Transcript
Aniz Lavji: All right, welcome everyone to another episode of the Shop and Tread Talk podcast. This one's a little bit late tonight. It's 9.47 p.m. Thanks to me because I could not get my kids to bed and, uh,
Aniz Lavji: That is the life of having three kids and a dog and a very loving wife that's letting me record right now. But anyways, as usual, we've got Frank. His hair is not as slick and shiny as it usually is, but that's okay. We'll let that one slide today.
Frank Wiebe: i'll tell you what I'll tell you why that is.
Aniz Lavji: Frank.
Frank Wiebe: Because I had i i had a massage after work today. And She does a good scalp massage too. And yeah, so I didn't, I didn't bother doing a hair after, but and I did get a haircut on the weekend.
Aniz Lavji: Well, that explains it then.
Frank Wiebe: So, you know,
Aniz Lavji: there Yeah, you look a little bit pruned.
Frank Wiebe: but
Aniz Lavji: You look a bit pruned today, Frank. Frank, why don't you go ahead and introduce our guest today?
Frank Wiebe: well, today we have with us, Emma, she's, we were talking a little bit earlier, a bit ago, and Emma is from our furthest South Southern guest.
Frank Wiebe: She's from not that far south.
Aniz Lavji: Mexico? Okay. Okay.
Frank Wiebe: Georgia, she said. So like way down south. And we were talking. I said, yeah i say oh no, we've had we've had a southern guest before. And we're talking about John Furman. She's like, no, I think I'm more south. She doesn't consider Texas southern. So, John, if you're listening to this, you're not considered a southerner.
Frank Wiebe: so Emma's with us today.
emma wilson: He probably understands
Frank Wiebe: We don't understand. We're from Canada, so we don't understand this battle between Southerners or not like that.
Aniz Lavji: Look, I actually used to live in Texas. Texas is southern. Yeah.
Frank Wiebe: Yeah, okay. So, and he's lived in Texas. Anyways, Emma, please introduce yourself. Tell us a little bit about yourself, and we'll just talk about what you do, what we do, and we'll have a great conversation.
emma wilson: Okay, well, yeah my name is Emma. I'm originally from North Carolina, but I've been living here in Georgia for about three years. um I've been a technician for almost two years now, um and I've been in the industry for about five.
Frank Wiebe: oh
emma wilson: I did go to college for this. I have an associate's degree in automotive technology. um I'm currently working for Nissan um at a dealership, small family dealership.
Aniz Lavji: Nice.
Aniz Lavji: Okay.
emma wilson: Um, yeah, that's where I'm at right now. I'm i'm about halfway to master tech, so...
Aniz Lavji: There you go.
Frank Wiebe: so So explain that master tech thing to me a little bit because I keep hearing that and I'm wondering what it is because like a young person like yourself to become a master or tech, like to me, I've been doing this for 30 years and I don't consider myself a master tech because there's guys that have been doing a longer that know way more than I do.
Frank Wiebe: So what qualifies you to be a master
Aniz Lavji: it's It's when you get 600 CBT transmission ah replacements at Nissan, then you get your master tech, I think.
Frank Wiebe: tech?
emma wilson: but
Frank Wiebe: Yeah, that could be. But what qualifies you then to become a master
emma wilson: so So basically, um it's a little different for every manufacturer. um But just baseline, even if you work at an independent shop in America, there's eight base ASE tests that you can take.
emma wilson: And once you take and pass all eight of those, you're considered an ASE master tech.
Aniz Lavji: OK.
emma wilson: And then with Nissan, i there's also about... um
emma wilson: Ooh, there's probably about three or four classes um under each kind of in-person classes.
Frank Wiebe: Bye.
emma wilson: I go to Atlanta for the training under each kind of thing.
Aniz Lavji: OK.
emma wilson: Like there's chassis and engine, transmission, three or four in-person classes under each of those um that we take and have to pass as well.
emma wilson: And then I would be a master tech with Nissan also. And you can there's you can go further after that too with Nissan.
Aniz Lavji: That's amazing.
emma wilson: They have platinum and you can do their diesel training, GTR training and stuff like that too. So there's a lot you can do with Nissan.
Aniz Lavji: Oh, that's interesting.
Frank Wiebe: Okay.
Aniz Lavji: Yeah, I
Frank Wiebe: Yeah, that sounds, that sounds cool. Like we were talking a little bit about, about training and stuff and, and really here in Canada, there isn't, unless you're at a dealer level, there, there isn't really any after work, like any training after you're a tech at all.
Aniz Lavji: going to say.
Aniz Lavji: Well, um there's like the Napa and the CarQuest training and stuff like that, but it's not the same all.
Frank Wiebe: And
Frank Wiebe: it's not the same. Like, it It doesn't give you any advantage, any anyt certificate certification that gives you an advantage one above the other or or in the trade, like in your... Let's say you're in your dealership. but But if you're working in a dealership, well, you get that dealership training and you can become... an Who was it on our podcast was talking about that too.
Frank Wiebe: um
Frank Wiebe: I forget. ah But that they could... become a master tech in in the in there as well. It was ah the lady that was working at GM.
Frank Wiebe: This is terrible. We're drawing a blank right now. sincerely apologize.
Aniz Lavji: Tyler says something like that too. I think, no, maybe not.
Frank Wiebe: Yeah, and and and and yeah, like like at a dealership level, you can do that, but not in the aftermarket.
Aniz Lavji: Here, we kind of depend on like our our extra training would be basically if we needed extra training, I might call Frank or I might call one of my other friends and say, hey, look, I've got this situation to help me and train me on what the heck to do to fix the situation. Or we'd have to kind of look online or, you know, use our our resources online and look up dealer information but for us here to actually have formal formal training it's really tough and that's why like we're flying over to the states a couple times a year to get proper training
emma wilson: Yeah, Frank was telling me about a kind of training thing in that you guys are going to in North Carolina. And he was talking about some of the lab scope things.
Aniz Lavji: yep
emma wilson: And I do like, yeah i'm so I'm assuming you're talking about like PicoScope and stuff like that.
Frank Wiebe: Yep.
Aniz Lavji: Yep.
emma wilson: um And it's kind of funny because i like i I just went to a community college in my hometown in North Carolina and we did we used PicoScope in those classes. um ah when I went to college and stuff like that. um And all all of our teachers are like, you know, had been in the industry for at least 20 plus years.
emma wilson: And um i really I really did learn a lot. I've unfortunately forgotten quite a bit of it, but I did learn a lot in those classes. So you guys don't really have any like, like even here, we I don't know where it is, but there's literally a whole college just for like automotive stuff.
Frank Wiebe: Yep.
emma wilson: It's called UTI.
Aniz Lavji: Yeah, we have like Conestoga and Fanshawe. We got like colleges that'll have it. But to actually get into those programs and go through the school, the waiting list is so long that you could be waiting for a few years to even start your training.
emma wilson: Wow. Wow.
Aniz Lavji: So in the meantime, you would be working at a shop and trying to get, you know, get your hours and your experience. But by the time you actually go to school, it could be a few years before you actually get into the school to learn like the book stuff.
Frank Wiebe: Yeah, like like my apprentice that that we have right now, he waited.
emma wilson: wow
Aniz Lavji: Yeah.
Frank Wiebe: He was signed up. Two years he waited until there was a seat available at Fanshawe College for him to go to. And it was only the only reason he actually finally got in. Margarita finally one day she just called and she says, like hey, what the heck is going on?
Frank Wiebe: We've been waiting two years. And they're like, oh, we might have misplaced his application.
Aniz Lavji: Of course.
Frank Wiebe: What the heck?
Aniz Lavji: I might have to make that phone call this week.
Frank Wiebe: So...
Frank Wiebe: Yeah, it's it's terrible. You have to be on them for that. And and so like so so he could have, and Emma, think what you did is is very similar to, we could have we can have um take a course like an automotive service technician pre-apprenticeship, that's what they call it, the pre-apprenticeship program.
Frank Wiebe: Yeah.
Aniz Lavji: Yes, they have it in Cambridge.
