The Gearbox Podcast

Jimmy Purdy [00:00:13]:
My name is Jimmy Purdy, shop owner, master tech, transmission builder, and the host of the Gearbox podcast. Here I talk with new and seasoned shop owners, as well as industry professionals about day to day operations within their own shops and all the failures and successes that come along the way from what grinds your gears to having to shift gears in the automotive industry. This is the gearbox podcast.

Eric Merchant [00:00:37]:
Just jump in right along.

Jimmy Purdy [00:00:40]:
If only it was that easy, you know? I guess it really is, though, right? You just do it.

Eric Merchant [00:00:44]:
You just do it. If you plan for it, you'll never do it.

Jimmy Purdy [00:00:47]:
That's fair.

Eric Merchant [00:00:48]:
At least that's what I found.

Jimmy Purdy [00:00:49]:
Yeah.

Eric Merchant [00:00:50]:
Last summer, I did it, and I just left. I met. I met. We do Friday morning breakfast at the shop, at a restaurant, and every Friday morning. Mm hmm. I mean, not everybody shows up, but it's. You know, there's two or three local restaurants that we go in there, 630. Show up if you want.

Eric Merchant [00:01:11]:
If you don't. Okay, see you.

Jimmy Purdy [00:01:13]:
Nice.

Eric Merchant [00:01:14]:
And I met with one of my guys, and I said, if you could just jump in the motorhome and go anywhere, where would you go? And he goes, I'd go west. I said, that's a great idea. I says, I'm leaving after breakfast. And he looks at me. I said, yeah. I said, I'm parked right next to you. And I point to the parking lot, and he sees the motorhome, and that was it.

Jimmy Purdy [00:01:36]:
Off to the races, I guess. Where else is there to go from your location?

Eric Merchant [00:01:40]:
Well, you're gonna go north or south.

Jimmy Purdy [00:01:42]:
Okay.

Eric Merchant [00:01:43]:
To get out of there, just to get around the lakes, but. So I did. I left Michigan, and at that point, I needed to get out. I needed time to unwind, digest, chop, stress, all that stuff.

Jimmy Purdy [00:02:00]:
Yeah.

Eric Merchant [00:02:01]:
So I just. I just did it. I had no agenda. I didn't know how long I'd be gone, didn't know where I was going. And played every day as a new day and made it all the way to the west coast and just hit random things along the way. National parks. Went to the all star game in Seattle, did some moondock camping, you know, on Mount Hood, out by Mount Rainier. Met up with some friends in northern Idaho, visited some friends in Montana, and just literally took every day as a new day.

Eric Merchant [00:02:40]:
Camped down by some rivers, got the motorhome in places that probably shouldn't have.

Jimmy Purdy [00:02:43]:
Been, but got some side by sides stuck.

Eric Merchant [00:02:48]:
That was. That was this year.

Jimmy Purdy [00:02:50]:
Okay.

Eric Merchant [00:02:51]:
Last summer, I did the same thing, but this year was more planned out, because last summer, it was. It was July, and I didn't want to go south because it's just hot and in the motorhome that's fine. But then you're running the, the generator and I don't want to listen to the generator. So the further south I went was like Lake Tahoe.

Jimmy Purdy [00:03:12]:
Okay.

Eric Merchant [00:03:13]:
And then shot across Nevada north of Vegas. I don't know what the road was across there, but zipped across, ended up coming into Utah to Wendover, went out on the salt flats, shot across and actually stopped in here, talked to Cecil, visited with him for a little bit, went back up to Idaho Falls, went through Jackson Hole, the Tetons, up into Yellowstone and then zipped across South Dakota and did some dirt racing or watched some dirt racing on the, on the east side of South Dakota and then Minnesota and Wisconsin. Back home. Just world traveler, 28 days on the road, 7500 miles. And it's just, it is the coolest thing in the world.

Jimmy Purdy [00:04:04]:
Yeah. And then you ended up at Mars, 2024.

Eric Merchant [00:04:07]:
Mm hmm. So the plan, this one was more of a planned trip because vision was, was uh, 1 march, I guess it was, yeah. So I thought, well, take the motorhome division and vision is Kansas City, which is about 10 hours for me. I thought, well, that's halfway to somewhere. So I just figured on being gone for the month of March. And the other only agenda I had was being here for Mars and I'll be back home. 7th, 8 April is my plan.

Jimmy Purdy [00:04:41]:
Nice. A couple weeks left. What's the plan after here?

Eric Merchant [00:04:51]:
Utah has, I think, five national parks and Utah is some of the nicest country in the land as far as scenery goes, in my opinion. And I just, I thought it'd be cool to hit all five of those parks, maybe get into Arizona, see Grand Canyon. I've done the day trip from Vegas thing where you do Hoover Dam and things like that. And that's nowhere near the same type because you're just in a rental car zipping around for the day.

Jimmy Purdy [00:05:19]:
Yeah, it's nice when you got your kind of setup and you can pull over wherever you want, whenever you want.

Eric Merchant [00:05:24]:
Right. Self contained. No, don't have to worry about a reservation or a plan.

Jimmy Purdy [00:05:29]:
Nice.

Eric Merchant [00:05:30]:
That's been, that's been awesome.

Jimmy Purdy [00:05:32]:
Yeah. But in the meantime, the shop still running.

Eric Merchant [00:05:35]:
Shop is running the, everything is ticking away. I'm in communication with everybody there lightly, but they're probably doing better with me out of the way. It's not even probably they are doing better with me out of the way.

Jimmy Purdy [00:05:50]:
Okay.

Eric Merchant [00:05:52]:
I just know that.

Jimmy Purdy [00:05:53]:
How's that feeling though? Like that's what everybody kind of wants, but when it really actually happens, it's got to feel, I mean, what does that feel like?

Eric Merchant [00:06:00]:
It's the hardest thing in the world, because as a shop owner, 99% of us are technician turned shop owner.

Jimmy Purdy [00:06:08]:
Yeah.

Eric Merchant [00:06:08]:
And most likely by accident. We didn't plan to own a shop one day. We just got sick of working for somebody else.

Jimmy Purdy [00:06:14]:
Yeah.

Eric Merchant [00:06:14]:
So we always need to have our fingers in the pie and micromanage. And the last input, whatever.

