So whos got plans to leave Michigan?

82hatch said:
Can't be any more expensive on oil or Filters. I don't even buy them from work-I can get them cheaper almost anywhere else. :lol: We get a lot of people driving to my store from Detroit because we're cheaper than the store in the city. ;)
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We are in the southwest corner of Detroit... There is one store north of us that is suicidal in pricing...
 
Its hard to relocate to a place you dont have a couple friends and family memebers in.

I know a a guy that went to AZ he says its hot like Somalia in the summer but the winters are nice.
 
82hatch said:
I know the parts stores are doing well just because people have to fix what they have to get to work-they don't have $$ to buy a new car. Seen the number the "backyard mechanics" explode near where I work. Most of those guys have no idea what the hell they're doing. I'm sure that's killing a lot of repair shops.
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We are feeling the backyard exsplosion a little bit but for the most part most people want the car fixed properly and to get the right problem fixed. I think alot of the shrink in the job market will ease up in the next 12/24 months as alot of people the babay boomers start taking their retirements. I know the auto repair industry is going to get hit hard for technicians nationally. Just be patient any of you techs out of work. It will ease up very soon and your pay will go up as there will only be 3 to 4 techs to every 5 posistions. That number is one i have heard kicked around alot i am not stating it to be absolute.
 
ReiKo said:
We are in the southwest corner of Detroit... There is one store north of us that is suicidal in pricing...
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Yeah the barrel scrapers are getting rediculous. The pricing war is driving me nuts. We use Top quality OEM or better then OEM American made parts when we can ( some stuff just isn't made here anymore ) and people are like the shop down the street will put chinese junk stuff on my car that will last maybe a yr tops. I just can't go there.So we eat some of it off the bottom line and get as close are we can but i won;t install junk parts. We are a NAPA auto care and damn proud of it. Installing American Made parts as much as we can !

http://www.madeinusa.com/mission.shtml

http://www.napaonline.com/MasterPages/NOLMaster.aspx?PageId=2

Not everything they sell is american made alot of it still is but its getting really tough to buy american made parts these days.We will continue to buy as much American made stuff as we can.
 
Sean said:
Yeah the barrel scrapers are getting rediculous. The pricing war is driving me nuts. We use Top quality OEM or better then OEM American made parts when we can ( some stuff just isn't made here anymore ) and people are like the shop down the street will put chinese junk stuff on my car that will last maybe a yr tops. I just can't go there.So we eat some of it off the bottom line and get as close are we can but i won;t install junk parts. We are a NAPA auto care and damn proud of it. Installing American Made parts as much as we can !

http://www.madeinusa.com/mission.shtml

http://www.napaonline.com/MasterPages/NOLMaster.aspx?PageId=2

Not everything they sell is american made alot of it still is but its getting really tough to buy american made parts these days.We will continue to buy as much American made stuff as we can.
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We try to sell as much american made parts as we can... But sometimes we can't justify buying a hub assembly for say $80 when we can drop ship a couple thousand of them for say $20 out of china... People want cheap fixes NOW NOW NOW but don't realize the long term effects...
 
yeah I already live in chicago 8 months out of the year and the rest I have a shitty job back in michigan. Once I'm done with college its bye bye michigan.
 
ReiKo said:
We try to sell as much american made parts as we can... But sometimes we can't justify buying a hub assembly for say $80 when we can drop ship a couple thousand of them for say $20 out of china... People want cheap fixes NOW NOW NOW but don't realize the long term effects...
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thats why i don't play the game. Stand on quality make the argument about return defect and fialures. You would be surprised how many people are very reasonable about that. Secondly STOP OFFERING THE JUNK !!!!
 
Sean said:
thats why i don't play the game. Stand on quality make the argument about return defect and fialures. You would be surprised how many people are very reasonable about that. Secondly STOP OFFERING THE JUNK !!!!
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Been there done that about a million times... The surrounding economy won't do that since they cant' afford to... We have to adjust to the local economy... Especiall when autozone offers the bullshit part just alittle more... I rather take a sale and warrenty it later if it's legit then to raise prices and lose my local cliental... Trust me Sean... I agree with you 500%... But the local area doesn't agree... My dad and I have to provide for the family some how or another... Or we will become another "Did you hear" story of us closing down...
 
Trust me - I know allllll about the cheapness of products when it comes to parts. Thats what the last shop I worked at used. Cheap fucker.
 