Frank Wiebe: so So you can go in and you can pay for that and and and take that class and do that. But if you are able to get signed up and and do it through an apprenticeship program and through a shop like what what we're doing now...
Frank Wiebe: All of your schooling is paid for by our government. so So that's why everyone wants to do it that way because then you don't have to pay the $4,000 or $6,000 or whatever it is to go to school.
Frank Wiebe: You only have to pay $800 for your seat for the year and then plus your books and then you're in. So... Yeah. So, so having done what you did, like I went to, I went, when I was in school years ago, there was a kid who had just done the pre-apprenticeship program and I think it, it cost him $3,000 way back then.
Frank Wiebe: And, and then he got signed up as an apprentice and he said it was literally the exact same class. Just, just now he was going through it, getting paid to do it instead of having to pay to do it.
Frank Wiebe: So yeah.
emma wilson: Yeah, I guess America is kind of pay to play, i guess.
Aniz Lavji: Yeah.
emma wilson: um But you can there's a there's a lot of options.
Frank Wiebe: which Yeah, that ain't bad at all.
emma wilson: I mean, my community college, it really wasn't that expensive. um I think it was like a grand, a little over a grand per semester um for the classes.
Aniz Lavji: That's not fine.
emma wilson: And i mean, it was very in-depth and there was a lot of different classes that I took. So I definitely think it was worth it.
Aniz Lavji: north North Carolina is also a great place to to learn. And even, were you working any shops in North Carolina as well during that time?
emma wilson: i I did not.
Aniz Lavji: or Because like a lot of really good shops are there.
emma wilson: um
Aniz Lavji: Like we've met quite a few people that have shops in North Carolina and like really good top shops out that way too.
Frank Wiebe: Well, i was i was blocked I was trying to get her to convince to come to ASTA and saying, because it's in her hometown anyway, and I'm like, hey, that'd be perfect.
emma wilson: Yeah.
Aniz Lavji: Oh, you should come.
Frank Wiebe: You already know the area.
Aniz Lavji: Exactly.
Frank Wiebe: come Come to the convention. the the The amount of stuff that you will learn is unreal.
Aniz Lavji: You should come to ASTA and then we'll introduce you to like 97 shop owners that are in North Carolina. And then you can just move back home and, uh, and just be working at one of those awesome shops.
emma wilson: That's pretty cool. Okay.
Aniz Lavji: I, we literally like, I know a ton of shop owners in North Carolina that, uh, are looking for good texts and you can come back home.
emma wilson: and That would be pretty cool.
Frank Wiebe: maybe Maybe she likes it down south where it's warm.
Aniz Lavji: maybe Maybe she does, I don't know.
Frank Wiebe: No. No.
emma wilson: I mean, i don't i don't really mind it. I will say, um and I'm sure you guys can tell, my accent has ah evolved quite a bit since moving down here.
emma wilson: Um, but I am, I am living with my family, so that is nice, you know, with my family, but yeah, I don't know.
Aniz Lavji: That's nice, okay.
emma wilson: Hey, you never know where life will take you.
Aniz Lavji: If you can make it to ASTA, it would be incredible. Like it's, it'll, it'll be life-changing really.
Frank Wiebe: but we don't And we don't get paid for this.
Aniz Lavji: Yeah, I know.
Frank Wiebe: We don't get paid to to try to convince you to come out. We've been there. that it's It's worth it. The training's worth it. And anybody that we would introduce you to would say it's it's well worth 100%.
Aniz Lavji: This will be Frank's first time there. he just went to his first convention out in Pennsylvania. But it it really it makes a huge difference when you're a lot of the training, you know, kind of going off topic. But a lot of the training besides the classes that you're taking, which are, you know, second to none, the teachers, you know, you got an amazing amount of instructors there.
Aniz Lavji: But a lot of the training and stuff that you'll get is outside the class when you're having a drink or talking to people in not in the hallways. Those connections and those people that you meet really, really do make the difference of the whole trip.
Aniz Lavji: And we're going to pause in a second because Frank's clock is going to go off any second.
emma wilson: Yes.
Frank Wiebe: No, I just looked, it's 10 minutes behind.
Aniz Lavji: Oh, my God.
Frank Wiebe: um What Anis was a saying, there's there was ah there's quite a few people that we met um when we were when we were in Pennsylvania. and And we've actually had them on our podcast, a couple of them already, and didn't know them from a hole in the ground other than just saw them and started chatting with them.
Aniz Lavji: I messaged a note to people and I was like Frank and Margarita are coming make sure you you meet them And Margarita was in the middle of a women's dinner.
Frank Wiebe: Yeah. Yeah.
Aniz Lavji: And all of a sudden, Tanika is like, Margarita, where are you at? Anissa told me I got to come meet you. And she's like, oh, God, that was so embarrassing.
Frank Wiebe: Oh, yeah.
Aniz Lavji: but But that's the kind of people that you you get to meet. And everyone's really friendly. You feel like you're part of a family, honestly, when you're going to these events. And the one that Frank went to was was really nice because it was very it was small.
emma wilson: That's pretty cool.
Aniz Lavji: There's only 300, 400 people there.
Frank Wiebe: really small, yeah.
Aniz Lavji: So you're not a – like I went to Vision out in Kansas City, and there's 4,000 people there. So you're looking like a blip in the big picture.
emma wilson: Yeah.
Frank Wiebe: um Honestly, i don't I don't think I want to go to that because that just to me seems way too overwhelming.
Aniz Lavji: the The training was great, but, yeah, there was a lot of people there.
Frank Wiebe: Yeah.
Aniz Lavji: There's a lot of people.
Frank Wiebe: So what, Emma, what is it that you enjoy working on other than Nissan's?
emma wilson: Well, i do i do really like working on Nissans. I have found them really easy to work on, and I do like doing them. um But I also have a 30-year-old Lexus and an Honda Prelude as well.
Aniz Lavji: Oh, nice.
emma wilson: And so I like Toyota and Honda as well, too. um Yeah, work I work on both those. Actually, rebuilding in the process of rebuilding the Honda, um I had the engine sent off to a machine shop and I just got it back a few weeks ago, but I took it apart right before we moved.
Aniz Lavji: OK.
emma wilson: And so I ended up in a situation where the shell was at my uncle's house in North Carolina. And then the engine and all the parts with that were in a storage unit. And then finally, eventually I got them moved down here.
emma wilson: And anyway, it was all a mess. I took it apart right at a terrible time. But we'll get it back on the road at some point.
Aniz Lavji: Yeah.
Aniz Lavji: That'd be nice.
Frank Wiebe: What you said that was an old Honda?
emma wilson: Yes, it's a 2000.
Aniz Lavji: I love those preludes.
Frank Wiebe: Nice.
Aniz Lavji: They're really fun to drive.
emma wilson: Yes, it is really fun to drive. i I do really miss driving it. I had it. I drove it a lot in college. It was my high school graduation gift.
Frank Wiebe: Oh, cool.
emma wilson: So I want...
Aniz Lavji: It's got a little more sentimental value than the average vehicle.
emma wilson: Yes.
Frank Wiebe: Now, are you are you boosting it and all that fun stuff too, or are you just going to put it back to upgraded stock?
emma wilson: um Well, honestly, I really want my Lexus to kind of be kind of like a show car. So my goal for the Prelude is kind of to make it a very rural reliable daily. It has like 200,000 miles on it. So I want to rebuild the engine and just kind of freshen everything up so I could daily it.
Aniz Lavji: The standard.
Frank Wiebe: Yep.
emma wilson: It is, yeah.
Aniz Lavji: Yeah.
emma wilson: I wish it was manual, but you know,
Aniz Lavji: Nice.
emma wilson: I'm sure you guys know, when you like, i was a Facebook marketplace listing.
Aniz Lavji: Wait, it is so it's automatic or it's manual.
emma wilson: It's automatic, yeah.
Aniz Lavji: Oh, yeah.
emma wilson: I went to go see it.
Aniz Lavji: Right. I said standard and then you said yes. And then you went to automatic. I'm like, oh, that's okay.
emma wilson: I'm sorry, it's 10 o'clock. I went to go see it, and you know, you just have that feeling, you're like, this is my car. And I was like, all right, let's get it. So...
emma wilson: I do wish it was manual, but it is what it is.