Jimmy Purdy [00:06:20]:
Yeah. Be the fixer.

Eric Merchant [00:06:22]:
Be the fixer.

Jimmy Purdy [00:06:23]:
Yeah. And be needed.

Eric Merchant [00:06:25]:
Yeah. And that's great for a long time. But, man, does it. It's not that great. The whole, I think the whole thing that is so hard for people to remember is get out of the way.

Jimmy Purdy [00:06:38]:
Yeah.

Eric Merchant [00:06:39]:
But the getting out of the way part is, man, it's easy to say.

Jimmy Purdy [00:06:42]:
Yeah. Cause you got constant. I mean, constantly. New employees are training. Constantly someone doing something that they shouldn't be. Right. So. And they call it what? Daddy syndrome.

Jimmy Purdy [00:06:55]:
Right. When a lot of the times, it's like you're constantly having to step in.

Eric Merchant [00:06:58]:
To correct, or you think you have to step, or you think you have to.

Jimmy Purdy [00:07:02]:
That's a better way to put it. Yeah.

Eric Merchant [00:07:04]:
But it. My problem is I don't like to allow people to fail, even though. So hit. My theory is I like to, if I've been down a road and I predict something is going to happen because I've been down that road, I'm always now, make sure this or be careful of that, instead of letting them learn that on their own. So then I think that almost inhibits people because now they're cautious and they need some approval or need something to allow them to go further, and they're just kind of waiting on that. And that, that is not.

Jimmy Purdy [00:07:38]:
Yeah, it's a choke point.

Eric Merchant [00:07:39]:
It is.

Jimmy Purdy [00:07:40]:
I mean, you just follow it all through you.

Eric Merchant [00:07:42]:
And the reality of it is, I'm like, I don't want to be the funnel, but I'd also, I don't like to see people fail if I think I can help them by giving them some type of warning in advance, like, oh, this is the problem I had with that in the past. Be careful of that. Well, nobody learns from that. I mean, I like to think I did, but I'm sure I didn't.

Jimmy Purdy [00:08:05]:
Yeah. Yeah. I think knowing, thinking you know, better is probably what the issue is. Right.

Eric Merchant [00:08:10]:
Mm hmm.

Jimmy Purdy [00:08:11]:
And then obviously knowing that every, every repair is going to be different, every job is going to be different, every situation is going to be different. So you can't really relate to that, but you're trying to. You're trying to do the right thing. Right. You're trying to be the fixer.

Eric Merchant [00:08:23]:
We think we're doing the right thing. We really. I 100% genuinely believe everybody thinks they're doing the right thing, but. But it doesn't. It doesn't help. I don't think it's. I don't think it's the answer. I think you just need to look, let the people grow.

Eric Merchant [00:08:37]:
Let them, you know, give them the. Give them the fences or the guidelines and let them make the mistakes. Yeah. If they bounce off the side of it. It's not like we didn't do that hundreds of times, over and over.

Jimmy Purdy [00:08:48]:
Yeah. Yeah. It's just so much easier when you make the mistake and then you can obviously fix that and. Oh, the honors is on me because I did it. Right. But when someone else does it and you think you've could. You could have done something to avoid it, it makes it that much worse. Right.

Jimmy Purdy [00:09:03]:
In your mind.

Eric Merchant [00:09:05]:
But it's part of the problem down.

Jimmy Purdy [00:09:06]:
Yeah. It's part of the reason why you just can't get out of your own way sometimes, you know?

Eric Merchant [00:09:09]:
That's why it's hard.

Jimmy Purdy [00:09:11]:
The hardest thing. Right. Well, with the new staff, too, so I have a fairly new staff, and it's, like, really difficult for me to want to or can even step away, because I know there's still so much more procedures I need to have set up. You know? And I'm expecting something out of people that haven't been there for very long. Right.

Eric Merchant [00:09:30]:
Uh huh. You're expecting that out of them without necessarily telling them what you're expecting.

Jimmy Purdy [00:09:36]:
Right.

Eric Merchant [00:09:36]:
I mean, we talked about that last night at dinner a little bit.

Jimmy Purdy [00:09:39]:
Yeah.

Eric Merchant [00:09:39]:
That's where my. Okay, that's one of my small problems. It's like, why don't you. Why can't you read my mind? I'm thinking this. Why are you not. Why are you not comprehending what I'm thinking right now?

Jimmy Purdy [00:09:56]:
Why don't you just know this?

Eric Merchant [00:09:58]:
Yeah. Why don't you know this? I know this.

Jimmy Purdy [00:10:00]:
Like me.

Eric Merchant [00:10:00]:
Yeah. Just look into my eyes and you can see I'm thinking that. Turns out that is not how it works.

Jimmy Purdy [00:10:06]:
Yeah. My mom says I have that problem, too. You know people can't read your mind, right? Like, I didn't know. I assume they could.

Eric Merchant [00:10:13]:
That whole communication word. Such a big word.

Jimmy Purdy [00:10:15]:
Yeah. Well, how hard does it have that. Those talks without being upset or, like, coming from a place of emotion. Right. To just have something go wrong and then sit down and explain yourself without being slightly emotional about it, which skews the whole conversation.

Eric Merchant [00:10:32]:
Yep. I'm. And I'm not a confrontational person. I'm not that direct, so I'll stew over it instead of just saying something about it.

Jimmy Purdy [00:10:43]:
Yeah.

Eric Merchant [00:10:43]:
By the time I say something about it, usually it's because I stewed so long, and then it comes off. Way wrong.

Jimmy Purdy [00:10:49]:
It's blown way out of proportion.

Eric Merchant [00:10:50]:
Oh, yeah. And it just never goes well after that.

Jimmy Purdy [00:10:54]:
I wonder why it never could.

Eric Merchant [00:10:56]:
I don't know why people don't know that.

Jimmy Purdy [00:10:58]:
Yeah. And I think, like, so we had the presentation about anxiety this morning, and that kind of. Obviously, it hit home, I think, for everybody here. Right. We all wake up at three in the morning, like, no matter if you're across the state in a camper and you really don't need to be there or you're, you know, a year into your shop, like, it's a real thing to have those problems when you're waking up in the middle of the night thinking about what could go wrong, what will go wrong, and we've all had.

