Working In a winter country. We store tires, and service and parts both take part. Losing customer stored tires again, and I want to put an end to it.

Right now the process is, storage line on the workorder, the tech puts in the tire info into a tag. And that tag printout is placed inbetween the tires. And often times we run into tires that have no tags and end up as so called “mystery” sets, that we don’t whos tires. Or other situation is that we go and pull the tires from the location, and are not in the said location, wasting everyones time basically. But finding them again usually involves physically checking all the bins, or going through vehicle history to try and determine where they are.

For those that have onsite tire storage, what process have you implemented to reduce lost tires? I saw rfid tire tags, has anyone heard about it? Thanks everyone

Afternoon everyone, over the last month or so I’ve decided on switching career paths and landed on becoming a parts advisor or service advisor (leaning more towards parts) In the past I have worked as a Lube technician and a lot attendant so I have dealership experience and as of now I work at a parts wholesaler as a picker/packer (nothing crazy mainly downpipes, intakes, hpfp and other misc items) I do also have retail sales and customer service experience. My plan is to take an online service advisor course since a parts course isn’t offered, will this be enough to start in a parts role or would I have to become a lot attendant/ parts driver and work my way up? Any info helps please and thank you.

Tell me how much of bullshit this is:

Parts manager at a nice sized Cadillac/Buick/Gmc dealership.

Writer creates an aftermarket warranty pay type line (company owned aftermarket warranty BTW) > we bill out exchange part on the line and it defaults to MSRP which is in the COMPANY HANDBOOK as what this warranty company should pay out (No price changes) exist through this entire process. Just default coding and the part price defaulted to MSRP as it should > service manager comes back to parts yelling and telling me to discount the part because the warranty company won’t pay more than 30% markup (this goes against the company handbook) > I tell the manager to fight the claim because they’re going against company rules (I’m trying to maximize department profit) > I email the CEO because apparently he has ultimate say in what reimbursement is and CC everyone in an email > our assistant director who is actually far more of a director with her level of knowledge than our actual director says she may believe the going rate for exchange parts is 30% but isn’t sure > I email parts manager forum and all 20+ managers are under the impression the company owned warranty should reimburse MSRP (none of us received a memo saying otherwise) > the director says he’s going to write me up tomorrow because I didn’t follow what the service manager said and sends me home for the day.

I was not belligerent to ANYONE and stated many times calmly my reason for not lowering the price for the asshole service manager is because I’m following company rules. I left it at default pricing for the pay type on the repair order.

I work for a company that sells shipping products/office supplies and machinery. I'm a supervisor at a plant but also am the only one in the state (in the company) that works with selling parts and share the service advisor role that includes handling the invoicing aspect for the technician after he finishes a service call. I enjoy parts and service waaaayy more than supervising. It's mentally more stimulating for me.

Half of the parts I sell are through service. The other half are requested by customers. I get a quote from the vendor, mark it up, quote the customer, and then ship here for the tech to install or dropship if they just want the part. I find it easy but time consuming.

Based on the salaries I've seen on here I should be making a significant amount more for doing both jobs. I also don't make commission. I'm thinking of finding a job strictly in parts. Just worried I don't have the correct experience to make the switch to a different market.

Hello,

I've got some stuff kicking around here that I'd like to get rid of but doesn't make sense to eat up my accrual or it's nonreturnable, etc. Plus it would be nice to clear some obsolescence out in addition to the returns and writeoffs.

I got an eBay account set up for my shop and it's connected to our company's bank account so that's all handled. But I'm not sure about the specifics of how to, say, invoice them and account for shipping and all that. Taking pictures and managing the listings is perfectly fine, but I don't really know how the backend is supposed to operate.

Any dealers that use eBay and manage it themselves here? Anybody willing to chat about it and give me some insight about how the accounting/invoicing/etc. should work? Thanks!

I work in a small dealership (about 10 techs) parts department and am looking to improve efficiency. I’d love to hear about specifically digital tools, or processes others have found useful. Whether it’s specific software, custom spreadsheets, macros, additional monitors, learning auto hotkey, or other productivity hacks, I’d like to hear what’s been effective for you.

Any recommendations are appreciated—thanks in advance for sharing your insights.

In your experience, which approach is more efficient or preferred for someone responsible for the day to day activities around ordering and purchasing used OEM auto parts?

- submitting a parts request and receive product offers? (including photos and detailed part information)

- searching and purchasing directly through an e-commerce? (most products will include part number)

It's been a lot of years since I have used an outside company to perform an annual parts inventory, anyone care to share how much they cost these days?

I was just offered $36000 a year salary and 0.6% GP. Trying to figure out if I'm being taken advantage of or if that's typical

I understand the way Ford part #’s work. When you have a number and the suffix changes it means the part has been updated or superseded. But will it be interchangeable with the earlier version? For example will MB3Z-17A954-A be interchangeable with an MB3Z-17A954-H?

Might be a dumb question, but is there a way to stop CDK from changing the price of parts that are already billed on the RO when the price tape runs?

Hello all. There is a PM position that just opened up in my organization (different dealership, same owners).

I've been with the organization for a number of years yet I don't stand out in any particular way. My colleagues don't stand out either. We all hit the same numbers, do warranty, recalls, orders, cleaning, etc. I'm right on par with everyone around me.

I have previous managing experience, but it was so long ago I don't know if it'll matter.

How can I best sell myself for a PM position? I know for a fact I can do it and become great. I just need an opportunity.

Morning,afternoon,evening depending where you are!

First time posting.

