Mechanic won’t use oil I’ve chosen

[Spike555]

Yes my guess is the guy is likely getting a kickback from his seller!

Close, he is marking up the supplies and parts.
He buys them, marks them up, and then gets reimbursed from us.
Just figured this out this week.

Every time I say I’m supplying the parts, he balks. Then I compared the price of a Feightliner turn signal switch that he bought, and one that I bough….he’s marking up parts and supplies.

 

[RDY4WAR]

Given that information, I'd have a serious "come to Jesus" talk with him. Get in step or get out.

 

[Merek]

Close, he is marking up the supplies and parts.
He buys them, marks them up, and then gets reimbursed from us.
Just figured this out this week.

Every time I say I’m supplying the parts, he balks. Then I compared the price of a Feightliner turn signal switch that he bought, and one that I bough….he’s marking up parts and supplies.

Because he can't mark up the parts and supplies when he bills you for them.

Is he allowed to work on other customer vehicles on his own or is he only allowed to work on the company vehicles per the contract? There has to be something in the contract that could allow you to part ways, especially for him not doing his job and cannot provide records to any work being performed. Can you access the contract and see what all is required of him? Typically there's a clause where either party can terminate the agreement but you have to meet certain requirements.

 

[Spike555]

Because he can't mark up the parts and supplies when he bills you for them.

Is he allowed to work on other customer vehicles on his own or is he only allowed to work on the company vehicles per the contract? There has to be something in the contract that could allow you to part ways, especially for him not doing his job and cannot provide records to any work being performed. Can you access the contract and see what all is required of him? Typically there's a clause where either party can terminate the agreement but you have to meet certain requirements.

Yes he is allowed to work on others equipment.

We are planning on letting the contract expire next year.

We will be looking for a new mechanic in the new year.

 

[ARCOgraphite]

Back in the 70's our shop used to maintain a fleet of Drivers Ed cars. Contact was to maintain them per manufactures schedule and insure they are safe to operate at al times. Not a thing about how much we charged for the oil change or inspections.
We charged them what we would charge a typical customer for most service - and that included markup on "good guys" parts costs. but we didnt take advantage of them as we knew we would loose the contract. We also had a license and ran a State inspection for automobiles and light trucks. Back then it was 2x per year srping and fall and the cities had almost as many registry as patrols! back then. We had to keep at least one open during inspection time. A combo F.E. alignment and headlight aiming target wall.That was a pain and costly.

 

[02SE]

Close, he is marking up the supplies and parts.
He buys them, marks them up, and then gets reimbursed from us.
Just figured this out this week.

Every time I say I’m supplying the parts, he balks. Then I compared the price of a Feightliner turn signal switch that he bought, and one that I bough….he’s marking up parts and supplies.

It sounds like he could be charged with theft. I'd mention it to your boss.

 

[krismoriah72]

With the new information you posted about your business relationship with him and the status of your fleet-

A) he fixes what breaks- nothing more, nothing less.
B) Each vehicle should be pre-tripped and post tripped. If they are low on fluids then the drivers are not pre-tripping.
C) How do the drivers get fuel? How do you know they arent getting 10 gallons in cans each day? Do you have records of fuel at least?
D)marking up parts could be a violation of the contract... if he is getting away with that then its a poorly written contract.

E) You complained about trans fluid being black- how does anyone know when or what to do? Is there a maintenance schedule? Does someone have it marked on a calendar somewhere?

I could go on but that fleet is not being managed properly. The fact that someone hired you to get it under control means that the fleet is important.

 

[ARCOgraphite]

It sounds like he could be charged with theft. I'd mention it to your boss.

This guy is an independent garage and he maintains a fleet for the OP under contract, in my understanding. Alls depend on the contract stipulations.
In my garage, We would get a good-guy price from our go-to parts house and the line items would be marked up for customers.
even after all that we did not make enough money to stay open when Atlantic-Richfield jacked the rent up to insane costs $1400. mo > $3700. mo. My old ARCO service station in Chelmsford is now a Shell station. I went back to college and finished my M.E. degree.
In my opinion, corporate were trying to push service garages out of the location and move to the convenience store route.

 

[JohnnyJohnson]

Yes he is allowed to work on others equipment.

We are planning on letting the contract expire next year.

We will be looking for a new mechanic in the new year.

For a smoother transition be looking now. Finding new employees sometimes are not as easy as it once was.

 

[FZ1]

That’s what I’m doing right now. I just bought 3 cases of full syn from Costco. I’m going to send it down, along with the air filters, with the manager heading down there on Monday.
She will make sure he installs the air filters ASAP and put that oil in the storage truck.

Then we tackle getting stuff done on time and baselining ALL of the equipment and keeping meticulous records from there on.

Good job.

 

[gathermewool]

How much would it cost you to get out of the contract early?

How much is YOUR time and the manager’s time costing the company in excess of what it should were you not pulling baby sitting duty?

 

[MattPersman]

What part of indiana? I’m in indiana central north side of Indy. Once his contract expires (if he makes it that long) I may be interested in the fleet maint. I’m in the business already

 

[otis24]

Buy and stock the oil you want him to use. How does he pay for oil when he gets it? Bill it to the shop? Let his supplier know that you will no longer be paying for oil after a certain date. Take him out of the purchasing equation.