Frank Wiebe: Nice.
Frank Wiebe: my My nephew in Alberta, he he had Hondas for a while. And he's, for as long as I can remember, he's been building this Honda. And then he runs it and then he wrecks something because he's boosting the crap out of it. And then he he's got to pull the motor out and he's got to build it again. And he bent a rod. I'm like, damn, dude, if you would have just bought it like a freaking Toyota Eco or something like that, you could drive wherever you want.
emma wilson: Yeah.
Aniz Lavji: 1.5 liters of sheer power.
Frank Wiebe: And not waste all this money. but And he loves spending it.
Aniz Lavji: Oh, man.
emma wilson: Yes.
Aniz Lavji: Mm-hmm. Yeah.
Frank Wiebe: not now Now he's getting married, so I think his his days are of ah spending money, yep gone.
emma wilson: It'll, yeah.
Aniz Lavji: my
emma wilson: It'll kind of get there. So I have to ask you guys a question because I know you guys are both from the North and I've been, I've been posting some videos on TikTok of what it's like to be a mechanic in the South and how like things aren't very rusty.
Frank Wiebe: he's
Frank Wiebe: All right.
emma wilson: And I found that a lot of people are very surprised that I daily a 30-year-old car that has no rust.
Frank Wiebe: ah
emma wilson: So what is the car market like up there? Because the used car market here is like, you know, 10 plus years old is pretty regular.
Aniz Lavji: Yeah, we we got so much rust over here that it's basically ingrained into Frank's beard. Look, you can see the bottom. That's all rust.
Frank Wiebe: plus years over here is getting really crusty.
Aniz Lavji: Very.
Frank Wiebe: If it hasn't been oiled and undercoated, it's getting crusty.
Aniz Lavji: like
Aniz Lavji: I've seen 10-year-old vehicles. like like We don't know if we can lift some of them. We get pretty bad.
Frank Wiebe: Oh, yeah. Well, not not too long ago.
emma wilson: That's crazy.
Frank Wiebe: Okay, Emma, if you would look back on my TikTok a few weeks ago, maybe, I still keep getting in comments on that video where I i took a video. i had two Fords, a Ford...
Frank Wiebe: Maybe it was a newer Ford Focus and an older Ford Focus on the hoist at the same time. There was a nine-year difference between the two. And I took a video and I'm like, this is what your car looks like now. And if you don't undercoat it nine years, this is what it looks like. They were nine-year different cars.
Frank Wiebe: And people are like, oh, they're <unk>re ripping me up and down about oiling does nothing. And that can't be the same car. No, I know it's not the same damn car. It was two different cars. But I'm telling you, this car was this age.
Frank Wiebe: This car is nine years older. And this is what it looks like. Find that video. You will be surprised. Like the rust is unreal and seized calipers and seized wheel bearings and seized bolts. And like the torch is our best friend.
Frank Wiebe: And I know
Aniz Lavji: yeah the torch is the best friend because just light those two piles of junk on fire and watch the show
Frank Wiebe: next, next, next time I pound out a wheel bearing, I'll send you a picture of the pile of rust on the floor. actually do had a pile of rust on the floor today just from doing the, uh,
Frank Wiebe: the heck did we do the matter there's a pile of rust on the floor there always is it's unreal
emma wilson: Yeah, i I don't know if you guys saw my video of me pulling that wheel bearing out by hand, but that made a lot of people very upset.
Aniz Lavji: It's beautiful.
Frank Wiebe: that's that's just mean yeah don't don't do that that that upsets us it's it's rude it's it's not nice
Aniz Lavji: By hand?
Aniz Lavji: we What do you mean by hand? what What the hell does that mean?
emma wilson: Well, basically, i didn't I honestly didn't know it was that bad, but here, like wheel bearings, especially the ones that are like Nissan's are mainly the ones that are just, it's the hub and the wheel bearing all together.
Aniz Lavji: yeah, yeah, assembly.
emma wilson: And so usually when, once you take the bolts out of the back, it just falls out.
Frank Wiebe: bolted in yet.
emma wilson: And I didn't know that that was,
Aniz Lavji: I got
Frank Wiebe: Okay.
emma wilson: i'
Frank Wiebe: here Here's a good wheel bearing one. Have you ever done a wheel bearing on a Ford Explorer?
emma wilson: i have not.
Frank Wiebe: 2015 or something like that. So 2015 Ford Explorer. 10 years old. Okay. The first one we did, okay, the come to memory anyway, we did one about Four weeks ago. Here we go. There it is.
Aniz Lavji: the money.
emma wilson: Thank you.
Frank Wiebe: See? Seven minutes late.
Aniz Lavji: One more.
Frank Wiebe: I got adjust it every once while. I got tune it so that it keeps time.
Aniz Lavji: and
Frank Wiebe: Anyways, I'll just keep talking over it.
Aniz Lavji: eleven
Frank Wiebe: um ten years Ten years old.
Aniz Lavji: thank
Aniz Lavji: one more
Frank Wiebe: Well, 12 now, I guess. 2015 Ford Explorer. Front wheel bearing. It took us two hours of heat and air chisel and pounding to get this stupid wheel bearing up.
Frank Wiebe: Two hours.
Aniz Lavji: I would have given number for the records. would have been faster to get rid of the vehicle.
Frank Wiebe: Oh, we were at the point where we're like, this thing isn't coming out. We're just going to go buy a hub, whole knuckle assembly at the wreckers and do that.
Aniz Lavji: Buy a spindle.
Frank Wiebe: But I'm like, well, then we have to do it anyway. So anyway, we got that one changed and we're like, okay, this is stupid. So that same vehicle came back three weeks later for now a right rear wheel bearing.
Frank Wiebe: So we did the left front, now it was right rear.
Aniz Lavji: Yeah.
Frank Wiebe: And those things are the same wheel bearing front and rear, just like the old Montana or the whatever all-wheel drive Montanas used to be.
Aniz Lavji: Uplander.
Frank Wiebe: uplander yeah so well she doesn't know what uplander is because that was a canada only vehicle the pontiac montana anyways whatever um the so we decided you know screw this we're not going to pound on this thing for two hours so we took the whole knuckle off put it into my press i have a 40 ton press it took every ounce of effort that press had to pop that wheel bearing out of the spindle
Aniz Lavji: Oh, okay.
Frank Wiebe: That's how bad our rust and corrosion is.
emma wilson: um just I I can't even imagine. And honestly,
Frank Wiebe: Okay.
Aniz Lavji: Light a torch.
emma wilson: i
Frank Wiebe: And now now imagine a technician doing that flat rate.
emma wilson: i would be so mad all the time.
Frank Wiebe: so So you get a wheel bearing like that, that, you know, what do you get a wheel bearing 1.1 hours or something like that? And it takes you three hours to pound it out. And here you're doing it in 10 minutes.
emma wilson: Yeah, usually usually those wheel bearings take me about like...
Frank Wiebe: Right?
emma wilson: 30 minutes to do like in total, like start start to finish everything, like car on the rack, everything.
Frank Wiebe: yeah i i don't think i've ever done a single wheel bearing that i haven't had to at least whip a hammer out and give it a few smacks with a hammer
Aniz Lavji: yeah
emma wilson: Every once in a while, I'll have one that I have to hit. But for the most part, they usually just come off.
Frank Wiebe: even even um uh tasha that we had on our podcast i'll
Aniz Lavji: I have to hit with a fork.
Frank Wiebe: I don't know, four episodes ago or something like that. ah She works in Ohio or something like that. And if you watch some of her videos, she's smacking that wheel bearing too with the purse.
Frank Wiebe: I mean the hammer. Somebody gave her crap. So, oh, use a purse. So she put a hammer inside of a purse and did it that way.
emma wilson: Wow, yeah, I can't imagine.
Frank Wiebe: Oh, no. You have to experience so so So you have to come up here. Yeah, come up here for a visit.
Aniz Lavji: We'll put you to work on ah on a real well wheel bearing.