Just wanted to find out if anyone on here uses the above system for consumables etc and how effect it is?

Few pros and cons if anyone has them.

Working a bodyshop and we’re working on bringing are consumables way down as the its high at the moment and the techs take the biscuit with how much they use.

Cheers!

What’s your process for sharing/updating service of their SOP’s on RO’s? Sharing a report with SM, copying pick tickets? Curious to hear how different this is for everyone.

All parts and service computers in our dealership has had CDK crash on them. Anyone else experiencing this?

Edit: We were down for an hour and a half but all good now. Thanks for the feedback

Former service advisor who moved to Parts Manager and has had no formal training (one man parts department, last guy left before I took the position) at a small town Ford dealership (20-40 ROs per day, depending on the time of year)

We average around 30% GP even when the last guy was here, how can I increase my GP?

It seems between the UVIs, oil changes, and service contracts that make their own pricing for parts, no matter how high I mark up customer pay parts I’m still stuck at the 30% mark.

Is it possible to add a VIN to an existing customer’s account?

I have an SOR open and the customer’s information is present in the system, but their VIN is not. We don’t use the CDK service client side of CDK.

What are some effective ways to reduce parts returns from dealers service dept back to the parts dept?

I just got a job, through a friend, working in the parts department at a car dealership. I only know the basics of cars and have been struggling massively to keep up with customers on the phone, both because of my lack of knowledge on the subject and trying to use multiple computer systems at once. I’m the only girl in the back (shop/parts/service) and feel even more pressure (that I purely put on myself, not blaming anyone else) to get it right so I don’t look like an idiot. The techs have been nice, but I can feel their frustration at how long it takes me to do some things. I’m just curious if anyone knows where I can find more training online? Or anything to help me build my knowledge and become more efficient? I’ve found an OEM parts site that has been helpful, but our parts are often named differently than others because they’ve been translated to English, so customers often ask for something that is named something completely different. My boss says it just takes repetition, but I feel like I’m wasting everyone’s time and don’t want to make mistakes.

My dealer is currently weighing the benefits of signing up for repair link. Just wanted to know what everyone’s thoughts/experiences were with it. Relatively small dealership with not very much wholesale.

Anyone else fed up with the multi factor authentication? It auto logs me out every 5-10 mins and I have to verify every single time 🙄

Anyone can show me how to sublet a part (for non GM part put in GM vehicle) to an RO? I haven't done this in 15 years, I can't remember. We don't really sublet anything but plan to sublet non GM Parts to GM repair order so we don't get hit with RIM. Thanks!

I’m fairly sure I’ve done this in the past but I don’t remember how. PM needing to go through RO’s closed the previous day to prove to SM his writers are throwing out discounts without approval. He won’t look because he doesn’t believe it’s happening despite my efforts. I need to get all the info I can before meeting with the owner/GM. Is there a somewhat quick and easy way to see the RO numbers that were closed the previous day? Or better yet a way to see all discounts applied in service? I greatly appreciate any help

Was just presented a pay plan with a $1000 base pay monthly and % of net profit. Previous position base pay was 3x higher. Tell me to run far away!

Hi everybody, I recently started working as a parts counter at a kia dealer about 3 months ago, currently make 20 per hour. Im curious where you all work and how much you make? Is 20 dollars an hour good for this position? I worked at Advance Auto before starting at a dealer so any input is appreciated

What are the legalities of writing off inventory and then turning around and trying to sell it to customers. My parts manager refuses to throw out our 84 month write down and instead wants us to inventory it in a separate spot and try to sell it.

If you are using a price matrix, do you use it on ROs AND invoices? Currently we are only charging and quoting matrix on ROs. I can see advantages and disadvantages for both.

For our dealership we have decided being referred to as boss or boss man is the worst. I'd like to hear what everyone else least favorite reference name is when they call in. Ex. "Okay thanks boss man"

Looking for help to help me figure out how to configure cdk to accept a menu pricing structure. We are working on pricing all air filters for gas engines, batteries, cabin filters, wiper blades the same per category so it is quick and easy to upsell from the lube rack.

I am wanting to be able to type this price in the PRICE8 slot in PM then have the labor op only look at that slot. My problem is CDK is not allowing me to set up PRICE8 in OSPC. For reference we are a FORD dealer but i'm not sure that matters.

thank you

Gosh I don’t even know where to start with this as I’m kind of fired up about this. I needed a part for my personal vehicle. Rather than ordering it online, making a po, paying the 10% mark up, I went to Napa during lunch. Part # in hand. Guy at the counter is just freaking rude and has zero customer service ability. I honestly felt like I was interrupting him. I bought the part anyhow because I needed it.

After I left I saw that there is a CarQuest across the road. I stopped there to see if they had the second part I needed. I waited at the counter while the manager ran around the back of the store. Did returns in front of me and just generally had me waiting. When she finally gets to me, I am the first of 4 people waiting in the line now, She finally gets my info. She asks if I have an account. I said yes I am with X dealer. She replied “oh I don’t think you’re in hear.” I am, I have an account. But if you’re not even going to try, f it. A guy then walks into the store and walks right up to the counter and they start talking about a bulb. She stops talking to me and walks into the back to show this random dude where she keeps 194 bulbs. I am guessing he’s with a shop they do business with.

I was fed up after that. The $0.16 she was going to make in that 194 Wagner bulb, was more important than me and 3 other retail customers. I walked out.

In conclusion. I will be ordering from rock auto. If retailers start closing their doors because people aren’t buying from them, it’s their own fault.