Episode #5 of the 3T’s Mobile Mechanic Podcast is here featuring Luis Salas from Salas Mobile Mechanic.

Transcript

BEN DELLARIA: All right, everybody, welcome back. Episode five is today with Louis Salas with Salas Mobile Mechanic. What's going on, man? How you been?

Luis Salas: Man, I've been pretty good. Pretty good. Yes, sir.

BEN DELLARIA: Yeah, enjoying the mobile life.

Luis Salas: Oh, yeah. Every day of it.

BEN DELLARIA: Some days are great.

Luis Salas: Every day.

BEN DELLARIA: Some days suck.

Luis Salas: Yeah, some days do suck. And then broken bolts happen.

BEN DELLARIA: Where are you at again?

Luis Salas: I'm in Midlothian, Texas.

BEN DELLARIA: Texas. Texas.

Luis Salas: it's It's like 20 minutes from Dallas, Texas.

BEN DELLARIA: Yeah, i don't even know where that is either, but that's all right.

Luis Salas: South.

Luis Salas: I forgot. Yeah, you're from Florida, right?

BEN DELLARIA: Yeah, and I've never really been out of Florida like and actually traveled anywhere. so

Luis Salas: Hey, you don't need to. You got all that good stuff over there.

BEN DELLARIA: Yeah, I don't know. I wouldn't mind traveling one day, go see it. I want to see you know New York City. I want to see Washington. i want to see some cool places. I want to go to Texas. I was supposed to go to Texas in April, but I'm still saving for my daughter's wedding, and i just i can't. I was supposed to go a training event last year. i i had had the tickets bought. i had the hotel bought, everything for Asta.

BEN DELLARIA: And my daughter's like, oh, we're getting ah getting married. And I'm like, ooh. So I ended up getting a refund on that. So like today, my wife is out with her and um her mom and her future mother-in-law doing ah dress you know shopping and stuff.

Luis Salas: shopping yeah yeah

BEN DELLARIA: So they're getting – they set up the – I don't know, the whole bridal boutique thing or whatever. So whatever. Just tell me tell me how much cash I need, and that's what I got to do.

Luis Salas: yeah yeah just go ahead and swipe it

BEN DELLARIA: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, just no credit, just pay it be done. um

Luis Salas: Yeah.

BEN DELLARIA: So Lewis, let's tell the guys, um what's your background in automotive? Where'd you come from? Why'd you decide to do all this?

Luis Salas: So I've been working on cars for, I mean, as I'm new to the industry. I've been working on cars for, I want to say a good seven years.

Luis Salas: And I went to school. I went to Dallas College for automotive and graduated two years ago, a year and a half ago.

Luis Salas: And I started working at a shop here locally. I didn't do leadership. I started working here at a shop. Matter of fact, the shop I was working at was my professor's.

Luis Salas: It's my professor's shop. So he ended up giving me a job there. So I was learning at school. And then when I had to go to work, he would teach me more at at work.

Luis Salas: And ah was there for a while. And then his shop slowed down and of course when I was fixing cars there I was looking at basically his repair orders and all that and the pricing and I used to always think in the back of my head like, godly that's some good money.

Luis Salas: So fast forward about a year and a half to it ended up getting real real slow. i was like man I need to need to make some money because I wasn't going in to work.

Luis Salas: So I uh I thought about it, but I was like, nah, I didn't really want to. And then my father-in-law, i was helping my father-in-law one day. He lives down the road and ah he had an enclosed trailer. And I was like, hey, man, that trailer would be good for ah to throw my toolbox in there and do mobile.

Luis Salas: And he's like, well, you got talk to your mother-in-law and call me a about, he called me about I want to say an hour later and he's like, man, your mother-in-law really must love you. She said you can have it.

Luis Salas: And from then on, I hit the ground running.

BEN DELLARIA: yeah

Luis Salas: I hit the ground running.

BEN DELLARIA: ah Dang, you did something right to to attract a good mother-in-law side.

Luis Salas: Yeah. Yeah, for sure.

BEN DELLARIA: yeah

Luis Salas: But yeah, I've been, it's I'm coming up on a year of business in October. It'll be a year.

BEN DELLARIA: Yeah.

Luis Salas: And man, it's been great. It's been great.

BEN DELLARIA: Yeah. But you said, so seven years been working on cars, so you were what, just doing it like on your own?

Luis Salas: I love it.

Luis Salas: Here and there. Yeah.

BEN DELLARIA: ah Yeah. Yeah.

Luis Salas: Yeah. Just here and there, just working on cars. And it mean I mean, I've learned a lot at that shop, like timing jobs and stuff like that, but I avoid it out here. is too I can go do three break jobs and get the same money I get with a timing job.

BEN DELLARIA: Yeah. Because, I mean, that that really is decision, right?

Luis Salas: So I avoid that big stuff.

BEN DELLARIA: We're in business.

Luis Salas: Yeah.

BEN DELLARIA: But our job is to make sure we maintain and take care of a customer's vehicle. But our job also is to earn money for our family, however we're doing it.

Luis Salas: Yep.

BEN DELLARIA: It doesn't really matter as long as we're doing it the right way.

Luis Salas: and

BEN DELLARIA: um

Luis Salas: Exactly.

BEN DELLARIA: um So, well, what did this ah this shop, did you learn, like, diagnosis stuff there too? Or did you just learn...

Luis Salas: Yeah. Yeah. He taught, he he, and to this day, he's, he, I told him whenever it did slow down that I started my own stuff and he encouraged me to, to, to do it. And to this day, I can call him right now and be like, Hey, I'm having this issue that I can't figure out.

Luis Salas: And he he would give me step by step, all right, try this and try that and try this. And I'm still learning a little bit about electrical.

BEN DELLARIA: o

Luis Salas: Electrical stuff? Oh, my Lord. i It's complicated.

BEN DELLARIA: It is.

Luis Salas: i

BEN DELLARIA: It's... ah

Luis Salas: I can't figure it out just yet. But I will, though, eventually.

BEN DELLARIA: It takes a lot. It's not... i reckon That's why we typically recommend ah Paul Scanner Danner Premium.

Luis Salas: scanner dinner yeah

BEN DELLARIA: Yeah, so because he even, I was just watching something again with him yesterday or this morning um because he was talking about you know introducing and helping young techs into the industry and stuff.

BEN DELLARIA: it's I mean, because he does that every day. That's what he is teaching.

Luis Salas: yeah

BEN DELLARIA: But the he had mentioned, you know once you understand the electricity theory and you understand circuit how to figure out circuit design and things like that,

BEN DELLARIA: When the new stuff comes out and you get all freaked out and you're like, oh my gosh, this is so complicated.

Luis Salas: Yeah.

BEN DELLARIA: But when you actually sit and read it, read the description and operation, read the theory on what the manufacturer states on how the circuit works, you're like, oh, I've seen this before.

BEN DELLARIA: I understand.

Luis Salas: yeah

BEN DELLARIA: And that's it's 100% true. like The brand new cars don't have to scare you. They all work the same. It just... it's It's slightly different on the the software side on what they're what the manufacturer is doing to under to what it wants to do with that information.

BEN DELLARIA: But LinBus, CANBus, power, ground, 5-volt circuits, it's still all the same stuff.

Luis Salas: Yeah.

BEN DELLARIA: It still works the same.

Luis Salas: yeah

BEN DELLARIA: It's not any more complicated than the other things if do you understand it.

Luis Salas: Yeah. Yeah. Just yesterday, a guy called me. He's like, hey, I'm at the gas station. and I'm stranded. ah He was like, can you come change out my ah w the water and fuel c sensor?

Luis Salas: I was like, well, how do you know it's that? He's like, because they don't want to start. I said, hey I went. So I went and looked at Audata and I bench tested it. I took it off, bench tested it, put the voltmeter on there, check resistance. It had OL oil in the air, dipped it in the water and it gave me a reading. like, it's not this.

Luis Salas: So I connected the scanner and cranked it. I was such in a rush because it was 2.30, I think, and I had to pick up my kids at school that I didn't pay attention.

Luis Salas: It didn't click in my head. It had 1,500 PSI. It's a 2006 Dodge Ram diesel. It didn't click in my head that that wasn't enough PSI to crank it.

Luis Salas: So they had a I'm pretty sure it has an injector that's gone on it.

BEN DELLARIA: Yeah.

BEN DELLARIA: Stick it open.

Luis Salas: Yeah. So it wasn't building pressure. So I'm like, dang, whenever I'm in a rush like that, ah I tend to miss a lot of stuff.

BEN DELLARIA: But that's all the stuff that like you learn as you're doing this. And like and that's something you're battling.

Luis Salas: Yeah. Yeah.

BEN DELLARIA: So again, this goes i just had another guy hating on my comments again this morning. trying to say, oh, i just graduated. He's like, oh, I'm 20. I graduated school. I'm in business and I'm busier than I ever could be. And I'm going to hire someone and blah, blah, blah.

BEN DELLARIA: Don't listen to all these old guys want to tear you down. I'm like, bitch, I ain't that old.

Luis Salas: but yeah

BEN DELLARIA: I'm only 44. Like, chill out. I said, first of all, i i told him back. I was like, first of all, the comment is a young man's comment. I go, and that's exactly what we're talking about. And like your, what you just explained is literally that.

BEN DELLARIA: it's It's why we say to go in the shops. It's why we say to get that type of ah that type of training background and to be familiarized with it because you just admitted, you understood that you're getting in a rush and you're making mistakes.

BEN DELLARIA: It's not for the faint of heart to be out here doing mobile if you're doing it the right way.

Luis Salas: Yeah.

BEN DELLARIA: we And let's, again, everyone that's listening, we're not talking about

Luis Salas: Yeah.

BEN DELLARIA: you know, the guys that are out here doing it for 40 and 50 and 60 bucks an hour. We're talking about people that are trying to build a company.

Luis Salas: Yeah.

BEN DELLARIA: They're trying to do right by the customers and they're trying to learn because, I can't stop everybody from getting in business when they shouldn't be. All I can do is try to help you guys and encourage you to get that training.

BEN DELLARIA: And you are, you're doing that daily, every day. You're, you ask the questions, you're, you're good.

Luis Salas: Every day.

BEN DELLARIA: You're, you know, and you're not, you have software, you have all data, you have, what do you use them for the shop management?

Luis Salas: Yeah.

BEN DELLARIA: Are you still on, uh,

Luis Salas: I'm, I'm actually on the, south I'm leaning more to, I talked to the wife the other night about TechMetric, but right now for invoices and stuff like that, I'm using a QuickBooks.

BEN DELLARIA: You're still just using, that's fine. As long as you're using something, you don't have to jump into TechMetric while away, but you'll see the difference when you do.

Luis Salas: Yeah. TechMetric is, yeah.

BEN DELLARIA: But regardless, this isn't about TechMetric. It's just, you know, but that's something.

