Open Question

Is the Dealer's Service Manager expected to have general mechanical
knowledge of the cars that pass through his shop or is just the paper
and computer man?

Old_Timer

 

Depends it appears which country the dealership resides in .
In Australia the expectation and most usually that is so . Even if he/
she has not come up through the ranks
from the shop floor . However most franchises send the service
manager to smart school to acquire knowledge .
Bit like a pilot does not need to be an aircraft engineer . Albeit a
required level of such knowledge is both a legal and practical
requirment.

Which country are you addressing this question to ?

 

It generally depends on the shop and the manager's duties. Some managers
are expected to have general automotive repair knowledge, and by that I
mean routine simple things, not complicated diagnoses nor deep knowledge
of complicated repairs.

In your water pump case, I wouldn't expect any manager to have specific
knowledge about the location of the weep hole. That would imply that the
manager was actively working on the cars, and that's definitely not
expected.

 

Reply to message from "hyundaitech" <> (Tue, 08 Jan
2008 19:06:53) about "Re: Open Question":

h> It generally depends on the shop and the manager's duties. Some
h> managers are expected to have general automotive repair knowledge, and
h> by that I mean routine simple things, not complicated diagnoses nor
h> deep knowledge of complicated repairs.

I recall this one dealership in Canada where the sharpest mechanic rose
through the ranks in the shop until she was made acting snervice manager.

I thought _finally_ I had someone at the front desk who knew what the heck
they were talking about and who did not look at you as if you ten heads
when you described a problem.

Unfortunately that did not last long as they hired on a "typical" service
manager and she (gladly according to her) went back to doing what she liked
best.

I have come across service managers / advisers who had verying levels of
expertise, most of then being fairly useless. One such moron told me he'd
have to drop my transmission in order to diagnose and fix a squeak in my
clutch pedal. I went home put a few drops of WD-40 at a couple of spots in
the clutch pedal assembly and it has been quiet now for over 2 years. I
also wrote to the service manager to tell him of the incident and thet they
need to put trained people in the front desk.

Best Regards
Wayne Moses <> Wed, 09 Jan 2008 07:31:17 -0600

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