On this week’s episode of Grease the Wheels, we are talking about what happens after a customer hits something with their car. It seems that recently the trend is for the collision shops near us to get the car straight and send it down the road for whatever else it needs. And when it goes down the road, it almost always ends up in our shop. Folks, we’ve all been here. A customer brings in their car after a significant amount of collision work and don't say anything, but we quickly find out that there are major problems and they are going to be without their car for even longer. We make no bones about it, working in the collision industry is very hard work. Good body people are getting fewer and more far between and the number of people entering the industry is even less than the amount who are becoming mechanics, if you can believe that! Also Uncle Jimmy relishes in looking at cars that have been wrecked sitting out behind his shop, and asks for you all to send in the pictures of the wrecks that get hauled to your shop!

Episode 86: Corona BabyOn this week’s Grease the Wheels, you’re getting a little bit of everything as we actually delve into the COVID-19 madness taking a look at it from several angles. This includes large corporate shops, small indy shops, and some of the businesses that support the automotive industry. Also, we use the way-way-back machine to talk about what is going to happen once this pandemic is over in the automotive industry and the country at large. More importantly we go over some of the best ways that tech’s are keeping themselves safe in this environment where they routinely have to work in a 4-wheeled petri dish. Most notably: steering wheel condoms, ziplock baggies over shifters, mats and seat covers, and if anyone has an idea on how not to touch the stop start button we are all ears! Additionally, we talk about sourcing jobs for yourself in times of economic hardship using a website/app that we have been developing where people post their broken cars and you mechanics bid on fixing them. You do the repair, you collect the money. It’s called Surfwrench. Also, Uncle Jimmy’s phone goes off and Erik the Producer stumbles into a post-apocalyptic cosplay convention. Uncle Jimmy pleads with tech’s with nothing better to do to NOT name their “corona babies” James or Erik.

On this week's episode of Grease the Wheels we are actually sort of topical to what’s going on with the world at large: sharing. Unlike the rest of the media who are saying things like “shelter in place” and “don’t come within 6 feet of other people”, we encourage sharing in specific circumstances even in these pandemic ridden times. The sheer number of different cars, and all of the years they have slight variations make it mathematically impossible for every technician to have every tool to do every job on every car ever. Eventually you are going to have to go to one of your buddies in the shop to borrow a tool. However, with what we now know, we ask that when you borrow a tool, you return it when you're done using it to its proper place WITHOUT potentially deadly pathogens as stowaways.Also, Uncle Jimmy boils down 5000 years of Buddhism into about 45 seconds and theorizes that all of the missing 10mm sockets are actually just reincarnated auto technicians being dicks.

On this week's episode of Grease the Wheels, we take a look at what should be the most profitable thing that we do all day: Multipoint inspections. However, most of the time when a dealership or shop says that they have complimentary multi point inspections, they are really complements of the technicians doing it. Meaning, they do the job for free and the shop doesn't charge the customer. This is wrong on many levels, but then gets compounded when you have service advisors declining service to the customers vehicle even before the quote gets to your parts department. When the numbers get tallied up and you figure out what your service advisor doesn't sell, then it becomes quickly apparent how the post quarantine economy runs entirely on toilet paper. Live read:Hello Grease the Wheels Nation, this is Erik the Producer talking to you before the show. Now given the unique format that our show is recorded and produced we haven't been able to address some of the more pressing issues in the automotive community regarding the COVID 19 or coronavirus pandemic situation. We are currently working in association with other automotive media outlets to create more relevant and helpful content as we get more information and that will be coming very soon. However in the meantime I have a message from Uncle Jimmy to all of you: Cars are going to keep breaking- we will keep fixing them. How and where and with what tools might change, but we fix cars. The first rule of having a car is that they break, the second rule of having a car is that you can do nothing about rule number one. Unless Coronavirus can suspend the law of entropy we’re still in business. Anyone, from the lot kid to the detail guys to you, that has to deal with the interior of the car should take precautionary measures. Gloves, lysol wipes, hand sanitizer. Whatever you gotta have to minimize your exposure is a good thing, so keep doing it. Cars are pretty much a four-wheel petri dish, so the fact that we all have not been exposed to something way worse like bubonic plague is a minor miracle. So let us know what we can do to help you. If you guys need more content, we can make that happen. We could stitch two shows together without too much trouble. We could release an extra episode on a different day. We can do more long format episodes and roundtable discussions. We want to keep you guys doing what you do best because right now a lot of people are depending on all of us.

