I totally agree with Steve Norman. His method is one that I see as a way forward. Aftermarket tools and info leave so much to be desired that it makes it very difficult to run a diagnostic business with them. If you can fill your diary with work on one or two makes then I think you are in a very strong position.
If block exemption worked, as it may well some day, it could be possible to buy dealer tools and data for all makes to enable a full diagnostic service. Imagine though the cost of this, and so the high level of charges that would be needed to pay for it. Would the trade be prepared to pay such a high price for this? This is where my questions come in. If a diagnostic business has such huge overheads, should it not also be entitled to a higher reward?
Tony Bickers made the point that it seemed to him that some diagnostic specialist members of UKAT seemed to look down on everyone else. I don’t think that is quite true, but I do think they are in a different business and face problems that some less technical business do not.
It makes sense for non-diagnostic specialist garages to own scan tools. What I call into question is if it makes sense for these Garages, from a business point of view, to spend time on a job they are not equipped for. I am not suggesting they should never plug into a car. They need to do just that to discover if they want to go further with it or not. They have a perfect right to look at any job and in fact would be foolish not to do so. From the average service Garages point of view, they would loose work and profit if they were to turn away cars they were not equipped for. By the same token they would loose profit by wasting time trying to sort them without the right tools and knowledge. That is where I see a specialist’s existence being justified, from both points of view.