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Drawbacks to Technology

The technician storms into your office and says, "This customer�s crazy! There�s nothing wrong with the car!"

I�m sure you�ve heard this before. And once in awhile, educating a customer on proper operation is all that may be required. But that should have happened long before the vehicle got to the technician. So what�s the problem? Chances are the technician relied too heavily on technology and not enough on his diagnostic skills.

Just plug it in

The first step to diagnosing problems in today�s modern shops is to plug in the analyzing tool. Unfortunately, too many techs simply replace parts without confirming or fully diagnosing the problem that was identified by the read-out. Worse yet, if nothing appears to be wrong, they neglect to perform a complete diagnostic process.

Case study

A customer complained that her air conditioner wasn�t working all the time. The advisor asked good questions, wrote the repair order and dispatched the job. About 10 minutes later the technician came in with the completed RO that said, �Cannot Duplicate Problem� written on it. So the advisor took the vehicle for a test drive.

At first, everything worked fine. But after 8 minutes, the water temperature gauge became inoperable and the air conditioner stopped. Because the advisor was somewhat knowlegable, he determined that the temperature sending unit might be the problem. But when the tech ran the diagnosis, nothing appeared wrong with the unit. The end result is that the advisor was correct. But it took a bit more time to reproduce the problem than simply plugging in an analyzer.

Technology alone isn�t a substitute for good diagnostic skills. Sure they can save you time, but using them improperly can cost you business in the long run!