As a Ford parts advisor, this question always cracks me up.
"What is this thing actually called??"
"Well the workshop manual calls it the "SOBDM", but Ford, in their infinite wisdom, calls it "UNIT-CONTROL" in the parts catalog"
Or
"Well I call it a purge valve, but Ford call it "bracket"
Or
"I don't know, it's some kind of oil sensor. The description in the catalog is "sleeve"
A few years back I did about 1 year as a parts Receiver at a Volvo truck dealer, looking at working as a Parts advisor or similar role in an auto dealership (Ford, Honda etc) what are my chances of my resume being noticed. What do they typically look for
Kinda proud of this since I've been in this messed up industry since 2013.
Is there an online reference for MOPAR group codes for 1930s-1980s vehicles? Something that would help me correlate codes like 8.010, 23.050, 12.075 to an English description?
Advisor brings customer to front parts counter:
me: Hi how can I help you
Customer: What type of coolant does my vehicle use?
me: Any type of blue coolant, I recommend ours, Honda formulated blah blah blah.
Advisor: Lets ask chat GPT what coolant your vehicle uses :D
me: Lets not use chat GPT I have our catalog to tell us.
Advisor: No I wanna hear what chat GPT says, they should know.
me: (looks at customer, looks at other counterman)
customer: ...
Advisor had the customer sitting there for 10 mins while he figures out how to use chat GPT.
I have an interview tomorrow with Western State Cat, looking to move from auto to heavy duty and wanted to see if anyone does/has worked for them and what your experience with them was. As well as what to expect going into heavy duty as a whole if I get the job.
Just had 734 dropped off this morning.
Working dealership parts has to be one of the most mentally exhausting jobs sometimes.
Phone rings:
Me: “Parts, this is [name], how can I help you?”
Customer: “I need transmission fluid for an Audi A3.”
Me: “Okay, do you have the VIN?”
Customer: “No, because the transmission isn’t original to the car.”
Me: “Alright, do you have the VIN from the donor car the transmission came out of?”
Customer: “No.”
Then proceeds to explain again that the transmission came from another car.
Me: “I understand, but I need more information to figure out which fluid it takes.”
Customer: “Listen, I don’t want to waste my time. I just need to know if you have it or not.”
Meanwhile I’m sitting there thinking: you are literally wasting my time right now.
Me: “We stock about 6 different DSG/DCT fluids. I can’t tell you which one you need without identifying the transmission.”
Customer: “Okay but how much is it? Like $20? $30?”
Me: “I honestly can’t say without a part number. Some OEM transmission fluids can be extremely expensive. I’ve seen some close to $300 per liter.”
Customer: “Well I usually use Liqui Moly anyway…”
Me internally: Then why did you call me?
Me: “Sir, that still doesn’t help me identify what fluid your transmission actually requires. We only stock OEM VW/Audi fluids.”
Customer: “Okay.” hangs up
People really think parts departments are just psychic sometimes.
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Good morning fellow parts people. I just wanted to say welcome to parts counter. Let’s all try to work together, no matter what our background, or fields are. We are here to help each other. We are here for comic relief sometimes, because we definitely need it sometimes. And we are here to be a team. I just wanted you to know that the new mods started on Saturday. If you need anything mod related, please send us a mod mail. As you can see, we also have a new set of rules. As when Reddit removed the other team, it deleted everything role related and previously mod related. The new team is definitely here to help work together and try to make this community last a very long time for everyone one of us fellow parts people. If you have suggestions, feel free to post them below. We look forward to reading them, going over them, discussing those suggestions, and seeing how to keep this community going strong.
Can i please get opinions on billing parts to shop orders? Our current setup puts parts on quotes until their appt. It is possible to roll these quotes to work orders to maintain credit of who sells it but another person deletes them and rebills personally to get credit is this fair or should I bring it up?
I have never understood this, using list + gives the OEM the opportunity to adjust their pricing and eat into your profits.
For my parts guys (parts advisors) out there does the pay get better if I stay in this industry? I work at a decent sized dealership and my salary is basically minimum wage and I’m about to turn 23. I’m so lost, I love cars and I’m definitely a car guy and I don’t mind the job but I feel like there’s no financial growth in this business. Or even if there is it’s more or less capped at making around $90k CAD annually which won’t get you anywhere living in a major city in Canada.
Need major advice because it’s either this or I have to pivot into something else but idk how I would do that. Can’t even get a trades job in carpentry as no one wants to hire new apprentices out of school (that’s what I went to college for).
Everyone around my age is making pretty good money and I’m still stuck at basically minimum wage with an added bonus here and there. How do you guys manage?
How many of you are only selling powertrain @ list? If you’re not, what is your mark up?
Hey parts managers,how are you using AI to help through your day?
I wasn’t a big fan at first and I don’t currently use it but I’d like to see it more as just another tool in the toolbox. Whether it’s writing emails, speeding up quotes, looking up part info, or just organizing the chaos of the day, it feels like it’s only a matter of time before AI becomes pretty much essential in this industry.
Curious what others are doing with it, I am seeing my GM, Sales and Service using it! Is there anything actually useful you guys are using it for?
Thank you
I got two damaged windshields within two weeks for a customer vehicle. On receipt of the second one, I decided to ask DPAC to place the order with a note to overpack the windshield. This seemed like a normal, reasonable request. It took an hour to get this ordered. I explained in the chat that I'd used order 4355 and 4355A on the first two orders, so to please use order 4355B.
She asked me for the SPAC case number 3 times. I let her know each time there was not and would not be a SPAC case.
She referred to me as "Daddy" instead of Danny at one point. Normally I would find this funny, but it was just a microcosm of her lack of understanding throughout the convo.
Eventually, she submitted the order under 4355, with the note. Mind you, this was 45 minutes into the conversation. I ended the conversation. A few minutes later, she order another windshield under 4355A. I immediately got back on chat and asked for it to be cancelled. They told me they got ahold of the PDC, but here we are this morning and two windshields have shipped. If you're familiar with GM's policies around windshields, I'm basically stuck with this windshield that she ordered despite me not asking for it.
So anyways, as the title says, I'm trying to figure out if anyone has contacted a supervisor at DPAC and how that went for you.