Eric Merchant [00:11:25]:
A scenario or a troubleshoot or even something not related to a vehicle that's kept us up at night. Some anxiety thing. Maybe a website issue, maybe something going on with a. Heck, a Google review could set that off.

Jimmy Purdy [00:11:42]:
Oh, yeah.

Eric Merchant [00:11:43]:
Just something simple like that. And then usually we spend more time worrying about it, and then the reality of it in the day is like, oh, that wasn't a big deal. Or it went. Or it passed quite easily instead of being this big headache, but.

Jimmy Purdy [00:11:57]:
Or it went nowhere near what you thought it was gonna go, or at the end of the day, what it really is a big deal. You know, what's. What's there even worth to even stress about if it hasn't happened yet?

Eric Merchant [00:12:07]:
Right.

Jimmy Purdy [00:12:07]:
You know, and that was.

Eric Merchant [00:12:08]:
That was. Sorry. Go ahead.

Jimmy Purdy [00:12:10]:
I was gonna say. And at the end of the day, they're just cars.

Eric Merchant [00:12:12]:
Yeah. They really are. Yeah. I mean, there's a lot of emotion tied to it with a customer and things like that. What it is, it's just a car, just a dumb box of parts.

Jimmy Purdy [00:12:24]:
But it's amazing how upset people get. And you have to talk them through their anxiety, through your own anxiety, through your employees anxiety, you know? And it's. It's. It's a lot to. I mean, obviously, that's why you're taking off on your. On your hiatus. You know, it's a big thing to try to, like, manage it correctly, you know, and I think it's a big missing part of most shop owners when they're starting out or even decades in, even technicians. Right.

Jimmy Purdy [00:12:55]:
Like, who doesn't go home and think about every part that they took apart in their car, whatever they're working on? And did I put that bolt back together? You know, am I. It's. Everyone thinks about it. No one talks about it.

Eric Merchant [00:13:06]:
Well, nobody. We don't necessarily know how to talk about it. The. The meditation part and the. And the calming and the breathing and that kind of thing that was through that anxiety discussion this morning. It could be one of those things that. What might make a difference for somebody, to my point last summer or to my little hiatus last summer, it was. That was, I wasn't in a bad position mentally or anything like that, like the speaker was discussing this morning, but you just.

Eric Merchant [00:13:41]:
Sometimes you just need to get away.

Jimmy Purdy [00:13:42]:
Yeah.

Eric Merchant [00:13:43]:
And it took two and a half, three weeks before I was, like, in a work frame of mind again, or I wanted to think about it. And then what I noticed is all the ideas were fresh. I took a three or four minute breathing exercise and stretched it into a month. But the ideas were clear. The thought process was clear. You know, what do I want to do to be happy? What does the company need to be? What ideas do I want to try and embrace or move forward with or any of that?

Jimmy Purdy [00:14:21]:
Yeah. It's different for everyone, just like everything's not gonna work in everybody's shop, but obviously getting to the point where you can take that time, you know, some people, there's no way I can leave for a week. There's no way I can leave for a day. Like, well, maybe you're not charging up. Maybe you need to start coming to these conferences. Maybe you need to get a coach. Maybe you need it, like, do some outside sources to actually help you get to the point where you can help yourself from the inside, you know?

Eric Merchant [00:14:48]:
Well, that goes back to the. Our egotistical background. We. We were technicians and. And how we measured success was how big of a problem child vehicle we could fix.

Jimmy Purdy [00:15:02]:
Yeah.

Eric Merchant [00:15:02]:
And that's what it was. And we didn't ask anybody. We don't, you know, you. You use your. Your knowledge, your tools, your training, and you. And you figure it out. Now, some people like to do the, I don't know, the YouTube answer, the Google answer. You know, parts can and approach.

Eric Merchant [00:15:23]:
That doesn't work for running the business, though.

Jimmy Purdy [00:15:25]:
No. Yeah.

Eric Merchant [00:15:26]:
If you don't have that mentorship from somebody that's successful, or smart, which could be good or bad, because sometimes there might be bad habits in there, but it is. It's the. It's the whole coaching thing or just the training event. Good.

Jimmy Purdy [00:15:41]:
How's it. Yeah. And aligning with your core values, like, it doesn't have to be successful or, like, right or wrong. Just. Just align it with your core values, and what they're saying makes sense to you, then, like, continue on that path to have them mentor you. Right. Yeah. There's.

Jimmy Purdy [00:15:56]:
There's so many different ways.

Eric Merchant [00:15:57]:
Be comfortable.

Jimmy Purdy [00:15:58]:
Yeah.

Eric Merchant [00:15:58]:
And, like, know yourself. Know which I say that out loud, but I. I don't know myself.

Jimmy Purdy [00:16:05]:
Yeah.

Eric Merchant [00:16:05]:
Because I want to be something different than I really am. And if you lie to yourself in that way and I'm talking to myself right now, it's going to be harder to figure out what. What the next step is or what. What's needed.

Jimmy Purdy [00:16:21]:
Well, I think self. Being self aware is the first step. Like, it's okay to, like, use that as the first step. I think, like, realizing that you don't know, I think is that. Is that first kind of critical pivoting point to make your mind start thinking. Right. And I have the problem with, like, business plans and business visions, too. Like, I don't.

Jimmy Purdy [00:16:38]:
I don't know what my vision is. I don't have a business plan. And yet that's supposed to be the two things to do to be successful. Right.

Eric Merchant [00:16:46]:
Right away.

Jimmy Purdy [00:16:47]:
Right away. Right away. You're supposed to do these things, and that's the only way that it works. And you have to do it, otherwise your business is gonna fail. Like, I don't. I don't really buy into that. And it's the same thought process of, like, well, you don't need to know yourself, but you need to know that you don't know yourself.

Eric Merchant [00:17:00]:
Yeah.

Jimmy Purdy [00:17:01]:
And that helps a lot.

Eric Merchant [00:17:02]:
And be okay with it.

Jimmy Purdy [00:17:03]:
Yeah.

Eric Merchant [00:17:04]:
So you might know it well.

Jimmy Purdy [00:17:06]:
That's right. That's true. That strikes a nerve right there.

Eric Merchant [00:17:08]:
Yeah. And be okay with it.

