Some body shop owners are augmenting their arsenals of scanning devices by enlisting the services of roaming vehicles crammed with more than $100,000 in electronics gear. If a shop wishes to keep coding and other computer-related repairs within its own bays, a mobile diagnostics provider can save you a trip to the car dealer when additional assistance is needed.
“I take care of about 800 repair shops and 200 body shops in New Jersey,” reports John Anello, owner of Auto Tech On Wheels—a yellow 2004 Hummer equipped with 12 scanners and loads of other devices designed to unravel electronic riddles. “There’s definitely a need” for this type of service, he says. “A lot of these shops like to keep the vehicles in-house.”
Anello’s equipment is updated through the 2005 vehicle lines. His daily routine involves diagnosing problems of numerous operating systems, such as ABS, air bags, ECM, BCM and engine/electrical analysis. “On a lot of the air bag computers you can’t just replace them; you have to re-program them.” Auto Tech On Wheels covers about seven vehicles per day at a $150, two-hour flat rate.
“If I charge by the hour and it takes me 6 hours—the customer isn’t going to go for that,” he points out. “Some cars take me 4 hours and another will take me a half-hour, so it balances out.”
Anello beta tests equipment for five major tool manufacturers, so their tools can be fine-tuned to meet technicians’ requirements for real-world application. “There’s been a heavy call for my business,” he points out.
The same goes for Joe Sampson, of Automotive Solutions, Inc., who charges $120 for two hours of labor within his coverage area in eastern Massachusetts. He previously owned a shop for 20 years, but now he eats-up the miles in a diagnostically equipped Voyager minivan. “It’s getting a little crowded in there.”
About 20 percent of Sampson’s work involves safety-related systems. “The most common thing is clearing codes for body shops,” he reports.
A recalcitrant piece of computer code can bring an operation’s car count to a screeching halt. “If you have people standing around in the shop’s, they’ll beat their heads against the wall to fix it,” Sampson says.
He encourages shop owners to recover the time and money expended on these types of services. “Too many people are afraid to be professional and charge for a diagnosis,” he asserts.
CRT Auto Electronics specializes in diagnosing Cadillacs, whether the client is on the road or at CRT’s bricks and mortar location in Batavia, Ohio. “I do house calls for some of the body shops,” says owner Jeff Bach, or, “if they have a (trouble alert) light on they’ll send it over to us.”
Cadillac came out with onboard computer controls in 1980, and Bach has orchestrated repairs on them since 1982. “I’ve always been interested in the electronic end.”
As with any nameplate, a collision can wreak havoc with a Caddy, and Bach is able to ensure a competent solution. “Forty to fifty wires might be cut in two, so I’ll repair the harness.”