Frank Wiebe: we'll put your work on a wheel bearing that the yeah
Aniz Lavji: we we'll give her We'll give her like an old Subaru, like 2010 Subaru.
emma wilson: Yeah, I hear those are really bad.
Aniz Lavji: two thousand tenten subaru
Frank Wiebe: oh no you know what a Subaru where you have to replace those coolant lines that run up over top of the transmission and stuff like that and oh man there
emma wilson: Now, I will say, i don't you guys may also have this issue, but for some reason, down here in the South, we have a big issue with plastic and rubber.
emma wilson: like Just a few years is enough to like get get the the hose like completely stuck.
Frank Wiebe: Deteriorate, right?
emma wilson: And if you try to take it off, it's like,
Aniz Lavji: It falls apart.
Frank Wiebe: Yeah.
emma wilson: Anytime I do like a valve cover or anything like that, it has a PCV hose I just go ahead and quote the PCV hose.
Aniz Lavji: Yep.
Frank Wiebe: Yeah.
Frank Wiebe: Yeah. Yeah, we don't we don't have that so much.
Aniz Lavji: That's pretty much here. Any BMW that you work on over in Canada, if you have anything that you're working on that's got any type of rubber hose that you need to even like adjust or move more than like 0.01 millimeters, you better just order it because it's going fall apart in your hands.
emma wilson: yeah.
emma wilson: Yes, yes. And the the plastic connectors, and once it gets about 10 years old, it's just they just crumble.
Frank Wiebe: brittle yeah yeah we get a lot of that too um i may imagine it might not be as diff as bad here but we don't get a sunday
Aniz Lavji: Jeez.
emma wilson: i would assume it's mainly just like the heat cycles and stuff like that. Yeah.
Frank Wiebe: yeah so we get we get some severe heat and we get the severe cold so we're like cycling through all of it instead of just staying on the hot side all the time
Aniz Lavji: ah the
emma wilson: young
emma wilson: it I mean, it gets pretty cold here. it it got like 20 degrees this winter. And that was pretty bad.
Frank Wiebe: that's That's pretty cool.
Aniz Lavji: So you had to buy a sweater?
emma wilson: yeah It's funny because it's colder in North Carolina. So I had, and I love jackets.
Aniz Lavji: This season, North Carolina got hammered. like They were having a state of emergency situation going on.
emma wilson: Yes. Yes. I have a ton of jackets and I never use them here. It sucks.
Aniz Lavji: all the snow that came down, all the videos I'm seeing, Tanika's got people outside shoveling the snow and it's just like a big ordeal and we're sitting here and like, eh.
Frank Wiebe: Yeah.
emma wilson: Wow, we even got snow here like two or three times, which is like Georgia never gets snow. And if it basically shuts us down, yes, because we don't have salt.
Aniz Lavji: It basically shut everything down, right? If it snows there.
emma wilson: If it's going to ice, we put sand down.
Frank Wiebe: Yep.
emma wilson: And we're basically like, okay, this is going to melt in like a day or two anyway.
Aniz Lavji: Yep.
emma wilson: So let's not risk anybody's lives because we don't know how to drive in this.
Aniz Lavji: Snow day.
emma wilson: And let's just shut everything down.
Aniz Lavji: Yeah.
Aniz Lavji: Oh, man.
Frank Wiebe: Oh, here we just throw some snow tires on and and go.
Aniz Lavji: Away she goes.
Frank Wiebe: Snow tires and all-wheel drive and off we go.
emma wilson: Ugh, I hate being cold so much.
Aniz Lavji: the The only time that i I'm not going to work is if the snow is higher than my car.
Aniz Lavji: Other than that, nope, um I'm going to try.
Frank Wiebe: yeah. Around here, snow doesn't stop us.
emma wilson: That's crazy.
Frank Wiebe: it i don't I've never... Okay, the one time I drove in the snow, it was so bad. It was such a bad snowstorm, and I was like determined I needed to go to the auto wrecker to get some parts.
Frank Wiebe: And I drove there in this little temple, and it was sketchy as all get out. And I get there, and it's closed. And I'm like, what the heck?
emma wilson: Bruh.
Aniz Lavji: They're not crazy like you, Frank.
Frank Wiebe: I'm like, where is everybody?
Aniz Lavji: the tempo
Frank Wiebe: Well, then have to drive home. was so disappointed.
Aniz Lavji: With no parts. With no parts.
Frank Wiebe: No parts. oh man
Aniz Lavji: Emma,
Frank Wiebe: Oh, Snow doesn't keep us home very easily.
Aniz Lavji: are you dealing with a lot of pattern failure at at Nissan? Like, are you you getting a lot of those jobs where you basically you see the r RO, what's going on with a customer complaint, and you're like, yep, I know exactly where to look for for this.
Frank Wiebe: Yeah.
emma wilson: Yes, I would say, honestly, that's a big thing for Nissan. they're They're really reliable, but almost every car has like a few set of issues that are like, they all do it.
emma wilson: So it's it's mostly stuff like that for me.
Aniz Lavji: How many aftermarket mass airflow sensors have you taken off Nissan Sentra's this week?
emma wilson: i I'm going to be honest with you. We've gotten to the point down here where we we just don't do aftermarket anymore. it's it's just It's just so bad.
Aniz Lavji: You probably get people bringing them in, though, that have actually replaced them with a random, and then you just take it off and you put the Nissan one and stuff.
emma wilson: Yes. As soon as I pop that hood and i see and i don't see the Nissan or the Bosch or whatever logo on that math sensor, I'm like, okay, I'm just going to quote an OEM.
Aniz Lavji: Yep.
emma wilson: Okay.
Aniz Lavji: yep
Frank Wiebe: Yeah, we're getting to that point too. Some of the aftermarket has gotten so terrible. Yeah.
emma wilson: So bad.
Aniz Lavji: Yeah, with the Kia and Hyundai, like ah with O2 sensors, I don't even bother trying to put a NGK or whatever on there. I just quote the OEM one. And when they ask, why is it so expensive?
Aniz Lavji: I'm like, call Hyundai or Kia. I mean, this is their part.
emma wilson: This is the only one that is going to work at this point yeah.
Aniz Lavji: Yeah.
Frank Wiebe: i hu I had a Subaru that did that. i i I often put the NGK sensors in. did it in a Subaru, and it kept having a random engine light come on, and it come up for a heater circuit error. And I'm like, that's the same sensor that I put in, and I know the heater circuit. like I know that the circuit beforehand is good.
Aniz Lavji: Mm-hmm.
Frank Wiebe: So I actually used the scope, the Pico, well, I'll tell, a lab scope, to prove that the amperage draw was... different between the aftermarket and the OEM.
Frank Wiebe: So finally, um'm like I kind of assumed that's what it was. So I said, let's order an OEM one. And then before I changed it out, I did my test before and after. And there was a significant difference in the amperage draw. And I'm like, so so we tried, like we had bought it from Napa and we wanted to get warranty from Napa because of this part that was inadequate.
Frank Wiebe: Man, they fought us like crazy. They're like, well, what why did they...
Aniz Lavji: You've already installed it
Frank Wiebe: why Why are you calling? like What's going on? so we're We're sending them all this documentation and they're like, oh, well, that's not good enough. I'm like, okay, well, screw you. We're just not going to put your parts on anymore.
Aniz Lavji: Yeah.
Frank Wiebe: it was it was It was so frustrating, but it it reminded me like, okay, well, some of these things just aren't going to get aftermarket parts anymore.
Aniz Lavji: Yeah.
emma wilson: yeah
Frank Wiebe: it's just It just isn't worth it. the The time that it's
Aniz Lavji: but Mass airflow sensors and o two sensors, I don't screw around with that anymore. i've I've done my time with you know trying to save the customer a few bucks by putting aftermarket, but then all you're doing is you're frustrating yourself and the customer because they have to take time off work, come back, oh, you know, the shop, I have to go back to the shop because my light came back on.
Frank Wiebe: Mm-hmm.
Aniz Lavji: And then now they want more money because they're saying it needs a different part. So, you know, they're just going more pissed off. But if you would have just given them the price for the OEM part from the beginning, yep, it's a higher price, but this is what it is. If you want to do it, you can take it somewhere else and then you can play the game at another shop, right?
emma wilson: Yeah, it gets to a point I end up telling the service advisors, I'm like, look, if they want the aftermarket one, it's going to be just as expensive because I'm going to have to replace it probably two or three times.
