All our vehicles always go to dealers’ service departments, but as I’ve said many times before, booking them in just seems to be getting worse, and waiting times are increasing! We recently had to wait just over three weeks for an oil change and inspection, and paid nearly £400 for the privilege, as we didn’t have a service plan for that car!
The lack of qualified mechanics, or technicians as they are called these days, seem to be like waiting times – as it’s increasing! Could the two could be connected?
Mechanics who work at non-franchise garages, in under-the-arches type premises, are being tempted away from cold and dirty work environments into new warm and modern glass palaces. These have plenty of light and heating, even air conditioning. And of course, these mechanics are being offered a lot more money, benefits, and regular holidays. Plus, these new service departments are full of diagnostic equipment, shiny new tools, space-age technology, and as a result, these dealers should be a pleasure to work in.
Unfortunately, this in turn is putting pressure on the once ‘go-to’ garage, to get anything fixed by someone who, could literally fix anything. Young would-be mechanics just don’t want to work in these ‘old-fashioned’ garages! Consequently, many are closing as current, usually aging owners, are trying to sell, with rarely any buyers to take on these businesses.
As a fleet manager, I would dearly love to send some of our vehicles to these garages, but I can’t as it would possibly invalidate the warranty. Plus, they just don’t have the equipment to repair ‘modern’ cars. And when electric cars need attention, they certainly won’t be able to or even want to touch them – that will be a job for the main dealer!
As the nice shiny new cars our drivers have gradually get older, with new owners buying them as a used vehicle, I do worry that getting them serviced or repaired in the future is going to get very difficult.
We recently had to have some new ball joints fitted on one of our cars – it was still in warranty but was assessed as being ‘Fair Wear and Tear’ as it had only covered 45,000 miles. We eventually got it booked into the driver’s local franchise. It was only in for a day, but I was horrified when I got the invoice. Just over £1,400, yes, you herd that right! This is a huge amount when you’re juggling with tight maintenance budgets – it makes a big hole in your bank balance! What can you do? As fleet managers, you must keep your cars on the road, and most importantly your drivers and their families safe. While at the same time spending as little as possible, just to keep the boss and the accounts department happy! They regularly question the amount we spend on unscheduled maintenance and repairs and genuinely think I’m doing it on purpose! I, like every other fleet manager, try desperately to save as much money as possible, but costs are just getting out of hand. But, trying to explain the costs of running a fleet to the pen-pushers in accounts is like talking to a brick wall. In fact, you’d get more sense out of a brick wall!
Tyres, tyres, tyres! I know, I apologise in advance. I keep harping on about tyres, but it’s a problem that just won’t go away. We seem to lose more work hours over tyre problems than people being off sick! No spare wheels, waiting for the recovery truck to come out to help our stranded drivers. Then getting a puncture repaired, or a tyre replaced – it all takes time. Appointments are missed, customers’ machines don’t get repaired or replaced on time. Customers then fall out with our company; our sales director then blames me. They all think I should wave a magic wand, and it’s fixed in two minutes. It is a vicious circle, and it’s all down to tyres. I really am fed up with tyres!
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