I must be the Worst person in the World for Telling the customer what Might be wrong with their car, I have alway tried to be Helpful and Get people back on the road as soon as possible. ( Usually doing the job whilst the customer waits )
To be honest Most of my jobs are done from by starting with that quick Diagnosis and then if its a simple job, Like AFM faults, Lambda sensors, Throttle pedal on Ford diesels etc We usually do an immediate repair. ( usually Keeping a Happy customer, a small profit and no vehicles piled up waiting to be looked at )

I always thought that it was the Fairest and most efficient way to do the job and it saves booking piles of cars in and finding out that we have too many problem jobs to sort out and can't cope with them all.

But Recently We are finding that most Vehicles are coming in with several Faults, 1 Permanent fault and several Intermittent faults, So you Cure the Permanent fault and the Customer takes the Vehicle away and the Intermittent fault Returns, The Customer then Returns and Still has to Book the Car in for Further Diagnosis, So all you have done is waste an hour or more and got nowhere.

( the one I am thinking about is a Transit Connect with Codes for A Faulty Throttle pedal, EGR code and Rail pressure codes, We Cleared the codes and Throttle Pedal came straight back on, and the glow light was flashing. We plugged a Spare pedal on off a Focus and the Fault Cleared, Plugged the Original pedal back on and the Code re-appeared and the light started flashing again. ( We Explained that we should Rectify the Permanent fault first and then carry on to see if the Intermittent faults re-appeared and that the Pedals were a Common problem. So We ordered the Correct Pedal and the guy brought the van back in for it fitting, We fitted it, cleared the codes and he took the van for a Test Drive, He came back saying that it was Exactly the same, The light was flashing again and it was cutting out, We Re-Read the codes and EGR and rail pressure returned. ( So the Pedal had cured the first fault )

He was only the driver of the Van and couldnt Authorise any Repairs or booking in. So We Removed the Pedal, And Told him that it needs Booking in next week,

SO. All in all, Time Lost and a Pedal on the Shelf for the next one that comes in.

Most Likely the Vehicle will come back in next week, for the Job finishing, But If the driver thinks that We Must have diagnosed it Wrongly as the Pedal Didn't cure the problem, Then They might decide to go Elsewhere. ??

I am now wasting most of the day, Explaining to customers that they need to book in, doing quick repairs where possible, Answering the phone etc

I am not getting through a Fraction of the work that I should be doing, So I definitely need to Change this Situation before it cripples me and my Business.


YES you can get too much of a good thing and you can get too busy Contrary to Customers Beliefs.