Aniz Lavji: Yeah.
emma wilson: And then they're going to end up getting the OEM one anyway.
Aniz Lavji: yeah
emma wilson: So my service manager was like, we're not, there's some things you can do aftermarket, but
Frank Wiebe: I work.
Frank Wiebe: Yeah. As long as, you know, if they're on board with you.
Aniz Lavji: Mm-hmm.
Frank Wiebe: I worked for a guy one time and he he said one time, he's like, I'm done trying to save the customer money. and And it didn't make sense to me. I'm like, why why are you being why are you being so stupid? Like, why are you being so selfish and not trying to help the customer out?
Frank Wiebe: And now, years later, i understand why he said that. Because it's like, at some point, you just have to be like, you know what, this is what it is. This is the car that you chose to drive.
Frank Wiebe: And this is what it's going to cost to fix it. Do you want fixed or not? And yeah.
Aniz Lavji: They we have to understand that this is their car. We are there to fix their car. Like it's, it's your issue
Frank Wiebe: Yeah, we made the decision with suspension parts years ago. We were putting it like... Mevo tech and, and even the, the TTX from Napa and stuff like that on.
Frank Wiebe: And we just kept having failure after failure fight. Now we put either, unless it's dealer stuff, which we don't do very often, but every suspension part has to be moved either Moog or the car quest premium is like the only thing that is proven to actually hold test of time.
Aniz Lavji: Yeah.
Frank Wiebe: And we just won't. So if customers like, oh no, I just want a cheap control arm.
Aniz Lavji: Yeah.
Frank Wiebe: sorry, that's not happening here. we We will not do it because you put a cheap control arm on and you go and do an alignment. And then six months later, that control arm is wore out and you got to do it again.
Aniz Lavji: Yep.
Frank Wiebe: Now you got to pay for another alignment plus maybe a tire that wore off. So it's not happening.
Aniz Lavji: Yep. Nah, it's not working.
Frank Wiebe: So yeah, you live and learn.
Aniz Lavji: Yeah.
Frank Wiebe: But once you, once you make those choices, you make that decision, then you just move forward and you say, i I'm not doing that anymore.
emma wilson: Yeah.
emma wilson: It's funny you mentioned the suspension too, because, you know, every now and then I'll do like, actually i was working on that 2010 Pathfinder and I did ah upper control arms. And for whatever reason, one of them was back ordered from Nissan. So we ended up just getting an aftermarket one and it was nice. We use O'Reilly a lot.
emma wilson: um It was like their import direct brand or whatever. But yeah, it just sometimes it like they just don't fit right like the nissan one just goes like right in and you put the bolts in but the import direct one was like i had to kind of bend it and like hit it in and i was it's like it just doesn't i don't know it's just not the same
Aniz Lavji: Yeah.
Aniz Lavji: Make it fit.
Aniz Lavji: No, we've been having trouble with a lot of AC Delco from APC lately. The last couple of control arms we've we've done, we've <unk>ve installed it, torqued the bolts and everything. And then a week or two later, a customer come in with front end noise and we'll put it back up and You know, we got a bolt that's not as tight as before. We're like, what the heck is this?
Aniz Lavji: And then we'll retorque it and then it's done. But why should we have to do that a second time?
emma wilson: Yeah, that's weird.
Aniz Lavji: You know what I mean?
Frank Wiebe: Yeah, because something something is settling and his get and has to give, and it it shouldn't be that way, right?
Aniz Lavji: Yeah.
emma wilson: Yeah.
Aniz Lavji: But then after you do it the second time, then it's done. You never see the car again. But, you know, it it makes you think, you know, you you save the $67 by, and AC Delco is not like a cheap part.
emma wilson: Yeah.
Aniz Lavji: It should be a good brand. But by saving the 60, 70 bucks, you know, what's the point?
emma wilson: Yeah.
Aniz Lavji: You're wasting your own time.
emma wilson: When they come back like that it's like you're using your time your money your efforts and the customer is also like okay they just worked on my car and now it's you know.
Aniz Lavji: Yeah.
Aniz Lavji: Yeah.
Frank Wiebe: Yeah, customer satisfaction is all our business, right? So if we don't have that, then we got a problem.
Aniz Lavji: No.
Aniz Lavji: No. And you know, we, that's why we try to stay in our lane.
emma wilson: yeah I hate when cars come back.
Aniz Lavji: We work on certain vehicles. We don't, you know, pull in Audis or BMWs for timing jobs and massive oil leaks and stuff. It's just not something we do at our shop.
Aniz Lavji: Again, if I had a tech that specialized in it, then sure we dabble in it, but you know, I I'm just not comfortable with doing those kinds of jobs that are, going to potentially open up a can of worms and having cars stuck on the hoist.
Frank Wiebe: what wait yeah if you want to get good at oil leaks what you have to do is you have to start buying some chevy cruises yeah you can't have a podcast with without putting a chevy cruise in there somewhere because then you'll learn how to fix
Aniz Lavji: Oh my God.
emma wilson: I
Aniz Lavji: I already knew this was going to happen, Frank.
emma wilson: i hate those things. Every Chevy, so every Chevy sedan, every Ford sedan, any, any GM, Ford sedan, send them all to the junkyard.
Aniz Lavji: Thank you.
emma wilson: They all suck. I hate them all. They're pieces of crap. I would tell you, i I see so many of them because, you know, we sell them used and stuff like that.
emma wilson: And they all come back.
Aniz Lavji: Yeah.
emma wilson: They're all blowing up camshafts and have these terrible oil leaks. And I'm like, what? They are so bad.
Frank Wiebe: They didn't build them very good at all, but they're to make good money, so keep sending them.
emma wilson: hate them.
Aniz Lavji: The Ford Fusion is not so bad.
emma wilson: No.
Aniz Lavji: The newer ones, Ford Fusions are not so bad. We sold that we saw quite a few of those and have done pretty well with those.
emma wilson: Ugh, I hate them.
Frank Wiebe: there's You know what? You'll always have a car. you You say you hate the the Chevy Cruze. My sister had a Chevy Cruze for like 10 years and beat the heck out of it and changed the oil whenever she remembered.
Frank Wiebe: And the original turbo, the original engine, and the original transmission.
Aniz Lavji: You know what?
Frank Wiebe: And wow.
emma wilson: is I can't believe it. I genuinely can't.
Aniz Lavji: But but a lot of the stuff, Frank,
Frank Wiebe: right like how right i think i did i think i did two water pumps on it and a couple of the other like the coolant tank or something like that never even the oil cooler or anything and i'm like how and then the other system what's that my sister
Aniz Lavji: it's also the way that people drive.
emma wilson: How?
Aniz Lavji: So if if who was driving it, you said, Frank? Who was driving that car? So if your sister may drive the vehicle in such a way that other people are not driving it, okay?
Aniz Lavji: Because that makes a difference. Whether she changes the oil, whatever she thinks of it or not, but she may not be pushing the car and driving the crap out of it.
Frank Wiebe: Oh, no. No, not true. No, not true. She beat the crap out of it. She's hard on a car.
Aniz Lavji: Then she's driving it the right way.
emma wilson: cars just It's like a sob.
Frank Wiebe: ah now
Aniz Lavji: Maybe the other, everyone else driving it wrong.
Frank Wiebe: And now she drives now she drives a Ford Escape with, ah I think, ah the 1.5 liter.
Aniz Lavji: Oh,
Frank Wiebe: So she's in for hurting there.
Aniz Lavji: geez.
Aniz Lavji: So maybe everyone needs to drive like your sister and then they won't have as many repairs.
emma wilson: It's...
Frank Wiebe: Yeah, maybe. You get lucky with Chevy Cruze.
emma wilson: Some cars are just so hit or miss. Like the Nissan Juke. I was just working on one today with 250,000 miles on it. And I feel like it's either one or the other with those.
emma wilson: It's like either they're blown up and done at 50,000 miles or they reach like 300,000 miles and you're like, this thing is a piece of crap. Why is it still running?