Jimmy Purdy [00:17:10]:
Can you sleep at night? You know, and then as everything evolves and you start realizing what you need to do. Yeah. Everything's changes. Like, you start realizing profit is not a bad word, and you start seeing yourself doing. Operating your business in a way that you wouldn't have done it when you first started because you felt like that was ripping your client off or that was ripping your customer off. Like, you're charging. If you charge more than x, that means you're ripping people off. Right.

Jimmy Purdy [00:17:35]:
But then you realize you get. You get the education. You realize the only way I can stay profitable, or in business even, not even profitable is to charge this y amount. And then all of a sudden you're like, wow, I'm ripping people off now. Now I'm that egotistical shop owner that I was trying not to be because most people open the shop and they're like, oh, I'm not going to be like my boss. I'm not going to put shop supplies on my ro, I'm not going to charge $190 an hour or whatever it is, right?

Eric Merchant [00:18:00]:
Oh, yeah. We don't need to get that much profit on parts, turns out. Yeah, profit isn't a bad word.

Jimmy Purdy [00:18:08]:
You have to, well, I was just saying that goes to like, treat trading your employees. Right. So you have one of your guys on your trip with you right now. Is there any way you could have done that if, if you didn't charge what, to be profitable, you know?

Eric Merchant [00:18:20]:
Yeah, he wanted to come out for the Mars conference. And then, you know, there's the next four, five, six days, I'm gonna have him experience this part of the country and see those national parks and, and all the things that Utah has to offer because when else is he gonna do it? Now he likes to do that kind of stuff, so he would probably make the time. But when, and I think everybody needs to do new, a sabbatical type thing. Yeah, but, and I get it. There's, you know, my kids are all grown. That's, that's not holding me back. That kind of thing like that. So I don't have those types of things.

Eric Merchant [00:19:02]:
But at the same time, you got to live here. You gotta, we all work until we can't work anymore because, not because we're too old, because we're just physically incapable.

Jimmy Purdy [00:19:12]:
Yeah.

Eric Merchant [00:19:13]:
And then what, what did you do?

Jimmy Purdy [00:19:17]:
Well, we all, and we all wait. And I think I'm guilty of this too. Put your head down and you work, right? Like, you figure out what you want to do in your twenties. Put your head down through thirties and then you try to get it figured out, you know, beyond that, I don't know. I'm not there yet, so, but, I mean, but, but I'm at that, you know, it's like I'm at that point where it's like I just got to keep my head down and keep working. Right. And all of a sudden the decade goes by and you're like, what am I doing all this for? You know?

Eric Merchant [00:19:41]:
Mm hmm. Especially when you're doing it wrong or not wrong. You know, you're doing it less than profitable.

Jimmy Purdy [00:19:47]:
Yeah. Or you find it another way that's better. And you're like, why did I wait so long to change my ways? And. And you can't get that time back. Right. And so the sooner you find mentorship that helps you decide which way you should be running your business, the better. So it's like you don't even have to, like, join this in quotes cult. Right.

Eric Merchant [00:20:06]:
Right.

Jimmy Purdy [00:20:06]:
And feel like you're part of this thing that's like, you know, make selling you all these things that you don't need. Right. Like, and that's what we try to provide to our clients is like, we don't want to be the shop that sells you things that you don't need. The end of the day, that's what it is. I mean, not necessarily, but you go to these conferences and you just find what you need, and the information is available for you to decide what you want to move forward with. And I feel like, as a shop owner, that's what I want to provide my clients. I want to give them the opportunity to make the decision that's right for their vehicle. And that might look like I'm selling them a bunch of stuff they don't need, but in reality, I'm just educating them.

Jimmy Purdy [00:20:41]:
These are the things in your vehicle that you need to repair. It's up to you to do it. I'm not, I'm not getting into your wallet. I'm not like, you make the call, not me. So that drives me nuts when I hear, especially new shops, guys that are, like, just starting their business or years in, and they say those types of things to me, oh, the inspection is a waste of time. The DVI is a waste of time. The 300% rule, you know, you're just selling stuff that they don't really need. Like, they don't really need anything if they drove it in.

Eric Merchant [00:21:12]:
That's very true. You know, if they drop. But it's. It goes so many ways because we've all had a. Anyway, anybody that's been in business for any length of time has had a car get scratched or has damage or has been accused of causing damage, whether we did it or not, or has an underlying issue. And you're in the transmission game. I'm in the transmission game. We both know that a lot of other things can cause a transmission symptom.

Jimmy Purdy [00:21:43]:
Yeah.

Eric Merchant [00:21:43]:
One of the things that we see in the diesel side is a fuel filter. If a fuel filter is plugged up in a truck, the customer just knows that the truck doesn't want to shift unless he lets off the throttle.

Jimmy Purdy [00:21:54]:
Yeah.

Eric Merchant [00:21:55]:
That's a transmission issue to him.

Jimmy Purdy [00:21:59]:
You call it a misfire on a. On the engines with spark plugs. Yep.

Eric Merchant [00:22:03]:
And it could be. But. But the transmission might be the.

Jimmy Purdy [00:22:08]:
The.

Eric Merchant [00:22:09]:
What's presenting itself as an issue, but. Right, but what's really the problem? And that's.

Jimmy Purdy [00:22:12]:
And do you think that's tied back to, like, the anxiety of, like, people, like, just wanting to think it's the worst case scenario? Right. Yeah, absolutely. Right. So it's like they're already anxious and they've already made it in their own mind, the worst case scenario. Now they're coming to you in a bad state of mind. Right. And it's like this whole thing that goes sideways for no apparent reason at all.

Eric Merchant [00:22:33]:
Well, and most people, it's like going to the dentist when you have a toothache. It's never enjoyable.

Jimmy Purdy [00:22:40]:
Yeah.

Eric Merchant [00:22:41]:
The pain is obviously requiring you to go or making you finally say, okay, fine, I'll go. Because who likes to go to the dentist? I don't, but in car repairs, the same way.

Jimmy Purdy [00:22:53]:
Yeah. And then by the time you've actually gone, you've web md yourself into a. Oh, yeah. Into like you're, you know, they're gonna cut your jaw off or something. I definitely have that. That's the one I got right.

Eric Merchant [00:23:05]:
Yep, that's it.