Luis Salas: yeah yeah i've been on the fence about that though i've been on the fence about jumping with tech tech metric because it kind of does suck i have to jump to a different website to get a price and stick it into quickbooks and when i can just click the button yeah yeah yeah

BEN DELLARIA: Yeah.

BEN DELLARIA: Click a button. And it's done in less than three minutes. You're set to go and they've got a nice professional estimate. um But going back to what you were saying, you know, about rushing and stuff, I've been in the industry for over 20 years. I still do it to this day. So it's not even so like, don't stress it. Don't worry about it. It's it is what it is. It's going to happen every single day.

BEN DELLARIA: We're all going to do it. Even the most seasoned vets that have been or techs that have been doing this, you know, more years than me still probably do the same exact thing. It's all down to who we are.

Luis Salas: Yeah. Yeah. I still run. It don't help that I'm OCD about being on time.

BEN DELLARIA: Yeah.

Luis Salas: I have, if the kids get here, I i done clocked it to the team, the kids get here at 316 and I'm 15 minutes, I'm calculating all that in my head and I've got to leave now.

BEN DELLARIA: if

BEN DELLARIA: Yeah.

Luis Salas: Like, i it' I don't know, I have to be on time everywhere i' go even Even customers, hey, what time are you going to be here at 9 o'clock? I'm there at 8.50 just to not be late.

BEN DELLARIA: Yeah, I get it. I know the feeling when you're out. That's another thing that most people don't understand. Like it's it to do this in that way. There's a lot that could go wrong that could get you stuck in a situation that you don't want to be in.

Luis Salas: yeah

BEN DELLARIA: I get comments from people all the time online like, oh, well, i mean, if you just. That's why I don't do this many jobs because you know you never know what could go wrong. Well, I mean, you kind of know your area. i kind of know the cars.

Luis Salas: yeah

BEN DELLARIA: I looked at the car before I'm going out there to do the job. So I'm not just going out, diagnosing it and then driving to the store to get parts and come back and then hope I can get done in enough amount of time to get to the other guy.

BEN DELLARIA: I told them that I'd be here between this time frame. It doesn't work.

Luis Salas: Yeah.

BEN DELLARIA: I don't work that way. So I don't I don't run into the problem.

Luis Salas: Yeah.

BEN DELLARIA: But um so you you had trouble with that one. But so is there like certain things that you prefer to do over the rest? Because that's something you'll learn, too, as the as longer you do this is ah no, I don't want to do that.

BEN DELLARIA: Or no, I'm not going to.

Luis Salas: Yeah. No. and

BEN DELLARIA: Like you said about the timing change.

Luis Salas: Yeah, like I tell my customers up front, I specifically do just simple maintenance, brakes, oil changes, alternators, water pumps, small stuff. not and And I had some customers where I diagnosed that they needed a head gasket. Well, can you do it? No, I'm sorry, I can't. that's a You got to take that to the shop.

Luis Salas: I can't do it. like can do it but i choose not to because it's too time consuming for me i have to come in and go

BEN DELLARIA: Yeah. Well, not even that. I mean, how many people, it depends on where you live too, right? So my area, I'll do some work at my house. Like I'll do a dash job. I have done, you know, lifters on a Chevrolet at my house. um You know, I've done a trans transmissions engines. I used to do a ton out back.

BEN DELLARIA: in when I first started the business, but over the years I had slowly stopped. One, tired of destroying my driveway. and you know, things like that. So in reality, it's like, I'm not going to do that at a customer's house.

Luis Salas: Yeah.

BEN DELLARIA: And how long do I leave it apart? Because in reality, if you're going to just, Oh, I'm going to do a head gasket. Hmm. The guys that are doing it in one day, they're doing it wrong in my eyes, because you should be sending that head out to get refurbished, recleaned, unless they're putting a brand new head on it.

Luis Salas: Yeah.

Luis Salas: Yeah. ah For sure.

Luis Salas: Yeah.

BEN DELLARIA: Come on guys. Like,

Luis Salas: Yeah.

BEN DELLARIA: But that's, again, that's what it gives us that that bad persona and that bad name because like, oh, mobile mechanics are this.

Luis Salas: Oh, yeah.

BEN DELLARIA: Well, no, not all of us. you know Stop classifying it as mobile mechanics and start classifying it that mechanic ain't no good.

Luis Salas: Yeah.

Luis Salas: Yeah. Yeah.

BEN DELLARIA: Because that's, yeah, exactly.

Luis Salas: the Part changer. Yeah. Yeah.

BEN DELLARIA: just I'm changing a head gasket in a Dollar General parking lot. I saw a video like that the other day. like, well, you're stupid. yeah You know, like not really, you're not stupid, but you know, I got, I got to watch what I say.

Luis Salas: Yeah.

BEN DELLARIA: So not everyone gets all offended, but you know, just, I just don't get it.

Luis Salas: but

BEN DELLARIA: Like go out there. Cause it's no different than a shop. Right? So we get the, we get the same hate.

Luis Salas: yeah

BEN DELLARIA: Oh, you're a mobile kid, but you're not going to do this. You know how many jobs, the shops I worked for turned down because it didn't do that. Do we rebuild transmissions?

Luis Salas: Yeah.

BEN DELLARIA: No. Do we rebuild engines?

Luis Salas: Nope.

BEN DELLARIA: No, we don't do that at the shop. So what's the big deal if we're not going to do a timing chain? Yeah.

Luis Salas: Yeah.

BEN DELLARIA: I'm not taking the risk and the liability. And oh, man, had a guy ah yesterday. ah So say Saturday. Yeah. Yesterday he called. He's like, oh, I need um I just ah I see you all over the all over Facebook and I need a quote for a break job.

BEN DELLARIA: Okay, why? What's going on? Well, just the back brakes are making – he starts in with the whole you know life story bullshit again. And and he's like, well, just ah my son was driving and he doesn't hear well and it's it grinded and it and now it's it's metal to metal.

Luis Salas: Yeah.

BEN DELLARIA: Okay, so you you need brakes. I got to come and see it. I got to make sure you don't have a locked up caliper or something or a busted line. But you know this is what the typical brake job would be for pads and rotors.

Luis Salas: Yeah.

BEN DELLARIA: You know, if it doesn't anything else after my inspection and he starts in with a little bit more. oh I have my pads. I go, I'm sorry. i can't do that. What do you mean? I go, i don't know where you bought the pads from.

BEN DELLARIA: i go, my liability insurance doesn't cover that. It actually states it in there. And there's so many people on here that are like, oh, that's bullshit. No, it's not. I have it in there for a reason because I don't want to do it that way.

BEN DELLARIA: um But so if that car, if you buy your crap on Amazon and it crashes and hurts someone because the brakes failed because you use cheap parts, I don't care what kind of little piece of paper you got.

BEN DELLARIA: A lawyer is going to destroy that and send you on down the road and you're liable for it.

Luis Salas: Yeah.

BEN DELLARIA: But anyway, he's like, oh, well, I tried to do it myself.

Luis Salas: Yeah.

BEN DELLARIA: A bolt was rounded off and now it's even more rounded off. And I'm like, oh,

Luis Salas: yeah

BEN DELLARIA: Okay. So I turned it down.

Luis Salas: That's why.

BEN DELLARIA: I had said, listen, I said, I'm sorry. I said, you're not liking the fact that I don't want, I can't use your parts. You don't like the fact that I said, I have to come and see it first. And now you're telling me that you tried to start it and you rounded off bolts.

BEN DELLARIA: Unfortunately, it seems like there's a lot going on here that you're not telling me in the beginning. I'm going to have to pass on the job because I do not want to take the risk and the liability of working on your car. Oh, he lost his shit.

Luis Salas: man.

BEN DELLARIA: He got so mad and so upset about the whole situation.

Luis Salas: Oh, man.

BEN DELLARIA: He's like, well, I'm going to give my two cents about you in the group. You go ahead. Everybody in this neighborhood loves me. I'll be sure to watch out and watch your post because we'll we'll come and we'll react to it.

BEN DELLARIA: it's no big deal. And we'll be nice and professional about it. But like he got so mad because I didn't want to come and work on his car that he screwed up.

Luis Salas: Yeah.

Luis Salas: That he messed up. Man. Yeah.

BEN DELLARIA: Yeah, I'm not doing that.

Luis Salas: Yeah.

BEN DELLARIA: And

Luis Salas: man

BEN DELLARIA: So that's the same thing. Like, why do we get a bad name saying, oh, you guys are just too lazy and you don't want to do it? Bro, shut the fuck up. So like I use, I get that on social media too.

Luis Salas: yeah

BEN DELLARIA: When I used to, i used to make a, had made a post talking about jobs I will do and won't do as a mobile mechanic. And the first thing I had said was timing chains and timing belts. Right. And they're like, oh, that's because you just, you're, you're a crappy mechanic and you don't know how.

Luis Salas: yeah

BEN DELLARIA: No. I'm not taking the risk. Like I do timing belts. That's not a problem.

Luis Salas: Yeah.

BEN DELLARIA: Only if the customer will buy the parts I say. If they're wanting to buy CarQuest brand, you know, timing kit, I'm not doing it.

Luis Salas: but Yeah.

BEN DELLARIA: It's that simple. And that's the whole gist of it. And boy, they get all screwy with that.

Luis Salas: They get worked up.

BEN DELLARIA: They do.

Luis Salas: and The way I do it, I usually, whenever they tell me, hey, I have the part, well, I can't warranty it. If whatever reason that part goes out in two months, I'm charging you again to come and replace it.

BEN DELLARIA: Yeah.

Luis Salas: I won't warranty it.

BEN DELLARIA: And there's certain limitations to that too.

Luis Salas: Yeah.

BEN DELLARIA: Like I had a customer with an 82 Corvette recently, um, wanted to upgrade the radio. I'm not going to tell him I'm not going to use this radio. That's a little different. Um, that's not a safety item.

Luis Salas: Yeah.

BEN DELLARIA: That's not suspension and shocks and brakes and, you know, steering and things of that nature. I'm talking cheap electrical parts and I'm talking safety parts. Um,

Luis Salas: Yeah.

BEN DELLARIA: There's, you know, someone wants me to put their antenna on it. I'm going to put their antenna on it, you know, or um a side view mirror or something.

Luis Salas: Yeah. Yeah, for sure.

BEN DELLARIA: It's a mirror. I just put the mirror in. It's no big deal.

Luis Salas: Yeah. For sure. Yeah, I get a lot of that.

BEN DELLARIA: But umof so, so you're only doing the basics, which is cool. I mean, I get it. There's guys that just out here doing all changes. There's guys that are just out here doing oil changes and breaks or just breaks or whatever.

Luis Salas: Yeah.

BEN DELLARIA: um

Luis Salas: Mm-hmm.