Aniz Lavji: Let's first talk.
Frank Wiebe: Is Juke the one with the eyeball?
Aniz Lavji: Yeah. Yeah.
Frank Wiebe: So my wife said the other day, my wife seen one the other day.
emma wilson: Yeah, it's like,
Frank Wiebe: She's like oh that's a cute little car. And I'm like, are you serious?
Aniz Lavji: Yeah, let's talk about the fact that they made a Nismo edition juke.
emma wilson: I,
emma wilson: yes.
Aniz Lavji: Okay, let's just get that out in the open.
emma wilson: And there's actually a couple people in my town that have them.
Frank Wiebe: It's a what now?
Aniz Lavji: Like Nismo edition, like a racing special edition. They basically took a turn and wrapped it and put a bow tie on it.
Frank Wiebe: Oh my gosh. is that Is that like what Toyota did with the little Matrix and they and they made the Matrix XR whatever it was? and
Aniz Lavji: You mean Pontiac Vibe.
emma wilson: yeah
Frank Wiebe: Yeah, but they also made a Toyota Matrix XR or something like that and it was supposed to be their week racing edition.
Aniz Lavji: XRS.
Frank Wiebe: Oh my gosh.
Aniz Lavji: Oh, that that is going to be... oh my gosh, what is it? Toyota Racing... TRD.
Frank Wiebe: Yeah.
Aniz Lavji: TRD.
Frank Wiebe: Yeah.
emma wilson: TRD matrix.
Aniz Lavji: Toyota Racing Development Edition. Because everybody wants to race a freaking Chevy... Oh my God.
Frank Wiebe: yeah now they now they put the now they put the tea Yeah, now they put the TRD on everything.
Aniz Lavji: You almost heard me saying Santa Cruz.
Frank Wiebe: Like our our lawyer, he's got a Toyota Tacoma with TRD on it. Like that's not a freaking race.
Aniz Lavji: Well, he's probably be running away from someone because he charged him too much. That's why.
Frank Wiebe: Yeah, he's running over people.
Aniz Lavji: He needs to race away.
emma wilson: Yeah, he needs he needs the racing version.
Aniz Lavji: He needs a Toyota racing development.
Frank Wiebe: Yeah. Yeah. I wanted to tell, or I wanted you, Emma, to tell the story of how we met because i was just looking it up and i commented on a video that you made you remember the video what which one it was about the speed sensor
emma wilson: Oh, yeah, yeah, I do remember that, yes.
Frank Wiebe: yeah so So that it were it reminded me of ah of ah of a repair that I had where it was like two different speed sensors because two different size tires.
Frank Wiebe: So Anise is a tire guy, and he would understand.
emma wilson: Mm-hmm.
Frank Wiebe: And and these Nissan, this one that i had had, he put his winter tires on, and they were one size different front and rear.
Aniz Lavji: Mm-hmm.
Frank Wiebe: And it was it was so far off. that the transmission was slipping and like the CVT wouldn't wouldn't shift. It literally went into limp mode. He's like, if you were drove drove it real gently, it was fine. It worked 100% perfect.
Frank Wiebe: But you throttle it one time and it just went in a complete limp. And and he's like, oh, there's something wrong with it. Speed sensor codes all day long. So when Emma posted a video of something very similar, ah you were in your kitchen or something, you were just telling the story. And I'm like, man, I know exactly what you're talking about.
Aniz Lavji: yep
Frank Wiebe: It was so cool. So I commented on her on her video. And what what was your reply? She's like, oh, that's cool. then what did you say? Oh, has anyone ever told you you look like?
emma wilson: Oh yes, you did me. So when I saw his profile picture, I did a double take because his profile picture looks just like Nico Hulkenberg, the Formula One driver.
Frank Wiebe: And I'm like, I don't know who that is.
Aniz Lavji: Now I need to look it up. I have a whole bunch of
emma wilson: I'm surprised because you guys have a... Okay, how far is Montreal?
Aniz Lavji: I have a whole bunch of Formula One stuff.
Frank Wiebe: Yeah.
Frank Wiebe: So that that's Nico.
Aniz Lavji: I
emma wilson: Isn't that... Doesn't that look...
Frank Wiebe: So I had ChatGPT make that comparison.
emma wilson: Aren't they kind of similar?
Frank Wiebe: And you're like, oh, yeah, that looks just like me.
emma wilson: With the eyes and yeah.
Aniz Lavji: mean, yeah, Frank.
Frank Wiebe: The face structure, everything. Yeah.
Aniz Lavji: Weird.
Frank Wiebe: I'm like, that was the coolest thing because because i've I've had quite a few different lookalikes that people have said. And that was the first one. I thought, you know, that's probably the closest one to any of them.
Aniz Lavji: If you shave your beard and your mustache completely off, that would be interesting.
Frank Wiebe: That, that i've had I've had the dude from Shameless.
emma wilson: Yes.
Frank Wiebe: um
Frank Wiebe: The mechanic on Shameless, whatever his name is. I never watched the show, but Brad.
Aniz Lavji: know
Frank Wiebe: That was it. Brad on Shameless. So if you look that up, I've had that guy. um Huh?
Aniz Lavji: Wolverine, maybe. Wolverine?
Frank Wiebe: No, not Wolverine.
Aniz Lavji: don't know.
Frank Wiebe: Gordon Ramsay. I've had Gordon Ramsay.
Aniz Lavji: Gordon Ramsay asked me that, yeah.
Frank Wiebe: And... and
emma wilson: Okay, let's do that a little bit.
Frank Wiebe: Yeah, and then ah there was – what the heck was this other one? Oh, there was a a soccer player. I was – randomly, when when I went to get my hair cut one day, and there was a guy sitting there, and he's like, he like you look like such and such.
Frank Wiebe: And I'm like, who the heck is that? And it was some soccer player from Europe. And I'm like, cool, I guess I guess have that face.
emma wilson: Okay.
Frank Wiebe: but But anyway, I thought that was so funny. I wanted to share that because – whoever this Nico guy is. So for all your Formula One guys, um yeah, I do that on the weekends.
Aniz Lavji: Yeah, seriously.
emma wilson: I'm surprised you guys, because you guys have a track in Canada that's in Montreal. How far away is that from y'all?
Aniz Lavji: Five, six hours.
emma wilson: Oh, okay.
Frank Wiebe: And ah for me, it's like eight hours, but you have to think it's eight hours with Toronto in between that. And and driving through Toronto is like,
emma wilson: Probably like driving through Atlanta.
Aniz Lavji: It's like driving from San Antonio and trying to go north, but you have to get through Texarkana, and that'll take you you, know, like a day.
Frank Wiebe: no
Aniz Lavji: Yeah, it's kind of like that.
Frank Wiebe: ah it's it's It's the worst traffic ever. It's it's horrendous.
Aniz Lavji: the disaster traffic.
Frank Wiebe: you know what When we say eight hours and then it ends up being like 12 or something like that because you're sitting in traffic. Chicago, that's what I was thinking of. Somebody says, compare it to Chicago.
Aniz Lavji: Or if you have to, by mistake, take a detour through Brampton or something, you might...
Frank Wiebe: Oh, my gosh.
Aniz Lavji: You don't even go there.
Frank Wiebe: But, um yeah, so I don't i don't know. So you said there's a track Montreal. So that's probably where a guy i used to work with, his brother, went to work for Formula One for a few years.
Frank Wiebe: And that's probably where he went to work.
Aniz Lavji: Well, they do the Honda Indy as well in Toronto, right?
Frank Wiebe: don't know.
emma wilson: Yeah, i'm I'm sure they do a lot of... There's probably a lot of different races at that track. It's ah it's a nice track. I think... ah I don't know Formula 2 races there, but yeah I'm sure there's all kinds of motorsport that race there.
Aniz Lavji: There's a formula too?
Frank Wiebe: Yeah, well, there'd be Formula 1. There's probably a Formula 2.
emma wilson: yeah I think it goes all the way up to 4, and then you start to kind of break off. There's like... um It's like Italian Formula 4 or, you know, whatever. It starts to break off by countries. It it just kind of like all starts moving in.
emma wilson: It goes up and eventually there's Formula 1.