ReiKo said:
Been there done that about a million times... The surrounding economy won't do that since they cant' afford to... We have to adjust to the local economy... Especiall when autozone offers the bullshit part just alittle more... I rather take a sale and warrenty it later if it's legit then to raise prices and lose my local cliental... Trust me Sean... I agree with you 500%... But the local area doesn't agree... My dad and I have to provide for the family some how or another... Or we will become another "Did you hear" story of us closing down...
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Its a bullshit argument on their part. Remind your customers THEY ARE SHOPPING THEMSELVES OUT OF A JOB. They should just go ahead and quit there job and live on the street now with that mentality. That would be the problem. The low price con's people into shopping themsleves out of a job. Its a big giant disease the whole nation has it and the only way to stop it is to stand in its way. I agree autozone is a fucking blight on this country and they devalue what I do and they devalue what you do. If they went belly up I couldn't be happier. I would love to run an AD Campaign about the impact of Autozone WalMart etc on the economy and why they are destroying the robust manufacturing industry here.The last time the Autozone sales rep came in here I told him if I ever saw saw him on my property again I would shoot his ass.I don't think I would have a problem with autozone if there was some truth in advertising. I have seen their alternators catch fire, fuel pump die in a week and the list goes on. But the thing that truly pisses me off the most is the scan tool in the store. WTF is that about a code is a sypmton of a problem and may not be the actual problem. I have to spend around $1k a yr to keep my handheld scanner/scope updated plus the $8k entrance price and these guys have just taken the $70 an hr I use to pay for that tool out of my pocket.

Rant off.
 
Sean said:
Its a bullshit argument on their part. Remind your customers THEY ARE SHOPPING THEMSELVES OUT OF A JOB. They should just go ahead and quit there job and live on the street now with that mentality. That would be the problem. The low price con's people into shopping themsleves out of a job. Its a big giant disease the whole nation has it and the only way to stop it is to stand in its way. I agree autozone is a fucking blight on this country and they devalue what I do and they devalue what you do. If they went belly up I couldn't be happier. I would love to run an AD Campaign about the impact of Autozone WalMart etc on the economy and why they are destroying the robust manufacturing industry here.The last time the Autozone sales rep came in here I told him if I ever saw saw him on my property again I would shoot his ass.I don't think I would have a problem with autozone if there was some truth in advertising. I have seen their alternators catch fire, fuel pump die in a week and the list goes on. But the thing that truly pisses me off the most is the scan tool in the store. WTF is that about a code is a sypmton of a problem and may not be the actual problem. I have to spend around $1k a yr to keep my handheld scanner/scope updated plus the $8k entrance price and these guys have just taken the $70 an hr I use to pay for that tool out of my pocket.

Rant off.
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I agree.... But unfortunately when you try to show a ignorant person the righ way... You are automatically wrong..
 
ReiKo said:
I agree.... But unfortunately when you try to show a ignorant person the righ way... You are automatically wrong..
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I just send them back out the door. There are more customers to be had at least in my area. If i were in your shoes i would just close up sell the store and move somewhere else were you can run a decent bussiness.
 
picturethis said:
Its hard to relocate to a place you dont have a couple friends and family memebers in.

I know a a guy that went to AZ he says its hot like Somalia in the summer but the winters are nice.
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I relocated to SE Michigan last year didn't know a sole and had never even visited MI before:dontknow:

Matt....Western Upstate NY:icon_eek: Almost just like MI
 
Sean said:
Yeah the barrel scrapers are getting rediculous. The pricing war is driving me nuts. We use Top quality OEM or better then OEM American made parts when we can ( some stuff just isn't made here anymore ) and people are like the shop down the street will put chinese junk stuff on my car that will last maybe a yr tops. I just can't go there.So we eat some of it off the bottom line and get as close are we can but i won;t install junk parts. We are a NAPA auto care and damn proud of it. Installing American Made parts as much as we can !

http://www.madeinusa.com/mission.shtml

http://www.napaonline.com/MasterPages/NOLMaster.aspx?PageId=2

Not everything they sell is american made alot of it still is but its getting really tough to buy american made parts these days.We will continue to buy as much American made stuff as we can.
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That nobel of you but ever since my NAPA timing chain broken and took out my engine no more important Napa parts for me
 
L98Terror said:
I relocated to SE Michigan last year didn't know a sole and had never even visited MI before:dontknow:
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I did the same thing 7 years ago this week. I didn't even have a wife at the time. Just me and a dream of making it big in the auto industry. :icon_eek:


L98Terror said:
Matt....Western Upstate NY:icon_eek: Almost just like MI
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But... Andrea takes a 25% pay raise (and works fulltime instead of 3/4 time), daycare is free (Grandma), and most importantly, wife is happy that she is around her family.

We haven't made any decisions yet (actually we haven't really talked about it much). We'll see what happens next year after the baby is born. Andrea is fed up with her work and the state of pharmacy in Michigan right now but it may be better after she has 12 weeks off once the kiddo comes.
 
Sean said:
I just send them back out the door. There are more customers to be had at least in my area. If i were in your shoes i would just close up sell the store and move somewhere else were you can run a decent bussiness.
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Don't get me wrong I still have a good clinental of customers that do buy quality parts... But other side I won't turn my business down... When your own money has been invested into your inventory and you have to float your own money on inventory... You want that money back in your pocket before it's a lost cause...
 
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