BEN DELLARIA: It's not a big deal. It's whatever it's whatever niche that we want. like I wanted to just strictly do air conditioning. And I do a lot, but I'd have to do the other stuff because here I know I don't live up north, ya but it does get cold here.

BEN DELLARIA: you know, I'll post things like, oh, it's 30 degrees outside. What the shit? Oh, come enjoy the the zero. It's different. I'm not used to zero.

Luis Salas: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That's AC.

BEN DELLARIA: I'm used to 85 and 105, not 30, bro. It's different. um But anyway, it still gets cold.

Luis Salas: yeah

BEN DELLARIA: So there's like a good four or five months where we don't use air conditioning in cars here. So and I live in like a ah dish.

Luis Salas: that's ac Yeah, know. Texas is just hot. We got a week of coldness, so it sucked this year.

BEN DELLARIA: So is that, are you more South in texas than Texas then?

Luis Salas: I love the cold.

BEN DELLARIA: Is that where that is?

Luis Salas: Yeah, it's 20 minutes south of Dallas. it's It's a small town. Well, it was a small town.

BEN DELLARIA: But how, where is that? Like, like When all that snow was happening a couple years ago in Texas, are you much further south than that, or is that where you're at?

Luis Salas: That's where i was at.

BEN DELLARIA: Okay, so yeah, it gets fucking cold where you live.

Luis Salas: Yeah, that's where I was at. Yeah. Yeah. Matter of fact, last year. oh was it this year? with all Yeah, it was this year with without the ice.

BEN DELLARIA: There was some this year, and I think last year, and the year before.

Luis Salas: Yeah. I was still out there working in 14 degree weather. her

BEN DELLARIA: oh boy.

Luis Salas: I did an axle, matter of fact.

BEN DELLARIA: It's starting to hot.

Luis Salas: I did an axle that broke on this lady at Quick Trick. It was 14. Everybody was just looking at me like, oh, this is crazy.

BEN DELLARIA: We are. But I mean, come on. There's some guys in the group that live in Canada. There's, you know, and all the way up there and like Maine and things like that.

Luis Salas: Yeah.

BEN DELLARIA: And these guys are out here hustling it and just working in that weather. And it's they don't get I don't know how they don't get phased by it, but they don't.

Luis Salas: Yeah.

Luis Salas: Yeah. It's I love the cold. I'd rather have it cold and hot.

BEN DELLARIA: So ah so now what do you um what ah you have a trailer?

Luis Salas: Yes, sir.

BEN DELLARIA: And it's um I saw the trailer in the pictures. You're pulling that with what a big F-250. Yeah.

Luis Salas: Unfortunately, yes. A big S250.

BEN DELLARIA: diesel gas right i'm sorry it's better than my truck

Luis Salas: That gives me diesel. That gives me 11 miles to the gallon.

Luis Salas: Yeah. But, the i mean, I added to i add it to the ticket. But...

BEN DELLARIA: yeah do you um uh do you you so you were talking about you went and looked at a diesel do you like working on diesel or no

Luis Salas: I... Diesels, I really don't. Even though... I can. I just, I do like certain like maintenance stuff, not nothing big again.

Luis Salas: I can do, i fight yeah.

BEN DELLARIA: Yeah, okay. So yeah, I'll do the same. Differential fluids and training fluids and engine oil and fuel filters and things like that.

Luis Salas: Yeah, I do. Yeah.

BEN DELLARIA: I'm not getting into the brakes and suspension on a big diesel truck without a lift.

Luis Salas: Yeah.

BEN DELLARIA: let's Let's say that.

Luis Salas: yeah

BEN DELLARIA: If I was in a shop, I would do it all day long. And I would, same thing with the timing chains.

Luis Salas: Yeah.

BEN DELLARIA: I would do them if the customers are willing to do it our way.

Luis Salas: All day.

BEN DELLARIA: But being mobile, no, I'm not going to do that stuff.

Luis Salas: Yeah. nah nah i i

BEN DELLARIA: And i know there's I know there's people out there that do it, but I'm just not going to.

Luis Salas: yeah and i seen some in that list that they're doing time and change and all kind of stuff but i'm like i got removing transmissions and i'm like now no no

BEN DELLARIA: Man, there's this guy in the UK that I don't know his name. He's on YouTube. Oh, I think it's called Clutchmaster or something like that. He's in the UK somewhere, I think. And that dude just he puts out like gym mats everywhere.

BEN DELLARIA: And he puts the cars up really high, gets under there. He gets these transmissions out and he's doing clutches and stuff like that all day long on his back. and i like And he's young and he's moving.

Luis Salas: man

BEN DELLARIA: He's in shape and he's thin. He's like moving around and pushing a transmission like out through the wheel well and onto his chest and on the ground and stuff. And it's like, all right, cool. like I've done it before, but I'm not doing it every day.

BEN DELLARIA: i just don't My body can't do that anymore.

Luis Salas: Yeah. Now. now

BEN DELLARIA: I have too many aches and pains, which is not from being a mobile mechanic, all you listeners.

Luis Salas: yes Yeah.

BEN DELLARIA: It is because I played too hard and I was too rough and I never maintained my body. i For all those years that I smoked cigarettes, I didn't go to the gym.

Luis Salas: Yeah.

BEN DELLARIA: I didn't eat right. And I was a freaking jackass. I quit 10 years ago and I have slowly rebuilt my myself. and But I did a lot of damage. It's not from being a mechanic.

Luis Salas: Yeah. no that's That's when you get into the heavy-duty diesel. That's... the best

BEN DELLARIA: No, I'm good on that. Like our ah like Jason ah from Hughes Diesel and Performance, you know he used to work on you know the Volvos and Peterbilt and things like that.

Luis Salas: Yeah.

BEN DELLARIA: And he's like, oh, yeah, I love this stuff. I'm like, yeah, you're nuts, bro. Like 100%.

Luis Salas: Yeah. Yeah.

BEN DELLARIA: But anyway, so you got to get me a picture of the inside of the trailer so I can put it up on the screen.

Luis Salas: That takes a little.

BEN DELLARIA: But the um ah for people are watching on YouTube, the um what's in the trailer? it's What size is it?

Luis Salas: So it's a small trader.

BEN DELLARIA: yeah

Luis Salas: which I mean I got blessed with it so it's a 5x8 I have a 72 inch a toolbox in there ah that takes up all one side i got it

BEN DELLARIA: I saw it on TikTok. Is it still the same like that?

Luis Salas: is yeah yeah yeah it's the same one I have my phone over there and now it's sideways and then I have an air compressor in the corner

BEN DELLARIA: I saw it. Okay, okay yes yeah. That's really crap. like You can't even get your big butt in there to lay down.

BEN DELLARIA: Yeah.

Luis Salas: which I used, but I put it in there because when I do radiators and stuff, I have that snap-on refiller, the vacuum and refiller.

BEN DELLARIA: Yeah.

Luis Salas: So i threw that I threw that in there. And then a creeper and all my tools inside the toolbox. Oh, and a jack in the very front or back of the trailer.

BEN DELLARIA: Yeah.

BEN DELLARIA: He

Luis Salas: But it gives me what I need.

BEN DELLARIA: gets the job done.

Luis Salas: It's a small, but oh yeah, it gets a lot of jobs done.

BEN DELLARIA: Yeah.

Luis Salas: And I have...

BEN DELLARIA: Yeah.

Luis Salas: basically all my two i have my roll card here but i took everything out of there and put it in that big one but yeah yeah i'm looking into them now i'm looking for a i want to a six or seven by twelve because these neighborhoods around here it's kind of they're they're

BEN DELLARIA: Yeah. Are you planning to upgrade or

Luis Salas: Then again, the economy, they just want to be throwing houses. Everything is so small. Sometimes I got to go through alleys that if I get a 14-footer or 16-footer, it's not going to fit.

BEN DELLARIA: Yeah.

Luis Salas: So I want to.

BEN DELLARIA: you're not gonna be able to turn around or leave.

Luis Salas: Yeah.

BEN DELLARIA: I get that.

Luis Salas: Yeah.

BEN DELLARIA: Like i got, there's someone that posted in the group this morning that was mentioned in that. And I just told him like, don't, don't make your, a rash decision on, ah the roads because like you don't always run into those roads unless you know your area.

BEN DELLARIA: You know, if you like, nah, like I live in downtown Detroit and it's all like back alleys and this and okay, like i get it.

Luis Salas: Yeah.

Luis Salas: Yeah.

BEN DELLARIA: You know, maybe use a transit van or something or where you can park at your home if you can't put a trailer there. Okay, I get it. You know, you don't have to do all that stuff.

Luis Salas: Yeah.

BEN DELLARIA: And another guy posted, he bought an old used snap-on truck. And he's he's ah he's outfitting that now.

Luis Salas: Oh man.

BEN DELLARIA: And I'm like, dude, that's cool. Like, cause it's got tons of shelves in there and everything like, you know, and then, yeah, it was a nice truck.

Luis Salas: Yeah. Yeah. And they leave all that stuff in there. That's pretty cool.

BEN DELLARIA: um

Luis Salas: Yeah.

BEN DELLARIA: So, so how's business been? You obviously, you got all, you got QuickBooks, you got all data. You're thinking about TechMetric. You started when you said, ah just a October of 25, right?

Luis Salas: October. Yep.

BEN DELLARIA: Like right when you joined the group, that's when you started.

Luis Salas: October 25. Yeah.

BEN DELLARIA: Yeah.

Luis Salas: Yeah. It's right when I joined the group.

BEN DELLARIA: So I remember some of our first conversations.

Luis Salas: Yeah. I, uh, I started in October and October, November and December for their very good months.

Luis Salas: And then January,

BEN DELLARIA: Where they? Good. Yeah.

Luis Salas: slow down a little. It was still good. And then February slowed down a lot.

BEN DELLARIA: Yeah.

Luis Salas: And then that's when i that's when I got the, that's when I was asking you about that lady. Remember that lady that did, yeah.

BEN DELLARIA: Yeah, the the text.

Luis Salas: So after that, it slowed down quite a bit, but it's picking back up now.

BEN DELLARIA: Yeah.

Luis Salas: It's picking back up.

BEN DELLARIA: um And you're doing, what do you, do are you doing the same advertising like we teach in the group or are you doing just the the constantly posting?

Luis Salas: Yeah. Well, Yeah, I do. AutoZone helps me out a lot. I did what you had said to take them breakfast every now and then. when they Man, I've been getting a lot. Hey, out did somebody get me your card at AutoZone. All right.

Luis Salas: Take them some donuts or breakfast.

BEN DELLARIA: Yeah. Anything like that.

Luis Salas: ah

BEN DELLARIA: to Send some pizzas over and stuff.

Luis Salas: Yeah.

BEN DELLARIA: It's perfect.

Luis Salas: Yeah. I do that. And then a lot a lot of them come from Facebook as well.

