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Are consumers more understanding today about diagnostic charges than they were five years ago, or less understanding?"Because I specialize in driveability, many people already expect to pay a premium because problems weren't diagnosed correctly elsewhere. Our diagnostic labor rate is substantially higher than our mechanical labor rate and both rates are clearly posted. With today's more technically complex cars, people seem less surprised by these diagnostic fees than they were five years ago."
Peter Brown, owner/technician,
In-Town Tune-Up, Portland, MaineFuture question: Do you focus much attention on what your competitors are doing?
Web Ways
As communicated on the Automotive Service Association's web site: http://www.asashop.org"Happy to see this site on the net. I liked the pictures of NACE 95. I'm looking forward to Orlando [Orlando, Fla., is the site of NACE 96]. "
-----Heath Blair, assistant manager, Blair Body Shop, Gadsden, Ala."Just dropped by to see your site. Very good layout with great colors. I hope it stirs a lot of interest. Will you be advertising this spot to consumers through other media? I was impressed to see my colleagues as well as my own shop listed. Great job."
-----Doug Shetron, owner, Shetron's South-End Garage, Waynesboro, Pa.The California Air Resources Board (ARB) and seven major auto manufacturers reached an agreement in February to scrap a requirement that 2 percent of new vehicles offered for sale in the state in 1998 be Zero Emissions Vehicles (ZEVs), a standard currently met only by electric cars. The agreement still encourages the development of electric cars, and keeps year 2003 ZEV requirements in place, but gives carmakers more flexibility than the current legislation. The agreement also commits manufacturers to produce and sell vehicles nationwide that meet California's Low Emission Vehicle (LEV) standards beginning in 2001 three years before the earliest date the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is set to adopt such standards. LEVs emit about 70 percent less than new cars currently sold in other states.
Additional annual increases in the excise tax on R-12 refrigerant are not needed to encourage recycling and place an undue burden on service providers who maintain a stockpile of the refrigerant for their customers, contends the Mobile Air Conditioning Society Worldwide (MACS). The last annual 45-cent increase in the excise tax brought the tax up to $5.80 per pound. Anyone with more than 400 pounds of R-12 (approximately 13 30-pound jugs) in stock must pay the tax.
A Repair Effectiveness Index (REI) is used by officials in Colorado to communicate to consumers the effectiveness of shops at repairing vehicles that fail enhanced emissions inspections. Air Care Colorado's "Repair Effectiveness Handbook" for the latest quarter shows an average REI ranking of 65.3. The REI is not a straight percentage, but is a calculation based on the number of vehicles repaired and retested, the number of vehicles passing the first retest, the number of multiple retests and the number of waivers issued to vehicles worked on by that facility. Registered emissions repair facilities are included in the booklet on a voluntary basis.
Study Forecasts Service Market Share
The recently released Delphi VIII "Forecast and Analysis of the North American Automotive Industry" by the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute forecasts a decline in market share for independent shops over the next 10 years. However, independent shops that have good locations and up-to-date equipment should fare well, since the report says that a lack of these two attributes are the most likely reasons market share may decline for independents.The Delphi VIII study is based on a survey of 300 vehicle manufacturers, suppliers, consultants and academics.
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AutoInc. Magazine ®, Vol. XLIV No. 3, March 1996