On this week’s episode of Grease the Wheels, we are back to our bread and butter: complaining about service advisors! In this episode, we are going to be focusing on how they sell jobs, or in most cases, how they completely fail to sell jobs. As we’ve established they are dealing with an unknown element in the customer, so their jobs can be excruciatingly difficult. However, when they don’t sell things like tires or other maintenance items that are easy money for the technicians our feathers get understandably ruffled. Dealer techs know that they are losing a lot of work out the door to cheaper alternatives, but the service advisors need to be able to sell the value of having factory-trained talent in their shop. Finally, we look at some new technology that allows technicians to listen in to the calls between service advisors and their clients and how that is affecting inter shop relations.Also, Uncle Jimmy channels his inner “Wolf of Wallstreet” and breaks down the entire sales process on service while Erik the Producer takes over episode naming duties.

What is your favorite generation of the BMW 3-Series? This is a question that has been asked in pubs, locker rooms, car shows, autocross events, and even some of the cooler dinner tables all over the world for the better part of the last 40 years. In this new podcast from Grease the Wheels, we break down the history of the BMW 3-Series from its company-saving and genre defining predecessor, to its most modern and slightly massive iteration. For the past 40 years, the preeminent contender for best driver’s car has in fact been a member of the BMW 3-Series. We talk about the 3-Series’ humble origins, creating the entire market segment of “sports sedan” and eventually taking part in one of the all time great market wars with Audi and Mercedes Benz. We also talk about the E30 culture, tax, cool swaps we’ve seen, and one of the all time great unsung heroes of motorsport. The BMW 3-Series has become the BMW that people get first, and when you have that spot in a company’s lineup it is immensely important to get it right. This only gets magnified when that company is in the highest echelons of the automotive industry. So how have they done? Well in short, pretty damn well! Critically the BMW 3-Series has been named a world’s best for years. They have continually expanded the lineup from just sedans to coupes, convertibles, and GT’s (because apparently everything needs to be a crossover). They have seen the end of carbureted engines and the growth of EFI, the end of naturally aspirated and the normalization of turbocharging, and you could get them in diesel and hybrid. Also Uncle Jimmy recalls an epic trick on Erik the Producer, we talk about common problems on almost every generation of 3-Series, and we drop a copious amount of our friends names.This special long format episode of Grease the Wheels is sponsored by Guten Parts. Whether you have an Audi, BMW, Mini, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, Volvo, SAAB, Land Rover or Volkswagen Guten has the parts that you need. From my plucky E30 Felix to Uncle Jimmy’s twin turbo charged E90 and beyond, Guten parts has hundreds of thousands of parts in their catalogue! So how does Gutenparts.com keep that many parts straight for customers and not constantly be messing up orders? Well you make an extremely intuitive search function that lets you search by all of the normal stuff like make model and year, but also by trim levels which narrows searches down even more and lets them get you the right parts. You don't have to be a professional parts guy, you just have to know your car, and if you're listening to this odds are you probably do! And if you can't find it, shoot them an email or give them a call. They’re pretty cool folks and they're not going to ask you if your car is automatic or manual when you're buying wiper blades. How refreshing! And it's not going to take you months to get your parts because unlike a lot of those other guys, Guten parts has a live inventory and geolocation on all of their orders. That means Guten can same day your parts for any order placed by 2pm because they have warehouses all over the place. GutenParts.com goal is twofold. First, to be the marketplace for quality and unique items. Whether through their own production or by showcasing products from other sources, gutenparts.com is the destination for German car owners. Second, become the location for high quality cars, whether for routine maintenance or sky is the limit custom cars. So if you don't turn a wrench yourself, let the Service part of Guten Parts and service get your classic running right again. Also this episode was made possible by our patreon subscribers. If you loved this episode of Grease the Wheels consider going over to patreon.com/greasethewheels and kicking us a couple of bucks. We have a lot of good stuff coming up that we promise you will like but we need hel