BEN DELLARIA: Yeah.

Luis Salas: I post on Facebook. like on these little groups from here, from Middle-Othian group stuff.

BEN DELLARIA: Yeah.

Luis Salas: i ah I post on there, and I get a lot of calls from that, too. Google as well.

BEN DELLARIA: Mm-hmm.

Luis Salas: a lot of people find my stuff on Google. Even from Italy, Texas, I got a call. Hey, can you do this? Yeah, where where you are you in Middle-Othian? No, I'm in Italy. I'm like, oh, man, that's 50 minutes from me.

BEN DELLARIA: How far? 50?

Luis Salas: Yeah.

BEN DELLARIA: That's pretty pretty decently far away.

Luis Salas: Yeah.

BEN DELLARIA: um but But you find like now, does the phone just consistently ring or like how much you work in car-wise a week?

Luis Salas: um I want to say last week I did about

Luis Salas: eight cars I think so about a car a day two cars a day yeah yeah well kind of

BEN DELLARIA: Mm-hmm.

BEN DELLARIA: Yeah. Now, is that because you're only scheduling that that way? Or is that um because of the phone doesn't ring as much?

Luis Salas: So what I do is I basically, um Google says I'm open from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., but I shut it down at 2 because I got to get the kids.

BEN DELLARIA: who

BEN DELLARIA: Yeah.

Luis Salas: So and if somebody calls me at 3, hey, can you come out? Yes, I can come out, but I can go tomorrow morning at such and such time.

BEN DELLARIA: Yeah.

Luis Salas: and Okay, because I know the kids are coming out, and i don't want be stuck over there doing whatever I'm doing and not be able to come and pick them up.

BEN DELLARIA: oh

BEN DELLARIA: That's some of the beauty of this.

Luis Salas: So I just reschedule them.

BEN DELLARIA: You can do what you need.

Luis Salas: yeah

BEN DELLARIA: And if you're okay with that, you're fine.

Luis Salas: Yeah.

BEN DELLARIA: It's not like you're sitting around from 2 o'clock till 6 o'clock and not doing anything. you would if You would have more car count if you weren't picking up your kids.

Luis Salas: Yeah.

Luis Salas: Yeah. And I mean, even like with some returning customers, hey, it's done before. Hey, can you fix my car? Can you put some brakes on my car? I can take it to you.

Luis Salas: That's fine. And that's even more perfect. have to do the brakes right here at my house and

BEN DELLARIA: Yeah.

Luis Salas: Don't have to worry about the kids walking this.

BEN DELLARIA: You don't have a problem with that in your neighborhood or anything?

Luis Salas: No, not. I mean, I can do breaks and stuff like that, but like big jobs I won't. I can't do here cause I know they'll flip their lids.

BEN DELLARIA: You live in an HOA or anything or no?

Luis Salas: Nah, nah, I don't live in HOA.

BEN DELLARIA: No. Okay.

Luis Salas: It's just a good old neighborhood. There's an HOA down the street, though, but not here. We got a train right next door, so that's only bad thing about here.

BEN DELLARIA: Yeah. Yeah.

Luis Salas: Yeah.

BEN DELLARIA: A train?

Luis Salas: Yeah.

BEN DELLARIA: Is that why I heard that earlier? Okay. I heard something earlier. Maybe it was a truck. I heard something right before we were getting on.

Luis Salas: yeah that's the last one that passes yeah

BEN DELLARIA: I heard in the background. That's all good okay. Yeah, I don't know. So you don't hear it like when you sleep?

Luis Salas: nah yeah i already done got used to it there's some there's i got it down to the team i there's three drivers the nine o'clock one at night he's decent he honks two times at that crossing down that way and then he honks two times at this crossing and that's it

BEN DELLARIA: Yep.

Luis Salas: The 12 o'clock driver, 11, 30, 12.

Luis Salas: I want to wake up every time and throw something at him through the damn window. He lays on it from that thing and don't stop till he crosses this one.

BEN DELLARIA: Oh, that's annoying.

Luis Salas: Yeah, he it's like he's pissed every day that everybody's asleep and he's driving a train.

BEN DELLARIA: Good gracious.

Luis Salas: Fuck, dude, he lays on that thing.

BEN DELLARIA: It's almost as bad as living near the dump and having to smell it or something.

Luis Salas: Yeah, well... I, the shop I used to work for, there's a glass place. ah They, like, people take recycles there, like, with glass and stuff, and man, that shit stinks.

Luis Salas: It stinks bad.

BEN DELLARIA: Yeah.

Luis Salas: I'd rather have the train. Yeah, I'd rather definitely have the train, because we get a whiff of it.

BEN DELLARIA: All day long smelling that? Yeah, that's horrible.

Luis Salas: Yeah. Yeah, no, I'll definitely take the

BEN DELLARIA: don't know. I get what you mean. I grew up on a busy road as a kid and my friends would sleep over like, how do you deal with that? I'm like, I don't hear it anymore. It's just, you know, it's like we had a grandfather clock in the house too.

Luis Salas: Yeah.

BEN DELLARIA: they're like, you don't hear that in middle night? No, I'm used to it. I've been living with him all the time.

Luis Salas: Yeah. Yeah, you can you get used to it.

BEN DELLARIA: if

Luis Salas: And I can't get away from it. Even when I was young and lived over there in Dallas, we had a train down the road. It was probably two blocks away from us, and I hear it all the time. Came, moved over here with my wife.

Luis Salas: We got this house, and the train's right next door. And then we got land out there in Corsicana down south. I think train's out there too.

BEN DELLARIA: ah You just like being by trains.

Luis Salas: Yeah, it just follows me everywhere.

BEN DELLARIA: no Yeah. So, all right. um So you you're planning on you know getting a bigger trailer and stuff like that down the road. um How old are the kids? like how well How much longer are you going to have to keep picking them up?

Luis Salas: Probably another... oh not too long. Next year.

BEN DELLARIA: He just remembered how old they are.

Luis Salas: Another they young, but... my uh mother-in-law is about to retire so she's gonna she'll be able to yeah yeah start knocking out more jobs yep yep

BEN DELLARIA: start picking them up for you. So you can start busting out other stuff and and start expanding your horizons and things like that. Hey, but it's all right. It doesn't matter. You're taking care of your family. And that's kind of the point as well is to, to show people that you can take care of your family doing this. If you're even doing it the way we teach and doing it right and legally and everything else,

Luis Salas: oh yeah oh this is definitely possible it's it's should i Even with the cars I do now, i I'm getting paid probably 10 times more than what I was doing with the 9 to 5.

BEN DELLARIA: Yeah. Easy.

Luis Salas: it It's worth every... I wouldn't say every pay because i literally... The only thing I have invested in that besides the tools is the generator that I power that little trailer with.

BEN DELLARIA: Yeah.

Luis Salas: That's the only thing that

BEN DELLARIA: Yeah. And that ain't much.

Luis Salas: Basically I got, yeah, and I think, yeah, and I got it at Harbor Freight on sale at that.

BEN DELLARIA: It's only a couple hundred bucks.

BEN DELLARIA: the um So outside of your next steps on growing and when the kids are, you know, you're not picking them up anymore. what are are you What are you looking to do next? Like, are you going to start going to maybe some training events? Are you going to be going taking some classes around there?

BEN DELLARIA: Are you interested in that at all? or

Luis Salas: Like classes for

BEN DELLARIA: ah Like diagnostics and things like that and just continuing to grow.

Luis Salas: uh man i've been thinking i've been thinking about i literally just talked to to my professor yesterday well my boss professor and i asked them if it was possible to take just one class because i've been thinking about taking the electrical class again because yeah like a like a college course yeah like a college course class because

BEN DELLARIA: ah Like an ASC class or just a regular class? Or his class? I gotcha.

Luis Salas: I want to to get that down because nowadays everything is electrical.

BEN DELLARIA: Yeah.

BEN DELLARIA: Everything's electrical.

Luis Salas: yeah

BEN DELLARIA: You gotta know it.

Luis Salas: You got to know it.

BEN DELLARIA: That's why I say it's $14 month.

Luis Salas: so

BEN DELLARIA: That's what Scanner Danner Premium is. $14 a month, and you could buy his book. And it's it's just pivotal to to get you in that spot. And some other people are on there. Like if you watch – we were just talking about this the other day. ah So I can't remember his first name. I think it's Ryan or Brian Steckler.

BEN DELLARIA: um He's really good.

Luis Salas: Oh, yeah. Yeah.

BEN DELLARIA: um Pine Hollow is good. South Main Auto is good. Advanced Level Diagnostics is good. Scanner Danner, obviously. um what else?

BEN DELLARIA: There's so many guys on YouTube that really, they show you, so like, you know, Scanner Daner shows you, you know, exactly how the circuit works, puts it up on the board, everything else.

Luis Salas: Yeah.

BEN DELLARIA: The other guys kind of show, they show you that same stuff too, but they show you it in like the real world scenarios where he's teaching like the theory, but he does the videos where he like goes to his brother's shop and he shows you firsthand, you know, all these things and,

Luis Salas: yeah yeah

BEN DELLARIA: you know And he started out that way too. He says he started out making diaper money, you know going out and diagnosing for shops and stuff like that. And I think um think Keith Perkins started doing that that same thing too you know before he built his shops and stuff.

Luis Salas: yeah

BEN DELLARIA: Is that something you're ever interested in is building a shop or are you always want to stay mobile?

Luis Salas: No, don't want to shop.

BEN DELLARIA: No.

Luis Salas: i

BEN DELLARIA: No.

Luis Salas: I prefer to be mobile because, I mean, I don't want to sit there see the same thing every day. Like, I don't want to go and Yeah, yeah, like, being mobile is is pretty cool because you get to drive around and you see different stuff.

BEN DELLARIA: Yeah, i get tired of the four walls I'm staring at.

Luis Salas: But you see all kinds. I've seen cows on damn road.

BEN DELLARIA: yeah Yeah, I see couple of them the other day just running down the road and I was like, oh, look, dinner.

Luis Salas: Yeah. Yeah, you... I entertain myself literally just looking at stuff driving around.

BEN DELLARIA: the um How you handle in the customer side, is that has that been a big, trend a hardest transition for you? Or is like others what's the hardest part of the business? Is it the customers or the cars?

Luis Salas: pretty much the cars right now. Well, not even that. It's basically just simple stuff, but the cars, the customers are... Besides that one lady, ah it's they're great.

Luis Salas: What's the price?

BEN DELLARIA: Yeah.

Luis Salas: Boom. Okay, that's the price.

BEN DELLARIA: What was that lady's problem again?

Luis Salas: All right. um Man, she...

BEN DELLARIA: Do you remember?

Luis Salas: So this is how it went. She called me to go diagnose of squeaky noise she had. So I went out there. Ended up being her inner inner tie rods that were squeaking, doing all kind of weird stuff.

