning program on it.
This was the official opening day at our shop. We got a bunch of stuff done and the only thing we moved from the older shop was my orange Fiero. It fit right in at home there. The electrician came in and we broke the bill down and it was a misunderstanding on my part. I told off his apprentice and made it clear that I would have fired him and he wouldn't last a day in my shop. Maybe I helped him develop a sense of direction and not be so lazy.
The rest of the week is going to be spent cleaning the spackle dust off of everything and try to move the rest of the shop. Joey's truck is still broken. I diagnosed it as a bad pcm and sent it out for repair because it has a custom tuning program on it.
Dave
women seem to have a natural balance that somehow works on those things don't ask me I haven't got a clue I have used them and have even considered buying a pair for home use just to clean off the trucks in the winter of snow and when washing them. we, men just can't hold a candle to them on stilts.
Dam sorry to hear about the truck, I hope the bill isn't to high on that.
I wish you well in your new shop and hope very much for you, you can retire from that site without having to move again. Many asked me years ago to open my own shop. I had to make them understand that is isn't just the cost of opening and having a customer base (at that time). But the biggest problem would be a liabilty claim. Hiring people you can trust from the start is hard. The first wheel off and you could be shut down. I just wasn't in to that type of nightmare looming over me. It does help a lot to have people there you can count on. Very important. And it looks as though you have that. More power to you. I can also understand your diag issues, It amazed me a few years back needing the right software in our scanner(Pegasys) to reset a VVT solenoid in a BMW just to do a valve cover gasket. Just helped my manager with his GTI MK5. Finally got his coil packs to show up a failure. He had so many things turned off after a tune, it made it a headache to find what was really going on. Glad it ended up being simple. The biggest problem I have with Euro cars is the wrong or lack of information from Mitchels. Especially Volvo. I'm wondering why you didn't put your Hunter rack center and your Smart lift where the rack is. Seemed like you would have more turning room to get on the lift rather than have to turn sharp onto the rack. Then again I like to have the extra room around the alignment rack.
I wish you well in your new shop and hope very much for you, you can retire from that site without having to move again. Many asked me years ago to open my own shop. I had to make them understand that is isn't just the cost of opening and having a customer base (at that time). But the biggest problem would be a liabilty claim. Hiring people you can trust from the start is hard. The first wheel off and you could be shut down. I just wasn't in to that type of nightmare looming over me. It does help a lot to have people there you can count on. Very important. And it looks as though you have that. More power to you. I can also understand your diag issues, It amazed me a few years back needing the right software in our scanner(Pegasys) to reset a VVT solenoid in a BMW just to do a valve cover gasket. Just helped my manager with his GTI MK5. Finally got his coil packs to show up a failure. He had so many things turned off after a tune, it made it a headache to find what was really going on. Glad it ended up being simple. The biggest problem I have with Euro cars is the wrong or lack of information from Mitchels. Especially Volvo. I'm wondering why you didn't put your Hunter rack center and your Smart lift where the rack is. Seemed like you would have more turning room to get on the lift rather than have to turn sharp onto the rack. Then again I like to have the extra room around the alignment rack.
A good insurance policy is pretty much a requirement to run a repair shop these days. The downside is that if you do end up going to court and they have a good lawyer, you'll end up paying out of pocket....which they do on purpose to screw with you. In order to do any diagnostic work on these German cars, you really need a factory scan tool. I have the Autologic for BMW and Benz which is $20,000 for both cars and $3000 a year in updates. With the Mercedes 722.9 transmissions, we replace valve bodies a lot and they have to be assigned with SCN coding which has to be downloaded vehicle specific and the VIN gets written to the coding so that it can't be used on another car. Alldata is much better than Mitchell, but it still has a lot to be desired for what you need on certain cars. The turning room is not really an issue. I measured 5' from the front wall and 3' from the side walls to get us room to work. My only complaint is the angle I had them install the red lift. If I had them turn it counter-clockwise about 30 degrees, then I'd be able to add another lift in front of my box. I may do that in a year. Dave
This is day 30. The shop is built and functional. All that is left is cleaning, organizing and finishing a little bit of painting. I will post finished pics once we get everything together. Today we have a few cars to repair and mostly we have to clean up the old shop and hand in the keys.
We do 20-25 cars a week. The average repair bill runs around $800 and the typical oil change is $120. It is enough to keep the 3 of us busy. Most of our work is diagnostics, programming, interior work (heater cores), and the typical brakes, suspensions tune ups etc. My day is typically spent diagnosing the cars and passing them on to the techs to fix. I like puzzles, so that is what I choose to do.
You seem to have a very good and profitable business model for yourself. What you do in one week I may do in one day, at times, but I'm not working on the same type of vehicles you are. I'm on the opposite end of the scale when it comes to that, so my repair orders don't average as high as yours. That is one of the pitfalls of being in an automotive repair franchise. We do see our fair share of BMWs and Mercedes' but they are usually older ones that don't require a $20,000 scanner to fix them. If we do get one of those, we have a friendly competitor that does have that scanner and can handle them.
Great work guru! Lots of work, planning and very little sleep. Glad you met your goal, even with the weather and electricians working against you! Good job!
The shop is fully functional, but probably another month of rearranging and cleaning stuff. We had a major issue come up that was really nobody's fault. The septic line got completely blocked and frozen. When the septic guys came out to dig up the parking lot to cut the pipe out and replace it, they got a nasty fountain of poo. It looked like something out of a bad comedy movie, but I stood in the window sipping coffee watching the three guys get covered in a brown mess.
Other than that, we have moved just about everything into a different spot inside the shop and my landlord gave us a gift of new waiting room furniture. I also have customers that want to give me their old German car pics or scenic pics to help decorate the waiting room and hallway.
As for my office. I chose a color that was definitely different, and I wanted it to change colors depending on the sunlight. It is yellow in the morning, a bright orange mid day and a very similar color to my orange Fiero at the end of the day. Of course the ceiling is black too.
My office is almost set up. I still haven't hooked up the fax machine. It gives me a reason to be rude and tell people to step into the 21st century and email me instead. I have to keep it because one of the warranty companies I deal with requires a fax. I figure when my printer dies, I'll get an all in one machine.
Once the shop has been cleaned and everything put away, I will post up a ton of pics. The good news is that all my regular customers really like the new shop.
it was like nothing I have seen before. The odd part is that when the guys stopped for lunch, they didn't wash up and got in a newish truck and drove off. It was identical to the way we treat getting splashed with antifreeze or oil.
Congrats, and good show! I'm happy that you got it up and running as planned.
I'll caution you about "all in ones". The down side is that when one function breaks, they're all down, until you get it repaired. (Unless it's a cheap one that you just trash and replace. I don't picture that, in this case.)
Congrats, and good show! I'm happy that you got it up and running as planned.
I'll caution you about "all in ones". The down side is that when one function breaks, they're all down, until you get it repaired. (Unless it's a cheap one that you just trash and replace. I don't picture that, in this case.)
I feel the same way and the reason I never will buy one of those welders that a plasma cutter, mig, tig, and arc welder all in one. if one thing goes you are out all of them until you get it back.
it was like nothing I have seen before. The odd part is that when the guys stopped for lunch, they didn't wash up and got in a newish truck and drove off. It was identical to the way we treat getting splashed with antifreeze or oil.
Dave
what no outside security cam footage for us to enjoy on that, bad Dave.
to do that? 