Aniz Lavji: Oh.
Frank Wiebe: Like the only thing that I know, and I don't know squad about racing, but I do know that at Fanshawe college, they have a program where they build a race car, um, in, in, in one of the terms of one of the years. So I think it's in third year. Um, you can join the group that actually builds like engineers and builds a race car and they actually go race it.
Frank Wiebe: And, and, When I was touring there the last time, I thought I seen it look like what would look like a Formula One car.
Aniz Lavji: Wow.
emma wilson: That's pretty cool.
Frank Wiebe: Yeah. ah I'll see if i can ah'll see if I can find that information. I'll send it to you. It's kind of neat, but yeah.
Aniz Lavji: It's still taking two years to get in the program.
Frank Wiebe: Oh, probably, yeah. and and And the program itself, like it's not part of the actual apprenticeship program. it's ah It's an extracurricular program that you'd have to sign up for.
Aniz Lavji: Yeah.
Frank Wiebe: And when my son went there for mechanical engineering, that was one of the things that he looked at. That's that's why it was there. Because we toured that during the engineering tour. And um um he could have he could have joined that team just by being a mechanical engineer and not being in the automotive side at all.
Aniz Lavji: Yeah.
Frank Wiebe: um But he chose not to. Yeah. But it was really cool because because they say that they actually build a car. Now, you would be on the team.
Aniz Lavji: Mm-hmm.
Frank Wiebe: Like, it takes so many years that they would build this car. So, you your group might never get out to the race, but you were part of the team building it for so many years or something like that. Yeah, I thought it was really neat that they did that.
Frank Wiebe: Sure as heck wasn't there when I was there. Yeah.
emma wilson: Yeah, that's actually really interesting.
Aniz Lavji: It's good opportunity for for the population that's actually going to that school.
Frank Wiebe: Yeah.
Aniz Lavji: Being able to have that experience, that's pretty cool.
Frank Wiebe: ye
emma wilson: Yeah. And it would probably, I mean, if you wanted to do something with motorsport, that would get your foot in the door. I thought it would be cool, you know, but I just, I really don't like to travel.
Aniz Lavji: Definitely.
emma wilson: So I don't think I can do it.
Frank Wiebe: Yeah. You would have to. Yeah. the I had ah had a young girl working for me for a summer and she also went to I think she went to Conestoga for ah mechanical engineer and her dream job is to be on the Formula One team.
Frank Wiebe: So that's what she's working towards. And I'm like, good for you, but you ain't going to learn that here because I don't, I'm not a race car guy. I'm not a performance guy at all.
emma wilson: Yeah.
Frank Wiebe: But that's a fantastic and it was a great stepping stone for her just to get into the automotive field just to see what it feels like.
emma wilson: Yeah.
Frank Wiebe: Then she went off to school to become a mechanical engineer.
emma wilson: The basics down.
Frank Wiebe: So she's since done school. I don't know where she's at right now, but but I think it's pretty cool that she's got that goal to get towards it and be on the formula team.
emma wilson: I kind of, I don't know if you guys are on like LinkedIn or anything like that, but whenever Cadillac, you know, Cadillac has a Formula One team and a lot of their operations are based kind of in the South, like ah South Carolina, North Carolina.
Aniz Lavji: cool.
Aniz Lavji: Yeah, yeah.
emma wilson: So on my LinkedIn, I did see some like job openings for, you know, positions on the team and stuff like that.
Aniz Lavji: Oh, wow.
emma wilson: um ah Obviously mechanic, you know, stuff like that. But you do kind of have to have like, um background and like go-kart, like go-kart mechanics is usually like that's where you start and then you kind of move up because that's where the drivers start.
Aniz Lavji: Yeah.
Frank Wiebe: oh really yeah
Aniz Lavji: This.
Aniz Lavji: Emma, going back to for Nissan, did you start off at Nissan or were you working working at any independents before that?
emma wilson: Yep, I started at Nissan um when we, so I graduated college the summer 23. And then right after I graduated, I moved here to Georgia with my family. They were already here.
Aniz Lavji: Okay.
emma wilson: I finished off college and then and then moved here with them. um And then I took a few months off and then I started working at Nissan. So that, yeah, I,
Aniz Lavji: So you've been there for your whole career so far.
emma wilson: I started off as a Lubtec and yeah, that's been my my whole career with Nissan so far.
Frank Wiebe: Oh, that's really cool.
Aniz Lavji: Working flat rate?
emma wilson: Yeah, I am on flat rate. I have been on flat rate for a little over a year now, I think. So yeah.
Aniz Lavji: How do you like it?
emma wilson: um I do pretty well.
Frank Wiebe: Well, when wheel bearings come out easy, you can't not like it.
emma wilson: yeah
Aniz Lavji: minutes and 30 minutes, oh my God.
emma wilson: i've I'm in a good position in the shop where I'm like, I am, you know, experienced enough that they trust me with diagnosis and with some bigger jobs, but they also throw me a lot of, you know, just light maintenance and stuff like that.
Frank Wiebe: Thank
Aniz Lavji: OK.
emma wilson: So I do pretty well. It's kind of interesting. We were talking about this before we got started about, you know, the apprenticeship programs that you guys have there and, you know, how it's like four years and,
Aniz Lavji: Yep.
Aniz Lavji: Yep.
emma wilson: um i I think that probably would have been nice because I really was only, i was a technician for less than a year before I got put on flat rate. And um so I think, you know, being in that kind of apprenticeship position would have given me more opportunities just kind of slow down and learn things.
Aniz Lavji: Okay.
Frank Wiebe: Thank you.
emma wilson: As opposed to just being like, okay, how can I get this done as soon as possible so I can lose as least month as least money as possible?
Aniz Lavji: Yeah.
Aniz Lavji: Yeah. I can do as fast as possible and hopefully not make a mistake so you can move on to the next job to make your hours.
emma wilson: Yep.
Aniz Lavji: Yeah.
emma wilson: i I don't know how you guys feel about it, but I do... I really don't like flat rate. i I can, you know, I'm doing just fine on it. But i I think just as a...
Aniz Lavji: Yeah. Yeah.
emma wilson: principle, you know, just for repairs and stuff like that and quality of repairs and customer satisfaction, I don't think it works very well.
emma wilson: Because even like, even me, I'm very detail oriented. It's very easy to forget something, especially if you're doing like a really big job. And when you're just trying to, you know, hurry, hurry, hurry, I got to get it done in this time.
emma wilson: i'm already behind. I should be halfway done by now.
Aniz Lavji: Yep.
emma wilson: And I just feel like it leads to
Aniz Lavji: oh You're constantly looking at their watch and looking at the clock and like it's a three-hour job.
emma wilson: Yeah.
Aniz Lavji: You're two and a half hours in and you feel like you have an hour left. That's when mistakes start to happen because you're like, crap, I got really get through this because if I didn't finish this on time, I can shove this out the door and there's a really juicy ticket that I might get and make some good time on it.
emma wilson: Yeah.
Aniz Lavji: But unfortunately, yeah, that's where mistakes happen.
emma wilson: And then it ends up coming back, which I can't stand when things come back. I try to avoid that as much as possible. But
Aniz Lavji: Yep. Can't help it sometimes. like it It's just the name of the game was fly right sometimes.
emma wilson: But like today, for instance, on the schedule, I had four diagnosis and that was it. So that's four hours. And they filled up the whole day because, you know, I don't I don't know everything.
Frank Wiebe: You sell the job.
emma wilson: you know, i I need help with some things and, you know, some things are difficult to figure out.
Frank Wiebe: Oh, yeah. Yeah.
Aniz Lavji: Yeah.
emma wilson: You're doing an EVAP diagnosis. So you got to scan it and figure out. We know what kind of code it is. And then you got to bring out the smoke machine and hook it all up and do all that.
emma wilson: It just takes time. It just is what it is.
Aniz Lavji: Yeah.
Frank Wiebe: And if you're working like when you're working at a dealership, it's one thing. Most vehicles are the same. But when you're working in an independent shop, every single vehicle does the EVAP just a little bit differently.