Luis Salas: So I got the outer and I told her, i was like, hey, I have the outer tie rod, the tie rod ends, and the inner is not going to be in till then.

Luis Salas: ah This is my mess up because AutoZone told me tomorrow, the next day, and I told her, well, yeah, the VDP.

BEN DELLARIA: Oh, yeah, the VDP thing. Yeah, VDP sometimes is not next day.

Luis Salas: Yeah, so I kind of messed up, and I told I was like, AutoZone said tomorrow, and then tomorrow came, and She was like, well, is my partner going to get here? I was like, I don't know. I'll talk to AutoZone right now. I'll call them. And I did. And I kept her in the loop. It's not like i was not wanting to talk to And I was like, hey, I'll talk to AutoZone.

Luis Salas: They said probably today, if not, it was already Saturday, probably Monday. was like, well, am I going to get a discount for for ah the delay? i was like, no, you have your car for the inconvenience, she said.

Luis Salas: Am I going to get a discount for the inconvenience? I was like, no, you have your car. You're driving it every day. i i mean, I don't have your car. It's not in my power to for to handle the shipping. It nothing going to do with me.

Luis Salas: And it stayed like that. And I finally told her, I was like, hey, she said, oh, well, you need to let me know because if not, I'll find somebody else. So I was like, all right, you know what? Go ahead.

Luis Salas: Go ahead. Just find somebody else. And she just takes back. She's like, I'll wait. All right. Okay.

BEN DELLARIA: Where

Luis Salas: So Monday, uh, Monday came around. i was like, Hey, the parts came in. I have Wednesday they available at 12.

Luis Salas: Yeah. 12. I have Wednesday available at 12. No response. Wednesday comes around 11.

Luis Salas: eleven

BEN DELLARIA: where are you at?

Luis Salas: 11.45, she puts okay. I was like, okay, what? So I didn't i didn't ignore her because I was on the way to the job. and At 3 o'clock, I get a text from her.

Luis Salas: How come you show up? I was like, oh, shit.

BEN DELLARIA: Yeah. I mean, it happens. Yeah.

Luis Salas: Man, I said, I had to tell the wife because I'm not professional like that. The wife works in the hospital so she's more professional than I am.

Luis Salas: I had to get her to take her back the professional way and basically told her to fuck off, really.

BEN DELLARIA: that's the hardest transition from of a brute technician coming in and having like you, it's, I have, it' it's, hot it's not easy to be able to talk to a customer in that professional way.

BEN DELLARIA: Cause so one thing I'll give you on that is if that part is going to be in your hand on Monday, but you can't put her on till Wednesday, Tuesday, you tell her, Hey, I just picked up the part.

BEN DELLARIA: Are you available tomorrow at 12 o'clock and call her like instead of a text, um, And not even, like I text everybody, but if a customer doesn't respond to my text on the scheduling, they get a phone call.

BEN DELLARIA: And if they don't answer the phone call or call me back in like 24 hours, they're not on that schedule.

Luis Salas: Yeah.

BEN DELLARIA: So like, that's why when I was talking to you like, yeah, like if she's not going to answer you back from you telling her when she's coming out, nah, she don't get it.

Luis Salas: Yeah.

Luis Salas: Yeah.

BEN DELLARIA: Like she, cause you know, and all you guys listed in, like he's trying to remember and tell us the story based on that. It's not the easiest thing in the world. because this was a long time ago.

BEN DELLARIA: Like but think it was last year when that happened. And,

Luis Salas: yeah oh that here somewhere

BEN DELLARIA: you know customers just can be a pain in the butt. That's one of the hardest things as a transition to for you that's never done it before.

Luis Salas: Yeah.

BEN DELLARIA: And these guys that are starting out, like that's another part of like that training world that that you got to get is how to sell, how to talk to customers, how to be professional, and when to turn that on and when to turn it off, and how to turn it on and turn it off.

Luis Salas: Yeah.

BEN DELLARIA: Because you can be trained on how to professional a service manager or a service writer, but every conversation is always different.

BEN DELLARIA: Every problem is always different. So like I get so many guys, they're like, Oh, I'm good. going use AI to answer the phone. Now I go, Oh, you can, I mean, but say goodbye to most of your customers.

BEN DELLARIA: Like you,

Luis Salas: Yeah.

BEN DELLARIA: i you If I call some any place and it's like, oh, press this thing or that I hang the fuck up.

Luis Salas: and I didn't say had hang up.

BEN DELLARIA: I ain't talking.

Luis Salas: Yeah.

BEN DELLARIA: I don't.

Luis Salas: Nah.

BEN DELLARIA: And that's not just because I'm older and everything else. And I didn't grow up in that era. I don't want that. If I'm calling you for service based business, I want to talk to someone that is knowledgeable and understands what the freak I want to talk about.

Luis Salas: Yeah, i didn't.

Luis Salas: yeah

BEN DELLARIA: So like when I get customers that call, they're like, hey, how much to come out? Come out for what? What would you need? What's going on with the car? And that's kind of, it's like a pyramid, right? So you're like, what's the issue?

BEN DELLARIA: Oh, well, I've got this leaking. Cool. What color is it? And they start telling me and they're like, oh, well, yeah, it also it overheated. OK, you probably got a coolant leak. That's a pressure test on the cooling system. That's this much. This is what it's going to do.

BEN DELLARIA: Ain't no AI going to be able to do that, you know, and anything else.

Luis Salas: Yeah, exactly.

BEN DELLARIA: Well, oh I've got check engine light on and this is what the car is doing. OK, this is how much that is. And this is the steps that I need to perform for you. And this is our process.

BEN DELLARIA: Um, you know, and I think the, I save some information for the end, right?

Luis Salas: Yeah.

BEN DELLARIA: If I feel like a customer is like on the edge and like, maybe like not wanting to move forward, I dropped the insurance or the insurance. I dropped the warranty bomb on them and things of that nature.

Luis Salas: Yeah.

BEN DELLARIA: Um, especially the job, right? So if I'm doing like a starter that has a lifetime warranty on it, I only use new starters. I don't use reman.

Luis Salas: yeah

BEN DELLARIA: um and it's got a lifetime warranty. I tell them, if the starter I buy for you has got a lifetime warranty, you're going to get that. And then you're going to get our three-year, 36,000-mile labor warranty im on the job.

Luis Salas: Labor warranty.

BEN DELLARIA: But the part will always be lifetime if you're continuing to use us. No matter what, if the car is in your possession, it's got a lifetime warranty. And that usually gets them onto the hook, and they're okay with it.

Luis Salas: That's one.

BEN DELLARIA: But that, again, that's stuff that you can learn by going to these events online and training courses and things like that because it's that's how you close jobs. It's how you gain the trust of the customer because you're not lying.

BEN DELLARIA: You're being straight up with them about your company.

Luis Salas: Yeah.

BEN DELLARIA: But if they don't know it, they're not going to they could easily go somewhere else.

Luis Salas: Yeah. That's a good way to put it. I just learned something right now about the parts.

BEN DELLARIA: Yeah.

Luis Salas: The lifetime warranty. You continue to get it lifetime warranty if you're using this.

BEN DELLARIA: All the part.

Luis Salas: Yeah.

BEN DELLARIA: Yeah. Why not?

Luis Salas: Yeah.

BEN DELLARIA: I mean, I'm not going to give them... like Why steal from the customer, right? it's

Luis Salas: Yeah.

BEN DELLARIA: If the part is a lifetime warranty, let's say you're yeah you're using Duralast Gold alternator or a Duralast Gold starter, or if you're using...

BEN DELLARIA: whatever brand you're using, doesn't matter. A Denso, a Denso doesn't have a lifetime warranty. um They usually only got like a two year or three year.

Luis Salas: Yeah.

BEN DELLARIA: um

Luis Salas: Three years. Yeah.

BEN DELLARIA: So whatever you're doing, if it is, whatever the warranty is, if it's longer than your own business warranty, give that warranty and put it on the paperwork that way.

Luis Salas: Yeah.

BEN DELLARIA: And that's a good thing for you speaking to customers to close jobs. But then the problem side, like you were dealing with, like, andin And there's no AI that's going to do that.

BEN DELLARIA: If a customer is pissed at you and they don't understand and you can't and you need to calm them down and explain to them a situation or talk them through it or say, yep, no problem.

Luis Salas: Yeah.

BEN DELLARIA: We will be there to help the situation. The little AI freaking thing ain't going to do it.

Luis Salas: Yeah, it's not. And the customer, that lady knew she was in the wrong because for one, she didn't give me a bad review. too, she actually got real, it freaked me out because she was like stalking.

Luis Salas: ah She found my TikTok and messaged me through TikTok to go finish the job, which I had already declined.

BEN DELLARIA: Oh, even after you had told her?

Luis Salas: Yeah.

BEN DELLARIA: Yeah.

Luis Salas: I had to declined the service and she went into, she found me on TikTok and messaged me and was messaging me to my phone and I just, I'm a, I don't avoid it.

BEN DELLARIA: over time Over time, you'll start to kind of learn those customers right off the bat.

Luis Salas: And I have.

BEN DELLARIA: That's like the guy with the brakes. That's exactly the same thing. That's why I turned him down. And I knew it when I told him I was going to turn him down. And then he turns and says, oh, I'm goingnna i'm going to give my two cents on all your posts.

BEN DELLARIA: Okay. Feel free. Have a great day.

Luis Salas: Yeah.

BEN DELLARIA: And he's not going to. he's He doesn't have it in him.

Luis Salas: yeah

BEN DELLARIA: it's not what he He's just doing it to get me to change my mind.

Luis Salas: Yeah, exactly.

BEN DELLARIA: And I already knew he was going to be someone that's going to attempt to steer the ship that is my ship to steer.

Luis Salas: Yeah.

BEN DELLARIA: I'd turn them off. Well, I don't catch everybody, but over time you start to learn those people were on there. They're on the phone with you and just like, yeah, I'm sorry.

Luis Salas: Oh, yeah.

BEN DELLARIA: I'm too busy. I don't have openings till next week. Sorry. And most of them are like, oh, I needed it yesterday. Well, then fucking you should have called yesterday. Not today.

Luis Salas: Yeah.

BEN DELLARIA: Like what the shit?

Luis Salas: Yeah. or Or you get the Hey, ah how much to do this? I'm a single mom or hey, I'm doing... Man, my price is not going to change just because you tell me you're... i got kids to feed too.

BEN DELLARIA: Yeah. And not even that, the ones that have to point it out are the ones looking for something for cheap or free to move along.

Luis Salas: I'm not.

Luis Salas: Yep, exactly.

BEN DELLARIA: Cause I don't know how much this pisses you off, but it pisses me off in certain ways.

Luis Salas: Yep, exactly.

