What Have You Done To Your 2nd Gen Tacoma Today?

1. Flat rate pay and when you do one thing hundreds of times you get fast AF especially if you work at getting faster like I did.
2. I did the work on the side of the street, I didn't drive the car anywhere, I did the work at customer's homes/work/golf course/mall etc... wherever the customer was.
3. No, refer to #2. You went on a little trip of assumptions there.
4. Flat rate.

I think Zac should too.

Nicely done. Thank you.


In insurance replacement work insurance companies have huge amounts of demands to meet or you don't get their business. Insurance companies demand flat rates are used, flat rates exactly like Toyota dealers use (same book). My customers didn't pay the whole bill, they paid their car insurance deductible, and the insurance company pays the remainder.

In the case of a Civic stereo bezel, Honda determines the entire dash must be removed to replace the stereo bezel. If the mechanic is average and unmotivated to get the job done quicker I'm sure it would take at least 6 hours. I could do a Civic dash in 5 hours. But I didn't have to remove the dash, I could lay on my back on the car's floor and use various specific drivers with a phillips bit and my 90* Makita and do the exact same job in far less time.

Once I had the keys in my hand and was standing next to the car I could haul ass and take before pictures, R & R the stereo bezel, install a new stereo, take after pictures, do the paperwork, smoke a cigarette, finish up with the customer, leave in about an hour of arriving, and go to the next job. 99.93% of the jobs I did never had a warranty claim on my work. Just because someone is fast doesn't mean subpar work was done.

Just because the company I worked for charged flat rate doesn't mean I got paid flat rate because I didn't, I got paid hourly. I hauled ass because I have pride in my work and in how i work.

Now consider the flipside, every single year the new models came out and I didn't have a clue how those new models were put together, I'm referring to every single manufacturer and all of their models, those jobs took much longer to complete than the flat rate paid.

The biggest crooks in the whole deal are the customers because they're the ones claiming stuff was stolen when it wasn't because they never owned what they claimed they had most of the time, it's not even a close comparison to who the biggest crooks are.

 

Dang I love trimmed fenders! That looks great, super clean lines. 35's will offset it nicely!

 

That is a great perspective from someone working for a company. The company does have overhead to pay for the facility. There are alot of moving components in running a shop, not what is convenient for the customer which unfortunately is the case most of the time.

 

The shops that i go to operate this way. Was at the shop 2 days ago, there for 2 hours, charged for 2 hours worth of work. Paid less than what was originally quoted.

Im also talking about out of pocket expenses. Like brake changes, oil changes, blower motors, spark plugs... things insurance doesnt cover but we are all still forced to pay for.

Insurance companies are good and evil, they like to take money from someone that has been driving for 60 years and never made a single claim, but when someone's neck gets jacked up in a wreck its a battle to get paid...

Case in point... recent post... guy hit a cow.... passenger medical is not covered because it was a long fenced stretch along a highway...

 

thank you sir

 

On jobs I did over and over I would time myself. My fastest recorded time on installing a stereo in a Civic was 12 minutes including before and after pictures and all paperwork. That's 11 pictures with an ancient and slow digital camera, 12 crimps, 2 4" zip ties, 4 twists of a flat blade screwdriver, setting the clock and 1 station on every preset of FM1, and paperwork (writing down the VIN, production date, mileage, license plate number, exterior color code, interior color code, number of doors, and submodel).

 

Yeah that is pretty quick. was there some kind of recall? seems like you got a lot of practice

 

I can’t stay inside. I got to get up and go to work in that temperature.

 

Best month ever with 2 installers was $133K labor (gross) in one month.

Company costs for every installer employed: new truck, new cell phone, new digital camera, business license in each respective state, new copier/scanner, new phone landline, insurance for the truck, insurance for the work being done, health insurance costs, truck maintenance costs, company gas card, and pay to fix screw ups/mistakes.

 

Was this for a dealership? Or did you specialize in insurance claims?

 

Theft and vandalism repairs are all that I did. Everything from re-keying locks to airbags to wheels and tires to complete interiors to steering columns to huge stereo systems and alarms etc

I could install an entire Civic interior in a 8 hour day - every single piece. I've worked on thousands of Tacoma 1st gens. Ferrari, Lamborghini, Hummer, name a brand made after 1970 and I've worked on it, except for Tesla as they weren't made yet at that time.

 

Strictly insurance claims for most of it but I did the same thing for a different company and that company served dealerships as well. We had 85 Geo Metros lined up one time and every one got a antenna, stereo, and 4 speakers installed and we averaged 16 minutes per car with 4 installers (no pictures and no paperwork). I can't recall the guys name but he could cut a perfect round hole in plastic with his locking blade knife and that's exactly how he cut 170 round rear speaker holes!

 

I want to trim my fenders but I'm so scared to screw it up.

 

Can I get the part number for catch can?

 

Fj cruiser wheels powder coated and 295/70/17’s


Still a work in progress!

 

Spray, run key in and out, rinse and repeat several "hundred" times. Not necessarily in the same day. Kepp trying to turn the key, gently as not to break it off. Patience, IF it is not completely corroded. And try to keep up on it, especially during salt season. My wife's Xterra has the same problem with the back hatch, pretty much been since day one. Kind of frustrating for me, as I don't carry her fob.

 

Installed 3 degrees of much needed caster.

 

Do I need to come up there and start driving that thing?

 

Boy that looks clean