 

[spasm3]

Yes he is allowed to work on others equipment.

We are planning on letting the contract expire next year.

We will be looking for a new mechanic in the new year.

I would keep that plan plan under tight wraps, I would not let hIm know your plans at all.

 

[DuckRyder]

I would keep that plan plan under tight wraps, I would not let hIm know your plans at all.

But it is on the internet now...

The key here is what does his contract say, i cannot believe anyone would enter into this sort of contract without some stimulations about frequency of service in it...

Need to figure out if he is in breech of contract and also if the contract says parts are supplied at cost?

 

[wpod]

I’m a fleet manager for a delivery company. Recently we expanded into another state and in this purchase came a mechanic and his apprentice.
He is a old school kind of guy, he uses what he’s been using forever, and it is not working. The equipment that came with this purchase is in rough shape.
A Ford V-10 with 85k on it is sludged up For example.
He has been buying the oil as needed at the most expensive place around. The oil he’s been buying is Mag1 which is a Warren Distributing dino oil and he’s paying $6/qt.
For the diesels he’s using Rotella or Delvac.
He is way over paying for the oil.

So I brought him a syn blend 15w-40 diesel oil and told him to use it in everything, he refuses to use it in the gas engines because, according to him, it will mess up the cam phasers and hydraulic timing chain tensioners.
He also claims it will sludge up the engines and that “they are rated for 5w-20 for a reason“

Now I’ve been using this oil in my gasoline engines for almost a year with zero problems. I have one truck closing in on 50k quickly and I am going to do a oil sample at that oil change.
The very first oil change there was oil consumption. 1 qt in 10k on the factory fill.
Now there is zero oil consumption. In the hottest dog days of summer the trucks used less than a quart in 10k.

The cam phasers are electronic.
I have zero timing/run issues. MPG is good for what we do (~8mpg)

Do I need to put my foot down and say use this or else?
Do I need to switch motor oil?

Also he does not go by miles for oil changes, he goes by “I have a system”

Any help would be appreciated.

Get a new mechanic. you listed lots of reasons that makes him and his apprentice NOT valuable to your company.

 

[Audiman]

I do praise these guys, this morning a truck failed inspection, he was on it and got it fixed in about half hr.
There are other times I have thanked/praised him. I have yet to say anything negative to him about anything.
All of the drivers do complain about him. Saying how he half asses everything and never fixes stuff.

Was this a state inspection or a in house inspection? You should never have any commercial vehicle fail a inspection, maintenance and repairs should be planned in advance with every vehicle getting a monthly complete check/ inspection to confirm safety and future work required. Servicing work should be done at this time but will have been planned from the last inspection so you will know how long it will be of the road for.

To me the fact one of your vehicles failed and needed to be taken off the road unexpectedly shows he is unable to maintain vehicles in a commercial setting. This alongside the issues you have mentioned about outstanding repair work would cause me to cancel the contract.

Make some vin pointers with dates on and go through each vehicle and document every defect. Once this is done you can see what’s going on if he is competent or not.

Give him snd his apprentice a week off paid so you have access to the workshop without his involvement and take your own team in to do this.

 

[Spike555]

Was this a state inspection or a in house inspection? You should never have any commercial vehicle fail a inspection, maintenance and repairs should be planned in advance with every vehicle getting a monthly complete check/ inspection to confirm safety and future work required. Servicing work should be done at this time but will have been planned from the last inspection so you will know how long it will be of the road for.

To me the fact one of your vehicles failed and needed to be taken off the road unexpectedly shows he is unable to maintain vehicles in a commercial setting. This alongside the issues you have mentioned about outstanding repair work would cause me to cancel the contract.

Make some vin pointers with dates on and go through each vehicle and document every defect. Once this is done you can see what’s going on if he is competent or not.

Give him snd his apprentice a week off paid so you have access to the workshop without his involvement and take your own team in to do this.

In house QVI inspection. It was minor, it was fixed that morning and they truck was able to leave. there was a blown fuse and some of the lights didn’t work.

I have been implementing a service schedule. I wrote and printed one off for him to start following.

 

[Spike555]

But it is on the internet now...

The key here is what does his contract say, i cannot believe anyone would enter into this sort of contract without some stimulations about frequency of service in it...

Need to figure out if he is in breech of contract and also if the contract says parts are supplied at cost?

His contract was grandfathered in, we did not write it. We did not set it up. He has been the mechanic for the old company for 15 years.
Old company went up for sale, we bought it.
Old company always told him “we don’t have the money, do it cheap”
New company does NOT run that way.
Our equipment is how we make our money. Without it, we loose money. It needs to be in good condition at all times.

 

[Spike555]

Buy and stock the oil you want him to use. How does he pay for oil when he gets it? Bill it to the shop? Let his supplier know that you will no longer be paying for oil after a certain date. Take him out of the purchasing equation.

We are taking him out of the purchasing equation. That’s why I bought the air filters, and the spring for the roll up door, and the turn signal switch, and wiper blades…