Jimmy Purdy [00:23:06]:
So. And if you think people aren't doing that with your car, then you're. I mean. Yeah. Your losses as everybody else. Cause that's exactly what happens. They look on, it's like, oh, yep, that's that. That's my symptoms.

Jimmy Purdy [00:23:16]:
So I need a transmission. And then they look up. How much is an Allison 1000?

Eric Merchant [00:23:20]:
Yep.

Jimmy Purdy [00:23:20]:
Oh, it's about nine grand. So they're ready to spend nine grand by the time they walk into your shop and come to find out it was a $250 fuel filter.

Eric Merchant [00:23:28]:
And that's happened before that. And that still sticks in my head because it's just, you know, and the customers. There was scenario in that situation. It was a customer from Ohio, which, which for us there was about 5 hours. And he was just sure he needed it. Okay, we'll get you scheduled in. And he shows up and I says, before we do anything, we're gonna check some things. And this has been a while ago, before we were.

Eric Merchant [00:23:56]:
I don't know. I don't want to say before we were something because I don't know what I'm saying, but. Edit that part out. Edited, boy. But it was. It was a road test. And I had the customer with me and he goes, yeah, right there. Can you tell what it's doing? I said, yep.

Eric Merchant [00:24:11]:
Okay, now I know what you're feeling, what your sensation is. Now let's figure out why. And it was. And I said, before we do anything, we're gonna go back and screw a fuel filter on and see what happens. We do that, we go out and drive it. And he drove 5 hours back home after a fuel filter changed. I said, I got a transmission if you want it, but you don't need it. You can't not do that.

Jimmy Purdy [00:24:38]:
Yeah. And that's the importance of like slowing down that whole intake process and not letting them dictate your workflow. Right. Like this is what we're gonna do first. At the end of the day, like you said, if you need a transmission, I got it on the shelf like it's ready to go in. Right. But let me do my thing and make sure that we're not putting a fuel filter in after we replace your transmission. Cause that's a terrible time.

Eric Merchant [00:25:00]:
That's a wrong time. Yes.

Jimmy Purdy [00:25:02]:
It's not the right time to do that repair, you know, and I get all the time too with tune ups and having misfires, you know, comes in check engine light on misfire codes and drive down the road shuddering and bucking. And it's like, yeah, it's transmission issues and it's even other shops that send it to me. Oh, yeah, transmission. Like, no, it's just a misfire. You know, on the Ford's is a big one because they don't set an engine light and so you got to go to the misfire counter and all that kind of stuff. But regardless, the point is the same. Like even at that. And it comes in and I already know in my head what might be going on.

Jimmy Purdy [00:25:32]:
It's like, no, it's got to go through the process, you know, it's got to go through the way we intake the vehicles, we do the inspection, we go through, we identify everything. Because the other problem, and I'm sure you got that with transmissions is you. If you were just focused on that, you did a transmission and the rear end decides to make a howling noise or the front wheel bearings also gone bad. They're not going to notice that until they get it back. Right. You know, even though it's been making noise for the last six months, no one pays attention until after they get 8000 or $9,000 repair bill.

Eric Merchant [00:25:59]:
Now expect it to be a brand new vehicle.

Jimmy Purdy [00:26:01]:
Oh, yeah, absolutely right.

Eric Merchant [00:26:02]:
All we did is fix this.

Jimmy Purdy [00:26:03]:
Yeah. And so having the inspection, it's like, that's what you have to do just to eliminate all those problems. And everybody misses that.

Eric Merchant [00:26:11]:
And as soon as you have that process in place where you've, you know that you need to do X, Y, and Z steps and you need to do this and this, whatever that is for your particular shop or application. And as soon as you have a customer that allows or not allows you that you allow a customer to dictate a process, maybe they're in a hurry. So you do a rush on a, on a vehicle that you're not familiar with and skip that DVI process. I don't even think there's a failure rate of that. That's just 100% issue. You are. Something is gonna bite you in the.

Jimmy Purdy [00:26:47]:
Butt a hundred percent of time. It happens every time.

Eric Merchant [00:26:49]:
A hundred percent guaranteed. That's the 300% rule.

Jimmy Purdy [00:26:54]:
Yeah, that's the rule. That's the real one.

Eric Merchant [00:26:56]:
That's the b rule of the 300% rule.

Jimmy Purdy [00:26:59]:
And I just, it blows me away because it does happen just like that. And I look at other shops, you know, in my area or around, and it's like, how do you guys get away with, like, some of the stuff I see to get away was like, I could never get away with that. You know, it's like, how does that, how does one small thing slip through the cracks for me and it just, like, is magnified, right. I just never fails.

Eric Merchant [00:27:20]:
Are they getting, are they getting away with it or are they not realizing the other side of it?

Jimmy Purdy [00:27:26]:
That's true. That's a good point, too. I mean, the only reason why. The only reason why I know cuz I'm self aware about it.

Eric Merchant [00:27:32]:
Mm hmm.

Jimmy Purdy [00:27:32]:
You know, I. That's what I'm looking at.

Eric Merchant [00:27:34]:
But if somebody isn't aware of that stuff, they don't even realize they got away with something where.

Jimmy Purdy [00:27:38]:
Yeah, it's a fair point. That's a real. Yeah, that's a real thing. Yeah. And. Yeah. So I don't know if maybe, maybe learning all this stuff's not a good thing. Huh.

Eric Merchant [00:27:47]:
Well, it's hard to go backwards, though. Yeah.

Jimmy Purdy [00:27:49]:
It's called. What is it called? Ignorance. Ignorance. Ignorance of list. Yeah. Sometimes negligence is what. That's true, too.

Eric Merchant [00:27:58]:
And once you learn that stuff, whether it be something like putting a process in place or the 300% rule, the DVI, even if you don't want to do it mentally, I think it sticks in your head and forces you to think about it, like, oh, I know there's a better way. And I know that this. This might be a better way. We'll go back to something simple as the DVI, but I don't really want to do it. And then, meanwhile, you're still causing yourself stress and headache because those side issues pop up and. Or you do a transmission when it needed a fuel filter.

Jimmy Purdy [00:28:37]:
Yeah.

Eric Merchant [00:28:38]:
Or a parking lot. Diagnosis. Terminology. Oh, it's a wheel bearing. Just a wheel bearing.

