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Features
Feature Auto Repair & Service Understanding Diesel Exhaust Aftertreatment Systems
November 9, 2020 by
Allan Janssen
By David Bry Diesels have long had an image problem. They were known to be smelly, slow, and dirty. But that picture is very much out of date. Diesels don’t stink like they used to. Many are extremely powerful. And…
Feature Market Research & Statistics By the Numbers: Top 10 Vehicle Platforms
November 9, 2020 by
Allan Janssen
Top 10 vehicle platforms 1. Volkswagen’s PQ35 (A5) 32,675,765 units (2.6%) 2. Nissan/Renault’s B Platform 24,152,170 units (1.9%) 3. Volkswagen’s NQB 14,420,969 units (1.2%) 4. Volkswagen’s PQ24 (A04) Platform 13,197,432 units (1.1%) 5. Peugeot’s PF1 12,832,679 units (1.0%) 6. Toyota’s…
Feature News Oddities Eye Spy: Broken Brakes
November 4, 2020 by
Allan Janssen
˙Could this be someone’s way of making brake pads last longer? David Kelsey of D. Kelsey Auto Repair in St. John’s, Nfld., found one brake pad welded onto another on a 2015 Civic. “It is unreal that our province of…
Feature Market Research & Statistics By the Numbers: Jobbers and Wholesalers
November 2, 2020 by
Allan Janssen
80% In 2019, the percentage of e-commerce purchases (by dollar volume) that was picked up at a retail location as opposed to delivered to a home. NPD Group 98.5% In 2019, the share of global light vehicles…
Feature Business Management JobberView: The Quality Alternative
November 2, 2020 by
Zara Wishloff
By Zara Wishloff The reputation of aftermarket parts has taken quite a tumble. There was a time, in the early decades of the automotive industry, when aftermarket parts were seen as the quality alternative to cheap and poorly manufactured…
Feature Business Management Getting Paid: How to collect without creating hard feelings
November 2, 2020 by
Allan Janssen
By Jeff Mowatt If you’ve ever experienced the awkwardness of having to call a customer to remind them to pay their bill, you know that you have to walk a very fine line of diplomacy. Being a pushover won’t…
Feature Eye Spy By the Numbers: Vehicle platforms and battery power
November 2, 2020 by
Allan Janssen
14,890 Number of automotive repair and maintenance shops in Canada in 2018. The majority (9,441 shops) had fewer than five employees; 5,442 shops had five to 99 employees. There were seven commercial shops with more than 100 employees. A…
Feature The battle between EVs and ICE-vehicles heats up
November 2, 2020 by
Allan Haberman
By Allan Haberman It is somewhat ironic that as technology advances, we’re seeing more electric vehicles on our roads. Ironic because some of the first cars built were electric… and it was precisely the new technology of the day that…
Feature Training & Apprenticeship Online Learning: The changing face of training
November 2, 2020 by
Allan Janssen
By Allan Janssen California-based technical trainer Mike Cleary was all set to come to Vancouver for a Powerstroke Diesel class in the last week of March. The technical class had been scheduled for months, and a good turnout was expected.…
Feature Auto Repair & Service How toxic coolant kills engines
November 2, 2020 by
Allan Janssen
By Allan Janssen Should a vehicle’s coolant reservoir be under lock and key? Bobby Bassett says there’s an argument to be made for such an extreme measure. Bassett, the North American national training manager for Gates Automotive Aftermarket, told participants…
Feature Eye SpyNews Oddities Eye Spy: More adventures with animals
September 23, 2020 by
Allan Janssen
Midas technician Moe LeBlanc in Moncton, N.B., found this picture-perfect bird’s nest under the hood of a 2006 Dodge Ram that came in with a coolant leak. The customer, who drives the truck every day, couldn’t believe it hadn’t…
Feature Business ManagementService Advisor and Selling Straw poll: What I learned during Covid
September 22, 2020 by
Allan Janssen
By Peter Bulmer We conducted a straw poll recently to find out what lessons people are taking away from the extraordinary circumstances we’re all facing this year. I’ve learned… …to maintain a wide array of services…