On this week’s episode of Grease the Wheels, Uncle Jimmy gets into the weeds on some of the perceptions that the general public has about various factions of the automotive repair industry. For good or for ill, your reputation as a mechanic is tied directly to your shop’s reputation, and as this survey suggests, having that reputation being well represented in the form of glowing reviews can make you a lot of extra money. How trustworthy are dealerships? How well do quick lube places know their stuff? Do Indy shops sell unneeded work? All of these questions and MANY more are answered in this podcast! 

Also Uncle Jimmy works on the theory of “Genre Shops” and shamelessly plugs his love for Rock Auto. 

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!

On this week’s episode of Grease the Wheels, Uncle Jimmy takes aim at some of the glaring fallacies of articles running down mechanics on the internet. This article states that saying a phrase like “I wouldn’t drive that very far” as a mechanic should disqualify them from servicing a customer’s car. However, this fails to take into account whether or not cords are hanging out of the tires and the brakes are metal to metal, and the ball joints are hanging on by a thread; this becomes less a matter of feeling and more about objective reality that you shouldn’t drive that car very far if you’re not going to get those issues fixed. We also get into the savage statistics of “common problems” and what constitutes that designation. There are a lot of major misconceptions about mechanics mainly propagated by the management of our shops and dealerships, but we definitely have a solution that will not only allow us to rebuild our reputation with the public, but also put more money into your pocket for the work that you do.

Also Uncle Jimmy explains the mechanics of lighter weight oils and “Loaner Car ghosting” before rattling off some of his favorite knockoff tire brands. 

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! 

On this week’s episode of Grease the Wheels, we talk about how we respond to the naturally chaotic and often perpetual stupidity that we deal with on a daily basis. The natural response to this is anger, but if you’re in Texas like Uncle Jimmy, they will kill you if you kill someone- even if they are stupid! Instead we talk about some of the more practical ways to not get old sparky when you lose your cool with people. Trying to remain calm almost never works when it comes from the outside, but when it comes from within and is met with being able to recognize some of the physical signs of anger, you can get out in front of it. Throw one tool and someone sees it, congrats you now a “ tool thrower”. At the end of the day though, being able to control and use your anger is a very useful skill to have, because small doses of anger get the job done. However, this comes with the very human fact that some of the most irrational stuff that people do happens because they’re angry. 

Also Uncle Jimmy describes his father’s mood-ring setting and massively underestimates just how funny he is when he is losing his shit; specifically in the content coming out of his mouth as opposed to it just being funny that he is pissed off. 

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! 

On this week’s episode of Grease the Wheels, we deal with the image the public has when it comes to the people who fix their cars: they think we’re scumbags! Are we dirty? We definitely can be; when you’re dealing with things as gross as other people’s cars you can get really dirty! As far as looking the part, point taken but the second part of being a scumbag lies in how you treat others. If you are one of the people who keeps the world moving by fixing things, it is hard to actually be a scumbag because you are performing such an important service. However, if you’re not doing it above board, not fixing the problems correctly, or just blatantly ripping off your customers - congrats you’re a scumbag but in the pejorative way. We say that we are all scumbags because that is the light the society has cast our profession in, in what Uncle Jimmy calls, “employment racism”. There are a lot of ways that we are working to improve our image as a whole, but the biggest way that people are doing that is with their feet, as they leave the industry in droves with no one to replace them. All we can do as the people who turn the wrenches is remind the general public, “when was the last time you paid THE MECHANIC?”

Also Uncle Jimmy describes pick-and-pull haute couture. 

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! 

On this week’s episode of Grease the Wheels, Uncle Jimmy doesn’t skimp on the praise as we talk about how employers can appreciate their employees, and tailor it more to the automotive industry. Appreciation is best shown in the Automotive Industry through paying well and trying to make the job as bearable as possible. Balanced feedback prevents managing from the negative, which can be a big problem for more sales based managers. Also, a healthy amount of respect also goes a long way as well, because all of the wrench twisting bastards really were the people who kept the world moving in a time when the veil of society seemed(seems) perilously thin. Also Uncle Jimmy goes over an R/O with the sitting president, and goes over science fiction that car’s have become in the last two decades. As the great Squirrely Dan says, “and that’s what I’s appreciates’s about’s ya’s”

Also Uncle Jimmy tackles complex paradoxes: 1. Getting more work done when your manager ISN'T there. And 2. How good employees never stay and bad employees never leave in poorly run shops. 