Jimmy Purdy [00:28:47]:
Yep.

Eric Merchant [00:28:48]:
No problem. Wheel bearing. Well, and x, y, or z, because you did.

Jimmy Purdy [00:28:54]:
Or the phone call diagnosis. The same thing, you know? And you set these expectations, and then all of a sudden, it's something totally different than what, you know, you explained on the phone, and now you're. Now you just lost the trust of the client.

Eric Merchant [00:29:07]:
Oh, yeah.

Jimmy Purdy [00:29:08]:
Because if you're gonna say something, spout your mouth out over the phone, they come in, and then you quote them something totally different. I mean, if you want to lose a client, that's how you do it. I'm guilty of that. Right. And then the same with the mistakes. Like, sometimes parts are replaced that shouldn't have been replaced, you know? And, I mean, it eats it, all of us when that kind of stuff happens.

Eric Merchant [00:29:26]:
Right.

Jimmy Purdy [00:29:27]:
But you got to learn by failing, you know?

Eric Merchant [00:29:30]:
And sometimes you're gonna take it on the chin and eat that. You know, if. If something happens, I go, well, that didn't fix it.

Jimmy Purdy [00:29:37]:
Yeah.

Eric Merchant [00:29:38]:
Step up. And if you're charging appropriately, which kind of how this weird circle just starts all connecting together. If you're. If you. If you are paying yourself or, I'm sorry, if you're charging what you're worth and delivering what you're charging, you can. You can absorb something like that because mistakes happen. We're human, and they're like, oops, we were wrong. Eat it, move on.

Eric Merchant [00:30:02]:
You know? Yes, it sucks in the immediate. No, you can't return the part to the vendor, but just, you walk up to the customer and say, up, we screwed up. We were wrong. Not gonna charge you, whatever your approach is, but just own it.

Jimmy Purdy [00:30:15]:
Yeah.

Eric Merchant [00:30:16]:
And that's. That's very difficult for anybody.

Jimmy Purdy [00:30:19]:
Get them in a rental car. Get them taken care of.

Eric Merchant [00:30:21]:
Taking care of it. Yeah.

Jimmy Purdy [00:30:23]:
Step one, you made a mistake. Okay? So I need to take care of the person that owns this car, and I think that's lost, too. I think a lot of people stress, and then they're the shop till midnight trying to figure this car out, and they really think they're doing a really good job and really good service for their client. Right. When all you had to do is just make a phone call and say, look, we screwed up. Didn't go quite as planned. We're gonna need a couple days. Can we get you a rental? Can we get you situated? Right? I mean, who's gonna, like.

Eric Merchant [00:30:49]:
How do you. How do you. As a customer? Yes. You're inconvenienced, sure. But if you come up and lay it all out instead of trying to beat around the bush and hide something, and then it just, man. Oh, yeah, that's a spiral that just never ends well.

Jimmy Purdy [00:31:07]:
Or you're up till midnight. 01:00 a.m. 02:00 a.m. trying to figure it out. Can't get it figured out. Next day, they're calling, right? 08:00 a.m. in the morning, they need their car. Supposed be like, so now you're not in the best frame of mind at all.

Jimmy Purdy [00:31:17]:
And how, like, it just all goes downhill and you're not making enough money and this and that and the other. And it's like, it's just like you said, that negative feed loop that just feeds into itself. Like, how do I get out of this?

Eric Merchant [00:31:29]:
The deeper it goes, the harder it is to break out. And then that affects the next three, you know, next three vehicles.

Jimmy Purdy [00:31:37]:
Oh, yeah.

Eric Merchant [00:31:37]:
It just.

Jimmy Purdy [00:31:39]:
Well, it affects everything. You're like, what the hell am I. Do I doing this? What have you thought of that, huh?

Eric Merchant [00:31:45]:
Why do I work for myself? This is who I want to go back to working somewhere else that lasts for probably not even a day. Because just the thought coming out of your mouth is like, I can't work for somebody else.

Jimmy Purdy [00:32:00]:
Well, you want to be, you know, in a camper in Utah, so there's that, too. Right? So take advantage of the fact that you work for yourself sometimes, too. I think. I mean, I'm guilty of that. I just feel so bad about taking advantage of the fact that I'm the owner, I'm the boss, right? Like, I. For a long time, I couldn't even take lunch. Like, I just felt like I need to work harder than everybody else. I need to be there before.

Jimmy Purdy [00:32:20]:
I need to be there after. I don't take lunch. I don't like. And it's, like, all consuming, right. Because you don't want to show. I don't even know what it is, right. But it's the same time, it's like, you don't want to be that boss. That, like, oh, he just gets to sit in his office all day and do nothing.

Jimmy Purdy [00:32:35]:
Right.

Eric Merchant [00:32:36]:
When I'm in the building, it's funny you say that. Very often I will be in early. Very often I miss lunch, and very often I'm there after hours. But I don't know that I accomplish anything. Like, it just feels like, oh, it's what I'm supposed to do. Yeah, but is it, you know, and one of the little themes of the week or the last week or so in part of my trip is get the hell out of the way.

Jimmy Purdy [00:33:05]:
Yeah.

Eric Merchant [00:33:05]:
And that's not me talking. That's, you know, other people saying that. And I'm like, yeah, we just need to get the hell out of the way. But, boy, is that tough.

Jimmy Purdy [00:33:14]:
Yeah, yeah. I mean, and that's the ego thing, right?

Eric Merchant [00:33:19]:
Oh, totally.

Jimmy Purdy [00:33:20]:
And he's just. Just trying to control everything. And I guess from an early on, when I first started, I didn't want to be, because I worked in a shop where it was. It was very micromanaged. Right. And so I wanted to be the guy to come and be, like, do your thing, you know? Like. Cause that's all I wanted. I just wanted, like, can you just let me, like, fix this car? Let me just, like, do my thing and quit, like, you know, looking over my shoulder.

Jimmy Purdy [00:33:41]:
So, how's that working for the shop in general for you? I think. I think I'm doing the right thing. I think it's. I think it needs more work. Right. Like we all do. I think I need to be more involved. I think in the last six months, I've realized I need to have a little bit more involvement.