BEN DELLARIA: All these guys that are now like on social media and they're like, Oh, I'm a, I'm a nonprofit a shop now. Why? Like, why, why are you doing that?

Luis Salas: Yep. And I know, i know, i've just seen it too.

BEN DELLARIA: Oh, you know, cause he makes money on his, his views and everything else. And it's like, You're stupid. Because what if you, how many of these big influencers do you see out there that are doing stuff like doing stuff in general and they say the wrong thing to the wrong person and now they lose their brand deals?

BEN DELLARIA: Well, you ain't got no shop.

Luis Salas: Yep.

BEN DELLARIA: You closed up. You don't do paying customers no more and everyone thinks you're free now and you're screwed. Like not saying it's going to happen. And like, and some of them are doing good stuff. I can't say it and on the ones I'm really talking about ain't doing good stuff. I don't like what they do, but you know There is guys that are doing great things for their communities and things like that.

Luis Salas: Yeah.

BEN DELLARIA: But man, like it just creates such...

Luis Salas: Yeah.

BEN DELLARIA: The customers think...

Luis Salas: A problem.

BEN DELLARIA: that So what I'm trying to get at is we're talking about customers. The customers think it should be the way they have the image in their head. And that's not it. um And that's not how the automotive industry is.

BEN DELLARIA: And that's it it's that I can't get people on.

Luis Salas: Yeah.

BEN DELLARIA: It's hard to get people to understand that. They just think it should be cheap. They think it should be free, especially diagnosis. They're like, oh, well, ah I'm okay with paying it, but you should give it back.

Luis Salas: oh

BEN DELLARIA: Why? why What do you do for a living? yo You're an accountant. You're going to do my taxes for free? I didn't think so.

Luis Salas: yeah yeah autozone does it for free and no autozone scans it and tells you what it might be it's it's not a diagnostic yeah

BEN DELLARIA: Oh, you're doing my business taxes already. How about you do the personal side for free? Like, no, you're not going to do that. You schmuck. Like, come on.

BEN DELLARIA: Yeah. And then they sell a part and that part sale covers their minimum wage employee kid to go out there and plug it in your car.

Luis Salas: Yep.

BEN DELLARIA: But yeah, my times I go to all these stores and I have to fix your screw ups because you got them to put in a free battery.

Luis Salas: Yep, exactly.

BEN DELLARIA: Yeah, exactly.

Luis Salas: Yep.

BEN DELLARIA: Yeah. My AutoZone now, they'll still scan cars, um but most of the customers that come through and get the car scanned, they hand them my card and say, get this guy to diagnose it first.

Luis Salas: Man.

Luis Salas: Yeah. Oh, that's pretty cool.

BEN DELLARIA: Because it just they know that most of the time that they sell something to these people, if they don't know what they're doing, they're going to end up screwing something up. And then they come back to them with used parts and they're like, well, this didn't work.

Luis Salas: Yeah.

BEN DELLARIA: I need this or I need this. And it's like, just call the guy to get the car fixed.

Luis Salas: Yeah.

BEN DELLARIA: You're a parts score You're not an auto shop.

Luis Salas: That's pretty cool.

BEN DELLARIA: You're not here to fix the things.

Luis Salas: Yeah, exactly.

BEN DELLARIA: So, um yeah, customers suck, man. But um ah you you said it's hot there. Do you have any other ways that you deal with like weather and things like that there?

Luis Salas: Yep.

Luis Salas: Rain.

BEN DELLARIA: Yeah. Yeah.

Luis Salas: It's been raining. That's another reason why it kind of slowed down. like This month and last month. Well, this month just started, but last month.

BEN DELLARIA: Yeah.

Luis Salas: Because the rain, but... I got tired of it and got me a canopy. And I'm out there...

BEN DELLARIA: Just got to do it

Luis Salas: It takes it takes me a little longer because I gotta set it up, but...

BEN DELLARIA: Yeah.

Luis Salas: I mean, if I still get a car out of the way and... I'm perfectly

BEN DELLARIA: is As long as it's not like thundering and lightning and downpouring, it's not a horrible thing.

Luis Salas: Yeah.

Luis Salas: Yeah, yeah. Yeah, its it's it's just not...

BEN DELLARIA: it's not It's not the end of the world. With cardboard and moving blankets and it's not flooded, I can usually lay down and do what I got to do if I got to get under it.

Luis Salas: It's pretty...

Luis Salas: yep

BEN DELLARIA: I've worked in those floods before. I've got a YouTube video where... It came down like a freaking bat out of hell when I was doing a power steering pump on an old Toyota Celica.

BEN DELLARIA: So I'm underneath it. It wasn't raining first. It just started to rain. So the umbrella's up. I'm in puddles. I'm putting this thing back together. The freaking customer's up my ass the whole time.

BEN DELLARIA: And I'm just like, this is stupid. But I had a great time doing it. Like I was fine. Like it was stupid because I'm like, what am I doing? But I was filming the whole thing from inside my trailer.

Luis Salas: yeah Yeah.

BEN DELLARIA: And, but people are like, you know, you're crazy. You're stupid. I'm never working in the weather. Okay. Don't like, I don't care, man. I'd rather do this than being in a brick and mortar.

Luis Salas: That's you. Yeah.

BEN DELLARIA: Like,

Luis Salas: Exactly.

BEN DELLARIA: Like or working for someone like i'm I'm still not opposed to possibly, you know, having my own shop one day. But I don't know. i I really love my freedom of doing so.

Luis Salas: Yeah.

BEN DELLARIA: Like, OK, so like next week. Right. I typically work Monday through Friday, Thursday. Friday is an office day. Well, we just last week on the other podcast, I was last weekend, I was dealing with a dog that had got loose in the neighborhood. um Old senior dog, 12, 12 years old. She's in rough shape.

BEN DELLARIA: And the kid. I told him, i said, listen, man, this is not the first time that we have all caught this dog. A lot of people in the neighborhood are threatening to call you know animal control on you to get rid of this dog.

Luis Salas: Yeah.

BEN DELLARIA: I go, instead of seeing that happen, I said, if you can't take care of her, just let us know. And he's like, well, actually, I'm moving in two weeks and I can't take her. I said, well, we will. We'll take the dog. Just let us know.

BEN DELLARIA: And we did. she's We got her back here. Now she goes to see the vet on Monday. So next week, I just didn't schedule anything on Monday. I just scheduled everyone Tuesday through Thursday down or a Friday instead.

Luis Salas: Yep, exactly.

BEN DELLARIA: And it's not a big deal. i can't do that if I have to be somewhere and open the doors.

Luis Salas: Yep, exactly.

BEN DELLARIA: Now, I could do it if I had employees and everything else, but I don't know if I ever want that. I know how it was in my area with employees. It was very difficult. Most of the people around here are either drunks or they're pillheads and crackheads and things like that.

BEN DELLARIA: It was so hard to find. i did the interviews at most of the shops that I worked for, for the owner, and he had the final say, and he was such a schmuck on some of the things he would do.

Luis Salas: Yeah. Oh,

BEN DELLARIA: but So like i don't want to i don't i don't want that hassle. I'm not looking for that. I'm looking for... Minimum the next 10 years to really just bust butt, put as much money as I possibly can into my retirement and just keep saving as much as we're saving. This year is a little out.

BEN DELLARIA: Paying for that wedding is well into that 20 grand area. um

Luis Salas: Yeah.

BEN DELLARIA: But yeah know that's today's world with you know we weddings and daughters. um that's just It's what she wants. It's what I'm going to give her. um I'm just you know glad that I can. But you know outside of that, i just I like the fact that if it's Wednesday and I'm like, I feel like scheduling my first job at 10 a.m.

Luis Salas: yeah

BEN DELLARIA: m that day, not 7 a.m., m I could do that.

Luis Salas: yeah exactly I I love it I love it because I can i can do the same I can just

BEN DELLARIA: And my revenue proves that it works just fine. So my spending doesn't. I spend way too much money. Yeah.

Luis Salas: Yeah, I can go. that's What do I need to do? Nothing? Okay. Yeah, I can go at 8.30, 9 o'clock.

BEN DELLARIA: Yeah, and you can you can schedule how you want.

Luis Salas: Yeah.

BEN DELLARIA: Yeah, I love that. I love that part of it. And it's, you know, or just like, oh, look at that. I had eight jobs on the list today. and it's like, oh, it's 2.30. I'm going home.

Luis Salas: Yeah.

BEN DELLARIA: We're done. Nobody else had called to get in the schedule.

Luis Salas: Exactly. Yeah.

BEN DELLARIA: I didn't have anybody set up for this day. And we're good. Now, I get it. Working in a brick and mortar, people could show up. And you could keep working. You could make more money. And you could build more.

Luis Salas: Yeah.

BEN DELLARIA: I get that. I'm willing to lose money. that portion of it to do what I'm doing.

Luis Salas: For freedom. Yeah.

BEN DELLARIA: Because one, i don't most of the places around here that I could rent, they don't allow shops. And that's a hassle. And so I don't really want to have to be driving 45 minutes every day to the other side of town to go to a shop.

Luis Salas: Yeah.

Luis Salas: Yeah.

BEN DELLARIA: You're not allowed to have a shop on your property in my county. The zoning is not allowed.

Luis Salas: Oh, man.

BEN DELLARIA: I know there's some counties in other states that allow that. There's a ah guy, Chris Enright, is on TikTok and Facebook and Instagram. He's got a shop at his house. His zoning allows that. It's really cool.

BEN DELLARIA: So he literally just walks out to his garage, which is next door or part.

Luis Salas: Dang.

BEN DELLARIA: I don't know. I think it's next door. And he's got I think two lifts in there. Yeah, two lifts in there. They don't go up real high. He can't stand under them. But still, like that's really cool.

Luis Salas: Enough, yeah.

BEN DELLARIA: like Nice.

Luis Salas: Yeah.

BEN DELLARIA: Something cool. like Maybe I would do that if I ever lived. I'd have to rebuild in a different county. We get the zoning laws to change, but I doubt it.

Luis Salas: Yeah. guess get Get some decent land and go to shop and put a couple lists in there.

BEN DELLARIA: Yeah, I would do it just for my own fun and stuff like that.

Luis Salas: Yeah.

BEN DELLARIA: i to have a ah You just can't. You can't zone it, right? now But then that's where where do they cross that line, right? So like we're mobile.

Luis Salas: Yeah.

BEN DELLARIA: I can go to this guy's house and fix his car. I can go over here and fix the car. I can do it in that parking lot. I can do it at my house, but I can't have a building on my property and call it a shop.

BEN DELLARIA: So like is it just that money grab? like yeah What is it?

Luis Salas: Yeah. they they The county not getting making money off of that, so they don't want it.

BEN DELLARIA: They don't want you doing it. Plus they don't want it to residential neighborhoods. They don't want it to look like crap and have a million cars laying around and engines outside and stuff like that.

