Let’s face it – it’s becoming nearly impossible to run an auto repair business (or any business for that matter) while keeping a profit and a little sanity as well!
Every single cost of running a business has skyrocketed in the past 5 or so years. Literally every aspect has gone up – the gasoline in your car to make it into the shop every morning, your shops rent (or property taxes for those who own), garagemen’s liability insurance, workers compensation insurance, cost of labor, shop supplies and replacement parts…..I can go on for hours. You don’t need me to tell you – you are feeling it in your wallets every day!!
The entities that rely on your labor? They are NO HELP! In fact, they are only compounding the issue. Have you had a totaled vehicle get dropped at your shop? Good luck getting fair storage charges from the insurance carrier. Instead, you’re stuck with a car you won’t even get to work on that takes up space from one you can work on! For the cars you are working on, it’s constant nickel and diming from adjusters who don’t want to pay for necessary work or quality replacement parts. They don’t care about your bottom line; their only concern is their own profit.
The most egregious example of your labor and business being exploited, however, is coming from New York State. For those who participate in the NYS Vehicle Inspection Program, you don’t need me to tell you that you are getting hosed. The State expects you to subsidize inspection costs for the general motoring public. When performing an inspection by the book, your best mechanic cannot complete the process in less than 45-60 minutes. At the current typical labor rate, you’re losing roughly $80 for each inspection. Hell, even at the typical labor rates from 20 years ago, you are still LOSING MONEY.
It would be unfair not to mention that the inspection program helps generate repair orders, but with the sharp rise in associated costs, the margins are shrinking rapidly. So what is NYS doing to help? Oh, that’s right…..NOTHING. Instead, they forced you to purchase a new inspection machine for a few thousand dollars. What was wrong with the old one? Nothing besides the fact NYS wouldn’t have been able to hand over tax payer dollars to another vendor. $58,279,120 in taxpayer funds to be exact. Why can’t the State find the funds to help offset our costs? Why won’t the State raise the fee charged to motoring public? The inspection fee has not gone up in 20 years.
If the State had run the program themselves for the past 20 years, are we expected to believe they would not have raised the fee? They would probably charge triple the current fee. Are we running a business or a charity? This post is just an introduction – keep your eyes peeled for the next one outlining what the Association has done to date and is currently doing in order to bring a modicum of fairness to the NYS Vehicle Inspection Program. Future posts will also include ways the Association can help mitigate some of the other skyrocketing costs facing your business and ultimately increase your bottom line. STAY TUNED!!!!