On this week’s episode of Grease the Wheels, we’re talking about snacks. We have seen all of the pictures of the snacks that we stash in our toolboxes like a bunch of amphetamine-fueled bipedal squirrels. From the heavenly Divine Bovine beef and bacon jerkies, to chips and crackers with cheese; what we eat on the job varies as much as the things that we work on. Often times they can be broken down by regions as well. Either way these quick little pick me up’s do just the trick and keep our gears turning. However, we also talk about some of the downfalls of some of our favorite snacks, and the real problems caused by too many stimulants, predominantly from energy drinks. Also we get a brief glimpse into the bleak and competitive childhood of Uncle Jimmy. So let us know what you're eating in the shop, we might just stop by and share!Hey, we want to know more about you so we can make Grease the Wheels even better in the episodes to come. We also want to know where you’re from so we can hit as many of you as possible in a project coming up very soon on Grease the Wheels.https://forms.gle/nW53KewpESWLcK5h9

On this week's episode of Grease the Wheels we are asking the age old question, “why can’t we all just get along?” Well let's start out with something easy like those friends who only call you when their car is broken. From there, we move into the building with getting along with the parts guys and helping them out as much as you can. It doesn’t have to be a lot, but simple details can quicken you getting the right parts to finish a job. Also we argue to try to get along with your service advisor, despite their throwing us under the bus at every possible turn with the customers. And finally we talk about the sort of intershop hivemind that develops among technicians, and the possibility that all of our shops are basically social biomes that grow largely in the same ways. Also, Uncle Jimmy gets REALLY META with the concept of what a technician’s place is in the universe and struggles with the word “ethnicity”.Hey, we want to know more about you so we can make Grease the Wheels even better in the episodes to come. We also want to know where you’re from so we can hit as many of you as possible in a project coming up very soon on Grease the Wheels.https://forms.gle/nW53KewpESWLcK5h9

On this week’s GTW we’re talking about the scourge of cheap motorists everywhere, the state safety and emissions inspection. As technicians, we should be deeply in favor of these state mandated inspections because they often give us some gravy work from customers who otherwise would absolutely decline it 100% of the time. However, where does the line between useful government oversight protecting people on the roads and blatant cash grabbing from the motoring public come in? That is what we’re going to discuss in this episode. We also discuss some of the ways to beat an inspection in states that require scanning your check engine light by knowing how the systems that monitor emissions work. Useful stuff!Also, Uncle Jimmy wants to know: what are some of the strange/interesting/stupid things that are in your state’s vehicle inspection laws!This episode was made possible by contributions to our show by listeners like you. You guys are the reason we keep doing what we're doing, and you’re helping to keep the lights on and the show free for the entire internet. To become a dues paying member of the GTW Nation, head over to Patreon.com/greasethewheels for a bunch of killer swag, bonus content such as our new 3-series episode and rejected advertisements. This episode of Grease the Wheels was sponsored by Hemp It Up. Help It Up is Rochester's finest source for all kinds of CBD products. We especially like the transdermal CBD Balm after a long day of turning wrenches. Hemp it Up has an incredibly knowledgeable staff at their locations in Rochester and Syracuse, or check them out online at Hempitupgifts.com.

On this week's episode of Grease the Wheels, we are paying serious homage to one of our biggest listenerships on this show: the guys and gals who are fixing the really, really big stuff. We’ve gotten to know quite a few of you and now we’re ready to tell what your job is like to the rest of the wrench twisting public. Some of the challenges that these technicians face make our day to day look extremely easy, like when was the last time you needed a crane to remove and install a starter? Some of the problems, like unrelenting customers who don't want to buy anything even though they need it are very much the same as it would be in a normal shop. The only difference is the amount of 0’s next to the parts and labor. Either way, we wanted to acknowledge the sacrifices of these hardworking techs because it might be something you want to look into if you’re looking to grease the wheels. This episode was made possible by contributions to our show by listeners like you. You guys are the reason we keep doing what we're doing, and you’re helping to keep the lights on and the show free for the entire internet. To become a dues paying member of the GTW Nation, head over to Patreon.com/greasethewheels for a bunch of killer swag, bonus content such as our new 3-series episode and rejected advertisements. This episode of Grease the Wheels was sponsored by Hemp It Up. Help It Up is Rochester's finest source for all kinds of CBD products. We especially like the transdermal CBD Balm after a long day of turning wrenches. Hemp it Up has an incredibly knowledgeable staff at their locations in Rochester and Syracuse, or check them out online at Hempitupgifts.com.