Luis Salas: Yeah. Yeah.

BEN DELLARIA: So you got, you don't have any ASCs, right?

Luis Salas: I have one for ac

BEN DELLARIA: You got the AC one.

Luis Salas: Yeah, for the AC, I got the certificate somewhere inside.

BEN DELLARIA: Yeah. Are you planning on doing, doing more?

Luis Salas: I got that one. Yeah, yeah, i ah I actually just, well, not actually, probably been three months since I got the books, the A1 through 9.

Luis Salas: I got all those books, and I've been reading up on them.

BEN DELLARIA: You know you can do it on your phone now, right?

Luis Salas: Like an actual website?

BEN DELLARIA: on yeah ah As an app.

Luis Salas: that Like the test or just the books?

BEN DELLARIA: So it's all of it. Oh, not the books.

Luis Salas: What?

BEN DELLARIA: um The testing. So what it does, I could be, I'll be a little bit wrong on what I say here because I i don't use it, but I have it. up there's They send you a question and you answer the question right.

Luis Salas: uh-huh

BEN DELLARIA: So over the course of time, you're always um recertifying all the time. and getting the test and, and getting it done.

Luis Salas: oh shoot

BEN DELLARIA: I don't know if it's only for recertification or if it's for the actual first time you pass it. I don't remember. Um, but yeah, it's, I think they had come out with it kind of like around COVID or something like that.

BEN DELLARIA: Um, but they still have it and they still do that. Um, and it's a couple of bucks a month to do or something like that. You look into it if it's something you want to do, because that's like most people don't go and do it because one, they don't believe in it and that's fine.

Luis Salas: Yeah.

BEN DELLARIA: It doesn't,

Luis Salas: Yeah.

BEN DELLARIA: doesn't prove much. I think it's really good because it lets you know where you're lacking.

Luis Salas: It looks good. Yeah. Yeah.

BEN DELLARIA: um

Luis Salas: And it also looks good on you to be able to say I'm ASC certified.

BEN DELLARIA: yeah It does look good on you. Like you did it. You have a certifications. You're doing good stuff.

Luis Salas: Yeah.

BEN DELLARIA: um But there's always that argument. People are like, oh, well, I mean, it doesn't mean you know how to fix cars. Yeah, no shit. It means I know how the theory of the car works.

Luis Salas: Yeah.

BEN DELLARIA: And that's kind of the point of all this stuff in general is you have to know the theory before you can fix it.

Luis Salas: Yeah, exactly.

Luis Salas: Yep, exactly.

BEN DELLARIA: But yeah, you can do it on your phone, which is kind of neat.

Luis Salas: So I know the last time when I took that one I know when I went the last time, and dude, they make sure you don't have nothing in your pocket. They run a wand through you.

BEN DELLARIA: Yeah.

Luis Salas: They give you a number and they Don't let you touch your phone. You put it in a locker, lock it up, and they make you wait until it's your turn to go in the cell, I guess.

Luis Salas: The dang cubicle.

BEN DELLARIA: Yeah.

BEN DELLARIA: So this is, the app is called ASC Renewal.

Luis Salas: i know they were real strict.

Luis Salas: Oh, okay.

BEN DELLARIA: um Yeah, ASC Renewal Program. So I think it's just for um recertifying whatever stuff you already have.

Luis Salas: To renew your ones you got? Yeah.

BEN DELLARIA: So they send you questions. because So every once in a while, I only have the trial part of it. So every once in a while, it'll just pop up. you know hey your Your daily, your weekly, your monthly question is ready or something like that. um So it's kind of neat.

Luis Salas: That's pretty cool.

BEN DELLARIA: Yeah. um So you just missed it.

Luis Salas: I need look into that.

BEN DELLARIA: You're in Texas. You could have gone to this event. um The Tectonic event was at was near you, but ah you were out of the group at the time because you had said something with your phone.

Luis Salas: Yeah.

BEN DELLARIA: But

Luis Salas: Lost my phone.

BEN DELLARIA: um the TechMetric just put on a training event in Dallas.

Luis Salas: Dang.

BEN DELLARIA: I think it was Dallas, but it's in Texas.

Luis Salas: That would have been

BEN DELLARIA: Yeah. They just had it in April. Um,

Luis Salas: Yeah. Exactly.

BEN DELLARIA: Yeah. And you don't have to be using them to go. And they had their competitors there and everything else, supposedly. And it was a big conference. It was everything that I saw online. It was it was pretty neat.

BEN DELLARIA: um Some people were a little you know skeptical at first because it was their first convention. But I mean, you can't you can't grow until you try.

Luis Salas: yeah

BEN DELLARIA: And I'm sure they'll little change up a lot of stuff.

Luis Salas: exactly

BEN DELLARIA: But a lot of people in the Facebook group really, really enjoyed it. But it's one of the closest ones to you that had a convention.

Luis Salas: and

Luis Salas: and that so the tech metric basic what does basic get you the basic one

BEN DELLARIA: uh, the bottom tier.

Luis Salas: yeah

BEN DELLARIA: So I think that one's 200 bucks. It'll do all of your estimating, your invoices, your reporting.

Luis Salas: e

BEN DELLARIA: um so you can track your revenue, track your parts. You can have parts integration. So all of your, um, and that's free anyway, through parts tech, it's an integration. So it sets up, um,

BEN DELLARIA: all your home stores. So wherever you have commercial accounts with. So if you have like a certain AutoZone, Advance or Riley's, Napa, whatever that's right near you, those stores will be linked and so will they their inventory.

Luis Salas: Yeah.

BEN DELLARIA: And since they know you're mobile anyway, ah when you order something through it, they just have it sitting there waiting on the shelf for you.

Luis Salas: Okay.

BEN DELLARIA: So if you're making an estimate and you open up the ticket, the only thing it doesn't have is the integration of labor. At that tier, you would have to have the second tier for that, which is what I use.

Luis Salas: Okay.

BEN DELLARIA: um But anyway, let's say you don't have it. You would just go to all data and get your labor time. You'd come back over and type it in, put in your labor time.

Luis Salas: Type it in here.

BEN DELLARIA: Your labor rates already inserted in the system. The parts, when you add the part, you will um it'll take you to AutoZone Advance O'Reilly's and you just choose your part because it's going through the VIN number of the vehicle ticket you're already in.

Luis Salas: OK. Yeah.

BEN DELLARIA: So when you click on the part, it puts it over to the ticket with its cost, your cost. And then your parts matrix dollar amount is already applied to it. So your estimate's done and you send it to the customer.

BEN DELLARIA: The customer sees it. They can approve it. They can actually sign on their phone or tablet or computer. It's a digital signature. It approves the job, comes back to you. And you can just hit the um the quoted button and it orders the part and your part will be sitting on the shelf for you.

Luis Salas: Dang.

BEN DELLARIA: But it's mainly like, so if you jump in the classroom, I have all of my videos on TechMetric in there.

Luis Salas: i I seen a couple already.

BEN DELLARIA: Yeah. um So like every like two or three times a month, I make some videos on TechMetric's different features. it does it on it I have it on TikTok, school, and YouTube.

BEN DELLARIA: um All of those ah videos go out um talking about different subjects in TechMetric and what they're used for and why... Why they matter, because I've had a lot of people that are like, oh, are I use RE because it's only $69.

Luis Salas: Yeah.

BEN DELLARIA: Okay, well, here's your comparison. this is This is where it is. The first year, the first year, the years I was doing, I have a video of this coming out, but the years that I was not using software, I could barely break 100 grand, mainly because i probably wasn't tracking all of my revenue and I wasn't building the tickets to match proper

Luis Salas: Yeah.

BEN DELLARIA: parts parts margins and profit margins.

Luis Salas: Thanks.

BEN DELLARIA: um And then the first year I started with TechMetric, I double almost doubled my revenue, at least on paper, it was. Because the only paper I had before that showed like 100 102. The first year i did

BEN DELLARIA: one and using tech metric because all my invoices were there and everything was tracked. So I actually knew how much I was making.

Luis Salas: Yeah.

BEN DELLARIA: So even though i say it was doubled, the first year I probably was doing over 100, but I guarantee you I wasn't doing 200.

Luis Salas: Yeah.

BEN DELLARIA: um So having that, I owe it to that program for where I got to today. Now there's other programs out there, don't get me wrong, it ain't just at Patrick.

Luis Salas: Yeah.

BEN DELLARIA: But to be able to understand where it all is, track it so I know, okay, this is where I screwed up on that invoice. This is what I have to do to fix that margin.

BEN DELLARIA: This is my parts matrix is a little bit screwy here. Let me fix that. You can follow all that. You can see all that stuff. You can have your loaded costs so you really know what the business is costing you.

BEN DELLARIA: it's It's really key to making sure it's it's a good tool. So a lot of people in group and online, they're like, oh, I can't afford that. No, you choose not to afford it.

BEN DELLARIA: It's a break job.

Luis Salas: Yeah.

BEN DELLARIA: It's literally one break job a month pays for the freaking program.

Luis Salas: Yeah.

BEN DELLARIA: So if you can't squeeze out one more break job or two more oil changes in a month to do it,

Luis Salas: Exactly.

BEN DELLARIA: that's your own choice and you're just using it as an excuse because you don't believe in it.

Luis Salas: Yeah.

BEN DELLARIA: So it's the same way.

Luis Salas: Yeah.

BEN DELLARIA: We, we are trying to make the consumer understand why diagnosis is right. It's the same thing. I'm trying to make people understand that that tool is just as important as your Jack, as your scanner and as your wrenches and your sockets.

Luis Salas: Yeah.

BEN DELLARIA: It's a tool and it should be utilized that way.

Luis Salas: yeah

Luis Salas: Yeah, yeah, for sure. um i

BEN DELLARIA: It's, it's,

Luis Salas: I want to, um no, I need to really get into that tech metric. I really, i even looked up looked it up and stuff like that, but I didn't find what was the difference between the basic, the middle tier and the top tier.

BEN DELLARIA: It's on their website when you look at pricing and then you can expand it on the lower part.

Luis Salas: But...

BEN DELLARIA: But I can make a video about it talking about the differences of it. There's a lot of differences. But the easiest way is all the links that I have in like the show notes here and all of the posts you see on that and my YouTube videos.

BEN DELLARIA: There's a free demo link. Just click on that. And someone will reach out to you and they'll set you up with a one-on-one like this.

Luis Salas: OK.

BEN DELLARIA: And they'll walk you straight through the program on all the different tiers.

Luis Salas: Uh-huh.

BEN DELLARIA: And they'll talk to you about the different things you get on all those and what the costs are. And a lot of times they'll give you a discount if you're signing up at that point too. For like the first six months or the first year and things like that.

Luis Salas: There.

BEN DELLARIA: All your payments, your payments go through it and they automatically get pushed over to QuickBooks as well.