Frank Wiebe: So now you'd have to learn how every single system works.
emma wilson: Yeah.
Frank Wiebe: it was like, oh, man, like I've never eat tested EVAP on one of these before. So then it makes it even harder. I never had the pleasure of working flat rate.
emma wilson: He is.
Frank Wiebe: So I don't know the stress that that is. But I do know the stress of like not knowing how to diagnose something because it's been your first time. and And sometimes it takes like freaking eight hours to figure something out.
emma wilson: Yeah.
Aniz Lavji: yeah
Frank Wiebe: But.
Aniz Lavji: right That's not a good feeling, you know?
emma wilson: Luckily, you know, luckily I'm in a position where, you know, I don't have a family to provide for. um You know, i live with my parents, you know, they feed me. So I'm not, you know, there's nothing on the line. Like my coworkers that have three kids and a wife that doesn't work and, you know, how they do today might depend on if they get to eat or not. And i just, I don't know how they do it.
Frank Wiebe: Yeah, that's that's really tough like that.
emma wilson: And it makes me feel bad too, because I'm over here, you know, doing all this work and I'm doing pretty good. And, you know, they're more experienced. So they might, they might get dealt some crappy cards this week and they don't get paid very well.
emma wilson: And, you know, they got people depending on them.
Aniz Lavji: Yeah.
Aniz Lavji: It's really difficult when you, because again, you know, everyone's got feelings and you start thinking about these things and it'll affect your own mood too. And you know, might put you into a funk too, right? Cause you may be, yeah, like you said, you might get a whole bunch of good, good jobs you look over on the other side and the other team members get, could be getting fed a whole bunch of crappy jobs in that one week. And, you know, you feel bad for making, you know, 46 hours and yeah the other person maybe barely hit 25 or 32. Right.
emma wilson: Yeah.
Aniz Lavji: So how's the culture at your place you're at right now?
emma wilson: Really good. um
Aniz Lavji: Yeah.
emma wilson: You know, management is always...
Frank Wiebe: I'm sorry.
Aniz Lavji: going be management.
emma wilson: You know, it can never be perfect. But as far as my coworkers and stuff like that, um i I really couldn't ask for better.
Aniz Lavji: Yeah.
emma wilson: They are really awesome, very helpful.
Aniz Lavji: That's good.
emma wilson: um i'm I'm always willing to help them, of course, but I don't know very much and they're always willing to help.
Aniz Lavji: Yep.
emma wilson: And I'm also not very strong. So they're always willing to help me if I need something, you know, broken loose or something, a car pushed in or something. um Yeah, really. And I work very closely with our master tech um in the shop too.
emma wilson: He's been in the industry for a long time and he has a lot of knowledge. So I try to stay as close to him as I possibly can. But um yeah, it's it's really good.
Aniz Lavji: That's great.
Aniz Lavji: It's nice having people you can depend on, right? If you need a hand to
Frank Wiebe: Yeah, it's amazing having someone in ah that a senior tech like that, that actually take someone young under their wing and be like, hey, this is what I've learned and don't do it this way and do it this way and really give you a hand up that way.
emma wilson: Yes, it it honestly is very rare, but he's very helpful. to He does a lot. He's also the shop foreman. um So he has a lot on his plate, but you know he'll stop and help anybody, and it's it's really a blessing.
Frank Wiebe: It's amazing.
Aniz Lavji: It's nice having someone that you can depend on and you know mentor you through some jobs and give you the proper advice, right? Because, again, a lot of times in this environment when you're working flat rate, you may not get – I mean, you're lucky, but there are definitely some other techs that have other people in the shop that are working flat rate that wouldn't even lift a finger to help them.
Aniz Lavji: And it's it's sad, but it's really nice to see that –
emma wilson: Yes.
Aniz Lavji: You know, your coworkers are all working together. And at the end of the day, you're working side by side. One person needs help. Another person needs help. If you all work together, really get a lot more work done and just keep, just keep the culture, you know, out of 10, really.
emma wilson: Yes.
Aniz Lavji: It makes a huge difference on everyone that's working day in, day out.
Frank Wiebe: Yes.
emma wilson: People ask me a lot, you know, like, why why don't you...
Aniz Lavji: Yeah.
emma wilson: Because I live like a 45 to an hour drive away from some bigger cities with big Nissan dealerships.
Aniz Lavji: Yep.
emma wilson: And a lot of people ask me, like, why don't you go there?
Aniz Lavji: yeah
emma wilson: There would be more money. You would get paid better. You know, you would get your own area. You might... Because I only have one bay. You might get two bays and have your own, you know, laptop and everything like that.
emma wilson: I'm like, honestly... At this point, at the stage that I am at in my career where I really don't know anything at all, and I'm just trying to figure everything out, I would much prefer to, you know, be in a tight-knit group where we all help each other and bounce off of each other and, you know.
Aniz Lavji: You're learning too, right? You get the time to learn because you're not bombarded with 70 jobs that may may, they may not even pay but properly 70 jobs.
emma wilson: Yeah. Yeah.
Aniz Lavji: And then if you have a question, you may not even have time to ask that senior tech a question because you got so much stuff piled up on your plate. So this is giving you the opportunity from what it seems, correct me if I'm wrong, that you're able to actually take that time to repair the vehicle correctly. And if there's something that you're not sure about, you're given the time to ask a question.
emma wilson: yeah
Aniz Lavji: And sometimes that one question that you asked is the the golden nugget between you fixing the car and it becoming a comeback.
emma wilson: yes
Frank Wiebe: Yeah. We've all had we all had someone in our life that that we learned from. it if we didn't have that, we would like if I didn't have the guy I had, I wouldn't be where I am today. So that that you have that guy that he's willing to take that time to teach you like that, it's it's phenomenal.
Frank Wiebe: It's phenomenal. and And learn everything you can from him. And even when he doesn't want to teach and you're just doing something, just keep peeking over, see what he's doing, because you might he might have this tiny little trick that,
Frank Wiebe: he won't say out loud or something like that. And you just pick up on it. Like, oh, now I have that little nugget in my head too.
Aniz Lavji: If you can pick up one golden nugget a week, you're winning.
Frank Wiebe: Yep. That's right.
emma wilson: Yes.
Frank Wiebe: Yep.
Aniz Lavji: But... am I'm not going to take any more of both of your time. I think we'll probably call it a night. It's getting a bit late, but Emma, we really, really appreciate you taking the time to talk with us tonight. I know it's extremely late but really appreciate it. And Frank, thank you for finding Emma.
Frank Wiebe: it was It was great.
Aniz Lavji: You're always doing a good job finding us awesome guests.
Frank Wiebe: I do what I can.
emma wilson: Yeah, thanks for having me on, guys. This was really fun. it's It's good to, you know, make connections and just talk to some other people. You know, this is a small town. I don't really have many friends, so it's good to talk to people.
Frank Wiebe: Yeah, well...
Aniz Lavji: Well, you've got, you have two friends right here. and when you come to ASDA, we'll make sure that you leave with another 300. So. In, in North.
Frank Wiebe: the the connection The connections don't stop here. I've got i've got lots of contacts. i can I can point you in the direction of a lot of people, especially Anis knows a lot of people in...
Aniz Lavji: in in north
Frank Wiebe: He knows more people in the U.S. than I do, but I'm learning. I really network out a lot this year, and so if...
Aniz Lavji: Like I said, if you ever want to go back to North Carolina, I just need to basically send one message.
Frank Wiebe: for
Aniz Lavji: And yeah, you'd have ah you'd have a lot of people trying to interview you right away.
Frank Wiebe: But yeah.
emma wilson: That's awesome.
Aniz Lavji: but But yeah, just hang on the line here. But thank you, everyone, for listening tonight. You'll be able to see this on Spotify, Apple Podcasts. We'll have the video eventually when I finally upload it on the YouTube as well. ah You can follow us on Facebook at the Shop and Tread Talk podcast.
Aniz Lavji: Thank you, everyone. And again, thank you, Frank and Emma, for chatting with us tonight. And until next time.
Frank Wiebe: It was a pleasure.
