Service providers should learn all they can about the OEM Web sites before they need the information.
The automaker service information Web sites have been online since early 2003, and while they are not exactly what many thought they would be, they are in many cases much more. The major OEMs grumbled at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) request that they each develop an Internet-accessible site that provides emissions-related service information as part of the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments. But, fortunately, EPA was adamant.
We say fortunately because it quickly became clear to most automakers that it would be an almost impossible task, if not an extremely expensive one, to filter out just their emissions-related diagnostic and service information from all other service system information they provide to their dealerships. The amendments state that independent service shops and technicians must have access to the same emissions-related service information, diagnostic tools and OEM training, that is available to the franchised dealership service departments. The aftermarket has long-maintained that this information is critical to independent service providers for the service and repair of 1996-and-newer vehicles, which are now subject to OBD emissions testing.
As a result, the OEMs decided to put virtually everything online, including service information, OEM training classes and OEM-dedicated tools and equipment.
Open for business
The Automotive Management Institute (AMi), a member-benefit provided by the Automotive Service Association (ASA), recently began offering a three-hour, six-credit course called “You Have the Right to Repair.” Over the last few months, this course—conducted by Bill Haas, ASA’s vice president of Service and Collision Repair Activities—has been presented in a few markets around the nation. For service dealers who will be at this year’s CARS convention in Las Vegas this month, Haas will again present the course.
During this session, Haas does not touch on any of the reasons why ASA abruptly withdrew from a service industry coalition that had been seeking support of the Motorist’s Right to Repair Bill, H.R. 2735. That bill would assure that the flow of service information needed by the independent service aftermarket would continue unabated to both vehicle owners and service providers. However, background reference is provided in the workbook given to attendees at these sessions.
What Haas does focus on are the issues of how to best use the subscription-based OEM Web sites, which are now open to the service industry. We had the chance to attend one of these classes, and here’s what we learned.
Varied cost structure
Of course, there is a fee for access to all that factory service information. That may be why many shops have never registered for the information they think they cannot find anywhere else in their information resources. It is also important to note that some OEMs calculate their daily/24-hour period access fees differently as to the actual time periods involved. OEM fees for Web site access range from Hyundai and Kia’s no-cost structure to Porsche’s $5,000 per year or $110 per document.
Haas suggests that the real reason a majority of the service industry has not yet used an OEM’s Web site may be due to unfamiliarity among independent techs and shop owners about navigating each OEM’s site for what they need. You see, there is little commonality among these sites regarding navigation steps and/or how to proceed to find the information that is provided.
What he does suggest, however, is that the worst time to go to an OEM Web site is when it is the last resort. Instead, he stresses, all shop owners should be more methodical in their approach to using the volumes of data on each site.
Four key points
During the course, Haas outlines a four-step approach that he believes is most efficient when evaluating information needs.
First, analyze the shop’s work orders, and determine which vehicle makes may signal a need for OEM information. He emphasized that it is not necessary that every OEM make be targeted for a shop to register for access. Instead, focus only the ones where information may have been lacking.
Next, visit each site, and register the shop for future access. This is an important step.
It is also important that the title of the shop be the same as the name or title listed on the credit card to which the registration will be charged. Credit card charges are the only way subscription payments may be made. If a shop’s credit card is in a person’s name, then that person must be the registered individual requesting access. A password will be
needed, and Haas suggested that all Web site registrations use the same identification login and password to avoid confusion.
After registering, assign specific technicians to learn how to navigate specific sites. This is an especially good idea if the shop registers for several sites.
This is important as a future time-saver because no two sites are navigated in the same way. Haas points out that it’s a sure bet the information is in there, but knowing exactly where is key.
Finally, allow time in advance for each technician to learn how these sites are formatted, indexed and organized. The time spent in learning will make it all the more efficient and cost-effective for the information miner to know how best and most quickly to proceed.
Computer power important
The minimum requirements for information downloading is found on each Web site. So it is important to check that the shop’s computer specifications are appropriate. A late-model PC with a fast processor and plenty of memory is recommended for access to OEM data.
It is clear that access to service information is a lifeline for the non-dealership service facility. Without the right information, repairs on many late-model vehicles will surely be an unsatisfactory “by-guess-or-by-God” process. In addition, as new vehicles become ever more complex, their diagnostic processes become more important to know about.
Competition drives improvements
Since these OEM Web sites were launched for independent shop use, it has been noted that two of the third-party electronic information providers, ALLDATA and Mitchell OnDemand, also have improved the way their information is presented to their subscribers.
Just remember, if a shop was to subscribe to just half of the OEM Web sites it thinks it may need to access, the cost would be more than $20,000 annually. Compare that to the two third-party information providers whose subscriptions are less than $200 a month, and you will see that product competition continues to drive value for information access to the service dealer’s benefit.
Finally …
Along with knowing how to navigate each OEM Web site, you must know how to recoup your daily or short-term OEM access fees. In order to cover the costs of any daily or limited-time charge fee, such charges might be added to a customer’s invoice under a supplemental information description on a work order. But in the case of longer-term subscriptions to OEM Web site data, these would be better included in the shop’s annual cost of doing business calculations, the same as fees now being paid for a subscription to an electronic database or for printed manuals. However, check your state’s laws before adding these charges to a bill. Several states do not allow this practice. In those cases, you must find other ways to be compensated for this expense.
The point Haas wants to make clear in his presentations is that independents already have “the right to repair” because they have open access to all the OEM information that is not defined as proprietary intellectual property