Luis Salas: Oh, that's pretty cool.

Luis Salas: Oh, OK. So QuickBooks is still in the in the circle.

BEN DELLARIA: Yeah. So I have a company called, it's another integration. It's called the back office. That's what tech metric uses.

Luis Salas: OK.

BEN DELLARIA: um to import all of our revenue, part sales, labor sales, customer name over to QuickBooks in the backside. So we go into a link called the accounting link app at the end of the week and we look at all of our ah ro ROs and we approve them.

BEN DELLARIA: We just approve the day. And the day, that's what sends it over to QuickBooks, puts it right into, and our bank account is linked in QuickBooks. So like yesterday, we went on to QuickBooks because I had slacked for like the whole year.

BEN DELLARIA: I had to go back and reconcile and do all of February through April stuff. It only took like 30 minutes to do all that, like click off on all of the transactions, post everything, put them where they needed to go, split the interest charges on things.

Luis Salas: Yeah.

BEN DELLARIA: It's just it's perfect.

Luis Salas: Yep.

BEN DELLARIA: Having that that tool and software is so pivotal to making you get to where we are. Like we don't get to where we are by not spending money.

Luis Salas: Yep.

BEN DELLARIA: It's just not possible.

Luis Salas: I know. Tell me about it.

BEN DELLARIA: Yeah.

Luis Salas: And then i I learned a hard way about spending the money.

BEN DELLARIA: So tell me. Oh.

Luis Salas: Well, not the hard way because i mean, you don't need to because you got Harbor Freight. Snap on is a

BEN DELLARIA: Hey, Jesus fucking snap on that stupid scanner.

Luis Salas: Snap-on. Snap-on it. Yeah. Well, I don't... He... My Snap-on wants me to get a scanner. I'm like, dude, I'm not paying fucking $6,000 for a no-damn scanner.

BEN DELLARIA: Nope. Just don't. Just don't. Don't do it. hu Or get what you can get one of the smaller ones, like maybe the Triton d ten like I had.

Luis Salas: Yeah, I mean... I have the Top done Phoenix Plus.

BEN DELLARIA: Mm-hmm.

Luis Salas: And recently... Shit, and look. I got on a live. and was like, hey, just bullshitting around. I told them, was like, hey, sponsor me the one, the new one that just came out from TopDown, and they sent it.

BEN DELLARIA: No, yeah. That's nice.

Luis Salas: for I mean, for 30 days, but I've been using it, and it it is the thing that for what it costs.

BEN DELLARIA: Yeah.

BEN DELLARIA: Yeah. They're good tools.

Luis Salas: That's a good entry-level scanner, the TopDown one. That's a pretty damn good tool right there.

BEN DELLARIA: They all are.

Luis Salas: it

BEN DELLARIA: i like so And don't get me wrong. like I love my Snap-on, but I hate my Snap-on. There's a lot of features that are really, really cool, and there's a lot of features that suck.

BEN DELLARIA: um I don't use... That's the thing. like People are always like, oh, like the guided component and this and that. Yeah, it's ah it's a good thing to have. It's quick. so Instead of going and running and looking at all data and stuff, but I don't like that it doesn't have topology.

Luis Salas: Yeah.

BEN DELLARIA: I don't like how...

Luis Salas: Yeah.

BEN DELLARIA: if you walk away certain certain things you can't just get back in the car because it's a window based tool and it's, it's just a very frustrating tool.

Luis Salas: Yeah.

BEN DELLARIA: And I find myself more times than not going and grabbing my little $400 tool because it's faster, quicker, and it's, you know, it just gets the job done.

Luis Salas: yeah

BEN DELLARIA: And I made a video the other day.

Luis Salas: yeah

BEN DELLARIA: um i was using the snap on, on a Dodge. Um, So on that Pendastar motor, you know there's four ah cam sensors.

Luis Salas: Yep.

BEN DELLARIA: you know one for each exhaust, one for each intake on the cam. So I needed to see the one that it didn't have, and I couldn't see it. There was no data bid for it.

BEN DELLARIA: And so when I was in custom, I couldn't see it. And I'm like, you've got to be freaking kidding me. like This is the one code for this camshaft I need to look at, and you're not showing me the data. I grabbed my little Think Car, Moo Car one, the M-U-C-A-R.

BEN DELLARIA: It had it, and it was fine.

Luis Salas: Yeah.

BEN DELLARIA: I could read it. And I'm like...

Luis Salas: That's crazy.

BEN DELLARIA: You got to be kidding me. A $10,000 tool that has a glitch in the software. Like I get it. Like I'm not, I'm not going to sit here and say that like I know software and I know how all of that R and D and information goes into designing a tool.

BEN DELLARIA: Cause I don't, I'm, I don't, I get it It's like people saying, Oh boy, so for why can't it never work?

Luis Salas: Yeah.

BEN DELLARIA: Do you know what's involved in that? So I get it the same thing, but still like 10 grand, $500, $10,000.

Luis Salas: thats

Luis Salas: Yeah. Yeah.

BEN DELLARIA: let's do something slightly better here. So if they would just add topology to the mix, like I would really, I would go to that tool more because I've been, I'm, so I've been looking at other tools lately.

Luis Salas: Exactly.

BEN DELLARIA: Um, like the new all tell maxi S2.

Luis Salas: Yeah.

BEN DELLARIA: I've been looking at the new launch, um, and, or, and, or the top down Phoenix max, um,

Luis Salas: Yeah. Near the top zone.

BEN DELLARIA: just Just because, I i don't know. it i My Altel that I have that has ah topology and everything, because it's not updated, it doesn't work.

BEN DELLARIA: And that shit drives me nuts too, is that they're forcing you to have to do all the updates and they take away features on the tool.

Luis Salas: yeah

BEN DELLARIA: Supposedly, Launch doesn't do that, but I could be vastly wrong on that.

Luis Salas: nearer nearer does top gun I've been having that ah Phoenix Plus for about, I want to say three years. And it it was a two-year pre-update.

Luis Salas: And I still have topology. I still have, and I mean, I can't program or nothing, but it's not like I do it anyways.

BEN DELLARIA: Yeah.

Luis Salas: But I still have all those features, especially topology, because that's that's the first thing that pops up.

BEN DELLARIA: Really?

BEN DELLARIA: My topology doesn't work at all on my alto.

Luis Salas: And on the new one, on on that ah On the one, I would say that's only thing I don't like.

BEN DELLARIA: Yeah.

Luis Salas: If you don't have internet, you're not getting topology, so you got to turn on the hotspot.

BEN DELLARIA: Yeah,

Luis Salas: But, I mean, that's the only thing I don't like about it. it It does the same thing.

BEN DELLARIA: but I wonder...

Luis Salas: it You'll scan the car, and you hit the little robot, and it's like it gives you basically how the system works, all that good stuff.

Luis Salas: it

BEN DELLARIA: Yeah. That's why I kind of like the the new Altel Maxi S2.

Luis Salas: It helps a lot.

BEN DELLARIA: There's some cool features on there, and I think Keith Perkins made a video about it.

Luis Salas: So,

BEN DELLARIA: That's where I first saw it. And then... I know South main auto bought one cause he likes the all tell tools. Um, but anyway, uh, so I think it was Keith personally. He was looking at, he had a code for like a front camera, eight OS issue or like a, a camera distance issue or something. Um, uh,

BEN DELLARIA: And the tool gives you a 3D view of the car, shows you where the module is, and then gives you the pinout so when you're testing it, and then you can just use the scope and the graph on the tool right there to test it instead of having to go look at some other...

BEN DELLARIA: ah feature to find out where it is.

Luis Salas: Yeah

BEN DELLARIA: so like Snap-on's cool. That's kind of like what guided component testing is. so like Having the Altel that has that, but a 3D image of the the car, like show it because he shows He shows it, oh, it's it's right here on the car.

Luis Salas: The car yeah, that's cool

BEN DELLARIA: Found it. you know and He's able to unplug and do the testing right then and there with it. It's really freaking neat because it saves you time instead of going between a million different programs to start searching for

Luis Salas: time yeah

BEN DELLARIA: you know, the wiring diagrams and everything else.

Luis Salas: yeah exactly get it open

BEN DELLARIA: That was why I bought the Snap-on because I liked that I could just open up all data and Identifix on the tool and have that guided component. But I really miss the topology because that's... That's something else.

BEN DELLARIA: the ah I was having that problem with the snap-on. Now, granted, it's just an ECM, so we already know the ECM is supposed to be there, but if the ec if the car has loss of communication with a module, you have to rely on codes being set to say that there's loss of communication there.

Luis Salas: yeah

Luis Salas: exactly

BEN DELLARIA: But if there's no code set... And you're you though it won't list the module. So you have to have topology or one of those launch based style tools like the top down, move car, think are all those because you can go into another ah setting in there and you can do like a ping test. And the Alltel does that, too.

BEN DELLARIA: you When you're done, you can ping that module to make sure that communication has been restored.

Luis Salas: Yeah.

BEN DELLARIA: And it'll tell you how much of information goes out and comes back.

Luis Salas: neat. Yeah, it

BEN DELLARIA: It's really freaking neat.

Luis Salas: is neat.

BEN DELLARIA: So it's like it sucks.

Luis Salas: Yeah. it is me

BEN DELLARIA: like All these tools have all these really cool features, but like some of them just like kind of don't have it.

Luis Salas: yeah

BEN DELLARIA: So you have to buy so many different things.

Luis Salas: that's pretty good.

BEN DELLARIA: But anyway, ah kind of getting towards the end here, guys. um So I want to ask you... if you If you had something you wanted to tell people that were getting into business on their own or anything you might do differently, but you know starting out, you got any information you want to give to people that are listening? to

Luis Salas: Yeah. ah Basically, just don't undercharge.

BEN DELLARIA: Oh, yeah.

Luis Salas: you You know your worth. You gotta basically just calculate everything. How much is it gonna be to get out there and and you add that in there. ah And it's worth it, man.

Luis Salas: if It's...

BEN DELLARIA: It's definitely worth it.

Luis Salas: I'm loving it. I'm loving it. i'm i

BEN DELLARIA: Yeah.

Luis Salas: I don't see myself going back to a regular job or a shop. Even if it slows down, i still make enough to...

Luis Salas: o to do whatever I want really.

BEN DELLARIA: yeah

Luis Salas: Pretty much.

BEN DELLARIA: It's called freedom and that's what you've got now.

Luis Salas: Yeah, exactly.

BEN DELLARIA: Cool. Well, Lewis, man, I appreciate you coming on and taking the time to talk with us, sharing a little bit of your story pre on where you came from and everything.

Luis Salas: Yes sir.

BEN DELLARIA: So everybody, I appreciate you listening and we will talk at you later.

Luis Salas: appreciate appreciate you having me.

BEN DELLARIA: Thanks.