Jimmy Purdy [00:34:02]:
For the first few years, it was kind of like your job as a technician. So when you pull that car in, I don't want to hear from you until the job tickets turned back in. Don't tell me nothing about it. Figure it out. Right. I don't think that was the right approach. I think that was wrong. But that was my other extreme.

Jimmy Purdy [00:34:20]:
Like, I stayed so far out of the way that I just figured out. Right. And so now it's more like, okay, so I need to get involved with and just be involved with each vehicle individually. Cause I wanted a system that allowed me to, like, divide and conquer. Like, okay, so these cars will. I'll be involved in these ones not. But I'm just starting to realize I just need to know what the car's in for now. Read through the notes and just kind of, like, actively watch and kind of see what tools they're grabbing.

Jimmy Purdy [00:34:48]:
Right. Like, and just really, really be involved, like, through each part, each technician, and each job they're doing and really try to, like, pick, like, okay, so why has he got a hammer right now? He shouldn't have a hammer right now if he's doing a can bus diagnostic. Like, you know what I mean? Or maybe you should. That is probably a damn good idea right now, but you know what I'm saying? And just try to, like, envision, like, what. What should they be doing at this .2 hours into a diagn or an hour into this repair or whatever it is, and then just say, hey, so what's up? Yeah, that doesn't look like you should. You're doing what you should be doing, but not saying that. Just like, hey, anything I can help you with? I'm here if you need me.

Eric Merchant [00:35:23]:
It's like, how did we get to this conclusion? Or this. This. How. Where are we at this place? And sometimes it makes perfect sense. Other times you're like, oh. And then other times you're like, hmm.

Jimmy Purdy [00:35:34]:
Maybe what, what if, what if we decided to look at this instead of that? Right? What do you think about that? You know? Or even the test that they did. Oh, I see you did you ohm tested this circuit. That's really good. Did you? Did you. Did you voltage drop test it? Do you know, you know what that is? You know, like, you want to grab the scope, you know, like, we got a timing code. You want to, like, you want to do cam crank correlation code on it. You know where the scope is? You want me to grab it for you and set it up for you? I got a couple minutes. I can help you set it up real quick, because a lot of time, they're just as egotistical as us.

Eric Merchant [00:36:04]:
Yep.

Jimmy Purdy [00:36:04]:
Like, right? Like, well, we all are, right? I don't want to point the finger at one or the other, but, like, they don't want to be. No one wants to be told what to do or be felt inferior. And that was my big problem, too. Like, you don't know what you're doing. Let me help you. And now I've, like, changed that to, like, hey, I got a few minutes. You want me to help you set it up? You know, hey, this is a really cool feature. You ever seen this? You ever try so, like, redirecting how I'm asking instead of just making them feel stupid.

Eric Merchant [00:36:29]:
And it's funny how just changing the words around, it's amazing. It changes the hope. And I'm agreeing with you. I'm not saying I do it very well.

Jimmy Purdy [00:36:40]:
I don't either. I'm working on it actively.

Eric Merchant [00:36:42]:
It's so much easier to be a shop owner sitting in a different state, talking into microphones. It's like, this is the greatest thing ever.

Jimmy Purdy [00:36:51]:
That's why I do this is literally.

Eric Merchant [00:36:52]:
Why I do this. We're at a marketing conference, learning how to market ourselves because we're experts at Google.

Jimmy Purdy [00:37:00]:
Yeah. I mean, that's why all the podcasters. Podcasts, because it gives you just 30 minutes to an hour, making you feel like you're an expert.

Eric Merchant [00:37:08]:
Yeah. We can just say all the greatest things about ourselves, and then we go back and listen to him. We're like, I don't remember saying that.

Jimmy Purdy [00:37:18]:
I don't ever do that. Well, the goal is, somebody listening is gonna hear us, and maybe they'll actually do that, and it'll make one shot better.

Eric Merchant [00:37:26]:
Or they'll realize that we're idiots.

Jimmy Purdy [00:37:33]:
Like, a win win. As long. As long as they're listening and then they're subscribing. That's all that matters to me.

Eric Merchant [00:37:40]:
Yep. Just get that gearbox podcast going. But one of the realizations, though, of an event like this, a conference or any type of. Doesn't have to be a destination event, just multiple people around. Geez. Obese thought loss, realizing that, oh, my. I'm not as weird as I thought everybody else. Or maybe not everybody else, but, like, whatever the struggle is, turns out it's probably not a rare thing.

Eric Merchant [00:38:12]:
You know, we all have our demons, and we all have our things that we want to work on, and we all probably even know it, but when you hear that it's shared by others, it becomes more human.

Jimmy Purdy [00:38:26]:
Yeah.

Eric Merchant [00:38:27]:
You know, you're not just out in left field. It's like, oh, wow. You got that same issue or similar. Yeah. And you can. It's just a. It's just a camaraderie of it all.

Jimmy Purdy [00:38:37]:
Oh, yeah.

Eric Merchant [00:38:38]:
You're not getting taught, you're not getting forced. You're just sharing it, bouncing ideas, realizing that we're all human.

Jimmy Purdy [00:38:44]:
We're all weird together.

Eric Merchant [00:38:46]:
Mm hmm.

Jimmy Purdy [00:38:47]:
So it's good.

Eric Merchant [00:38:49]:
It's crazy thing.

Jimmy Purdy [00:38:50]:
The networking is, like, by far the biggest thing at all these conferences.

Eric Merchant [00:38:54]:
Networking. That is the word I was trying to find.

Jimmy Purdy [00:38:56]:
Okay.

Eric Merchant [00:38:56]:
Okay. Thank you.

Jimmy Purdy [00:38:58]:
I thought so. I read your mind. I don't know if you could.

Eric Merchant [00:39:00]:
Oh, it was perfect, because you knew exactly what I was trying to think.

Jimmy Purdy [00:39:02]:
So I guess we got a magic show tonight, so I'm pretty excited about that.

Eric Merchant [00:39:05]:
I think the magic show just happened.

Jimmy Purdy [00:39:10]:
There it is.

Eric Merchant [00:39:11]:
You read my mind. I know it can be done. So I suddenly don't have to communicate.

Jimmy Purdy [00:39:17]:
Would that be fantastic?

Eric Merchant [00:39:18]:
It's amazing.