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! 

On this week’s episode of Grease the Wheels we take a look back at some of the finer points of the origins of this show: how little auto mechanics are paid and why. The numbers are pretty pathetic and for a lot of us wouldn’t even get us to return an employer’s calls if they offered us a job at that wage. This of course has precipitated a disastrous drop in the amount of people doing the job which will only get worse as time goes on. However, we look at the ways to command a higher price when applying for jobs, anyone with all of their ASE training (even though we have mixed feelings about their effectiveness) and having experience and training in EV/Hybrid drive vehicles is going to be worth their weight in gold. 

Also Uncle Jimmy pitches the most original fix to the technician shortage yet: reanimating the corpses of dead technicians to fill the empty bay next to you! 

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! 

On this week’s episode of Grease the Wheels, we look at the final bit of the employment process- the point where you have had enough or circumstances change and you need a new job. There are a lot of really good reasons to quit your job as an auto mechanic: partner gets a better job somewhere else - go with them, cars break everywhere! Wanting to go back to school is usually a pretty good way to get a raise and get out of that stuck feeling. We also talk about some of the ways that someone quitting actually affects a shop, for instance the immediate pay bump to everyone else when the workload remains the same and the number of people doing it has been reduced. We briefly touch upon “rage quitting” which is not an unfamiliar topic to anyone in the automotive industry, but this is a more in depth look at the reasons why people quit. We definitely want to hear those rage quit stories though, they almost never disappoint! Weather your departure is going to be spectacular with donuts, or more of a prolonged leave to take care of a sick family member; there are a lot of good reasons to Grease the Wheels.

Also Uncle Jimmy poorly explains Onlyfans and completely forgets that the best opportunity for a technician's career advancement is to start their own shop.

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! 

On this week’s episode of Grease the Wheels, we are talking about happiness in the workplace. Seems like a bit of an oxymoron in the automotive industry, but Uncle Jimmy is co-opting articles written for cubicle workers for Auto Mechanics again, so hilarity ensues. The key to being happy at work is in maintaining a good work-life balance and there is a lot to unpack there. Some of the best tips for this include checking the baggage for one at the door of the other, and mentally training yourself to forget work when you see a mental save point at a specific point on your commute home. We also talk about the declining efficacy of the Pizza Party as a management tool, but it has amazing effects when it is unplanned (or involves doughnuts). But what really makes people happy or unhappy in most instances are the people that they work with, so we encourage you to go paint balling or drinking with them regularly.  

Also Uncle Jimmy and his shop get murdered in softball and looks for old cars for sale on Facebook Marketplace as a form of therapy.

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! 

On this week’s episode of Grease the Wheels, we complete the interview process by coming up with some intelligent questions to ask your interviewers. Admittedly, we have covered a lot of this in the last two episodes, so this is a bit more general (if you hate pushing cars, make sure you ask how they get dead cars into the shop) Asking the person you are interviewing with some of these more broad questions will be more helpful, because they might not know a lot of the specifics about equipment, those questions are better left for other technicians in your perspective shop. Also we give an incredible piece of advice for anyone hiring technicians in 2022, bring in one of your trusted technicians as a built in bulls*** detector! It works every single time if your tech knows what they're talking about, and can give you an advantage if a prospective hire thinks they are all that, and they’re not! 

Also Uncle Jimmy describes working in a family business and the pull factors of working on German cars in a warzone.

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! 

On this week’s episode of Grease the Wheels, we continue to explore how to game job interviews with well thought out answers to the most common job interview questions. The important thing to remember when you are getting interviewed is that this is also an interview between you and the shop, so find out as much information as you can from the people that already work there. If the narrative that your potential employer is giving you is massively divergent from the operational realities on the ground, it will be pretty easy to figure out. We also talk about using up all of your vacation time before giving your two week notice, because that is one of those legal things that gets a bit sticky sometimes, and often its a lot better to have the time off before a big change so you’re fresh and ready to rock and roll at your new shop. Do people even give two weeks notice in the automotive industry? Sometimes, but if you broach the subject some more short sighted management might just show you the door immediately. 

Also Uncle Jimmy contemplates whether or not your manager driving a Volvo projects strength or weakness, and comes up with one of the best game plans for nailing job interviews in the Automotive Industry. 

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!