Jimmy Purdy [00:39:19]:
I feel like we're on the same. I think it's like a transmission.

Eric Merchant [00:39:21]:
Do you think it's. Do you think it's the headsets, like, the cords, that go into this little magic box next to it?

Jimmy Purdy [00:39:26]:
I'm, like, slowly siphoning all your personal information.

Eric Merchant [00:39:29]:
Well, this show is probably over then. You got everything? You're gonna get syntax error? No.

Jimmy Purdy [00:39:39]:
Well, Eric, I appreciate you coming on.

Eric Merchant [00:39:42]:
Oh, it was awesome. Thank you, Jimmy.

Jimmy Purdy [00:39:43]:
Yeah. And merchant.

Eric Merchant [00:39:46]:
Merchant. Automotive.

Jimmy Purdy [00:39:47]:
Automotive in Michigan.

Eric Merchant [00:39:48]:
Michigan, Zealand. Michigan. Southwest Michigan.

Jimmy Purdy [00:39:51]:
That's awesome. And you do. So I was talking to your comrade, Charlie. Yeah. You sell parts, and it's all Duramax.

Eric Merchant [00:40:00]:
Everything we do is Duramax.

Jimmy Purdy [00:40:02]:
Okay.

Eric Merchant [00:40:02]:
Yep.

Jimmy Purdy [00:40:03]:
So I followed you with your allison transmissions, but I didn't realize you had, like, the whole diesel Duramax thing locked down, too.

Eric Merchant [00:40:09]:
Yep, we do that. We do all the Duramax stuff. Parts repair, the Allison stuff, because that's what's in them. A lot of. I don't want to call them maintenance, rebuild. That's not the case. But. But.

Eric Merchant [00:40:23]:
But, you know, an upgraded stock unit, so it's not just putting the same stuff in all, you know, and performance units for the guys that like to turn the trucks up, do dumb stuff. We'll build something for that, too.

Jimmy Purdy [00:40:34]:
So you do the whole truck, differential to radiator, everything in between.

Eric Merchant [00:40:39]:
I.

Jimmy Purdy [00:40:40]:
And you manufacture parts, too, there?

Eric Merchant [00:40:43]:
We. We do light manufacturing. We do a lot of kits and problem solver type stuff. And then if, you know, if you're looking for an oddball part, we probably have it or can access it. But it's all Duramax. Never.

Jimmy Purdy [00:41:02]:
All yours.

Eric Merchant [00:41:03]:
All yours o London current. And it is. It's bumper to bumper. I'm not afraid. We'll pull the dash out and fix a blend door. Will, you know, back. Haven't done it recently, but we used to put foam and seat covers on just because it's in the truck. But a gas guy comes in or a non diesel truck, and we very.

Eric Merchant [00:41:25]:
You seldom will attack it. Okay, now we'll do. Now, if it's an Allison and eight one truck, sure, we'll take care of it for you and do the related work to it, but I'm not looking to get into it.

Jimmy Purdy [00:41:35]:
What do you. What do you think about those eight ones?

Eric Merchant [00:41:38]:
I don't. I don't have much experience with them.

Jimmy Purdy [00:41:41]:
Okay.

Eric Merchant [00:41:41]:
They were. They weren't out very long.

Jimmy Purdy [00:41:43]:
They weren't. No.

Eric Merchant [00:41:44]:
And they. I don't know how often they sold, but I've never I've never been into one.

Jimmy Purdy [00:41:50]:
Okay.

Eric Merchant [00:41:51]:
So, like, I don't know much about them that way. I'm sure they make, you know, I'm not.

Jimmy Purdy [00:41:55]:
I'm not a huge fan of them, so.

Eric Merchant [00:41:56]:
Okay.

Jimmy Purdy [00:41:57]:
I just think they're overrated, underpowered, and.

Eric Merchant [00:42:01]:
I definitely think they're underpowered, but that's just because it's a gas motor from 20 years ago.

Jimmy Purdy [00:42:06]:
That's true. And it's 815. 18 freaking liters.

Eric Merchant [00:42:10]:
Yeah.

Jimmy Purdy [00:42:10]:
So you get, like, the same fuel, less fuel miles, and a diesel and half the power. I don't know. Anyway.

Eric Merchant [00:42:16]:
And at that point, you might as well. I don't know. Maybe there's some argument. Probably not having a diesel, depending on your use, especially nowadays with emissions, if you're not working the truck, if it's your grocery getter, it's probably cheaper for you not to have it. From a. From a longevity standpoint.

Jimmy Purdy [00:42:34]:
Yeah.

Eric Merchant [00:42:34]:
The emission system is just not happy if it's not getting hot and getting worked.

Jimmy Purdy [00:42:37]:
And it's true.

Eric Merchant [00:42:38]:
That type of thing.

Jimmy Purdy [00:42:39]:
Yeah. The GM guru right here.

Eric Merchant [00:42:42]:
Hmm.

Jimmy Purdy [00:42:43]:
Nope, just of the nation of the world. Oh.

Eric Merchant [00:42:46]:
I have been around, like, that part of the world.

Jimmy Purdy [00:42:50]:
The diesel world traveler. The diesel GM special specialist slash world traveler.

Eric Merchant [00:42:56]:
There has been some fortunate events over the years where I have been. I've been to Barcelona and London doing. Doing repairs. So that was pretty cool, actually.

Jimmy Purdy [00:43:06]:
That sounds pretty cool.

Eric Merchant [00:43:07]:
Yeah. And it wasn't really that hard of work, but it was just a relationship I built with a customer that is from that area, imported a truck, and he used it as, um, like a film truck. Tv commercials and movies and things like that. So the truck was a camera rig. That's the word. And it needed some work. And he says, why don't you just come over here and do this so I don't have to mess with it? And I'm thinking, let me check my schedule and see if I have time to go to Barcelona for the week. Turns out I did make this plan.

Jimmy Purdy [00:43:41]:
Pretty easy, especially if it's paid right. I think I can fit that into my schedule.

Eric Merchant [00:43:45]:
Yeah, I did. But that was pretty cool. That was a fun deal.

Jimmy Purdy [00:43:51]:
Eric Merchant, merchant automotive. Thanks again for coming on.

Eric Merchant [00:43:53]:
Yes, sir. Thank you, Jimmy.