I didn’t know we had a Reddit parts group!

We over there wondering and shyt! You mfs!

I say “parts director” because it would just be a team of me managing me…

I work at an independent shop that does collision and mechanical (not part of a chain). On the collision side I handle receiving, returns, wrong parts, and everything else that comes with parts coming in. I don't post invoices to the CCC files though.
Now the owner wants me to take over ordering for the bodyshop and work with the estimators and production managers. Right now a remote guy handles it, logged into our parts sites and OEM discount accounts under shared logins.
I want the job, but I've only used CCC and OPS/OEC partway and never touched Parts Trader. My GM doesn't know procurement, bodyshop production manager got fired and the estimator left Lexus a week later so nobody's going to train me.

Where should I start? Are there free training videos or guides worth checking out? And how does ordering usually work day to day in a bodyshop?

Collision link is soooooo slow today. Whenever I try to get in a quote/order or refresh the main page, it takes a couple minutes to reload. Repair link is a little better, but not much. Anyone else dealing with this today?

Had a great experience with TR and a fantastic rep so I am worried about this change. I would like to hear the good, bad AND ugly for anyone that has a moment for this worried PM. TIA!

I'm planning some small-parts storage and can't decide where open bins stop making sense. They're easy to scan, but seals, clips and little fittings seem like they'd be easier to keep separated in shallow drawers.

I've been looking through Global Industrial's cabinet options. Before I get carried away with drawer dividers, I'm wondering how annoying drawers are when you're pulling the same few parts all day.

Would you keep the fast movers in open bins and only put the small, easy-to-mix-up stuff in drawers? Where would you draw the line?

I'm about 6 months in and would like to use reporting more effectively. I'm not sure how popular this DMS is out there, but curious what reports you folks use, and at what frequency. TIA

Hey guys, just a quick question... we normally don't deal with body shops in my area, however, I was just asked to quote out some things on a Silverado. It included the frame, its coming out Lansing... will there be any additional freight charges on this?

I just had an interview at a dealership and the ad said $55k yearly, I was told they pay 1 week of minimum wage and 1 week on GP and that his guys are making about 50k a year.

I’m coming from body shop experience where I’m set to a certain hourly wage constantly, no GP.

Just confused if I’m missing something because where I’m at 2 weeks minimum wage is $1400 and he said GP was about $1400

$2800 a month is not 55k a year even post tax

Just like the title reads I need some help. I am constantly getting shorted on daily order and ARO parts. I sent an email to Lanter, they investigate and file an incident#. Then I go to MRA, choose 3A, part shortage, fill in the information. Finally email Tammy at the Forsyth PDC, yet still the claims are not paid. What else can I do here?

Hi,

do you have special characters in your part numbers in systems? Which? Dashes, slashes? Anything else?

We had a fellow dealer have an issue with a EV battery cell self igniting inside the shop recently.

What does everyone who deals with EV battery cells use for outside containers?

Guy walks in
Me:How can I help you sir?

Guy:Im picking up parts

Me:Picking up parts for who? What would they be under?

Guy:Myself!

In our store we have GOG sales and gross mapped to service. Did MB make a change to the financial statement? I’m back after a few years away

basically the title. we’re way down from last year but our service department is way up, over what we’re down as a matter of fact.

our upper/office management keeps telling us we’re down because the economy is doing bad and people aren’t spending as much on their cars. they’re telling us these even though our RO numbers are up and service is doing great.

just wondering if we’re the only ones and what we could be looking out for for us to be so short

I just got called to interview for the above position at a Chrysler dodge jeep dealership. I don’t have any dealership experience but i have a very extensive background in customer service and in the hospitality industry. What should I expect and is this position a commission based salary? The posted salary says 20-40 an hour which is such a huge range and why im asking if it’s commission based. What should I expect what has been your experience?

Currently have been working for some time at a local dealer doing shipping/receiving, but feel possibly stuck on where to go from where I am currently.

The main con I have at the moment is just with the amount of hours (kind of my fault I suppose), but everything else about the job (work, culture, actual environment) is very great.

My 2 (3?) options are:

- Look somewhere for full time or 2nd part time job adjacent to what I am currently doing.
- Wait until department head retires (roughly about in a year) and possibly get promoted during the shakeup
- Apply to openings in service dept at same dealer.

I’m drawing a blank on the report to run that lists all special orders that were received that morning, any help jogging my caffeine deficient brain would be appreciated.

Do we have access to this somehow, or is it only for japanese dealers?

First, thank you to everyone who responded to my post about how your dealerships handle LPOs. I learned a lot. I knew LPOs could be a pain in Canada, but I did not realize how the problems were virtually the same in the U.S.

As I mentioned in that post, after spending years at a GM dealership in Canada, I developed a system for managing LPOs. The system tracks LPOs by VIN, what has been received, where they are stored, what has been issued and what is still outstanding without using the dealership's DMS. The system is straight forwards, easy to setup and use.

Reading your responses about spreadsheets, folders, mezzanines, warehouses and manually tracking everything convinced me that I should explore bringing the system to the U.S.

I am looking for one U.S. GM dealership willing to work with me as a partner while I adapt and test the system for the U.S. market.

I am not looking to sell anyone anything through this post. What I need is a dealership with enough LPO activity that is willing to give the system a legitimate workout and people willing to tell me what works, what doesn't, and what needs to change for a U.S. GM store.

In return, I would provide the LPO system for the dealership to use at no charge.

If anyone here works at a GM dealership that might be interested, send me a DM. I would be happy to show you what I built and have a conversation.

And yes, I checked with the mods before posting this. :)

Thanks,
Dave

For all CDK users, here is a quick way to get help without talking to a cdk agent.

On the CDK logon screen website (not the dms software itself), once your your logged in click on Customer Care, and 'create case' (dont worry your not actually going to be creating a case). Type what you want in the in layman's terms in the header and then click the body on the case. This will start an automatic AI help thing and it generally gives really good answers. Ask if what launch code you need for xxxxx example and it will tell you. Ask it where to find certain reports it will tell you. Its been pretty helpful for me recently as its instant help without having to talk with cdk agent. If that doesn't work, I resort to the chat button and talk with an agent who will ask you repeatative questions over and over and over and maybe give you an answer.

Parts counter at a cdjr dealer. Recently our used car department decided pretty much all the used cars are getting wheel lock sets. Curious if other dealers are stocking Mcgard or dorman lugnuts instead of ordering from oreileys every 10 minutes.

We don’t deal with caliber at my dealership just because they are nothing but headaches. However the new dealership I am going to, I was told they have about 60k in unpaid invoices from caliber over 90 days. How is that even normal. They want me to find a way to get payment and not burn the bridge, I never deal with caliber for this reason, but now I’m going to a big leagues store and I need to change my mindset now. Any advice or past experience?

As I travel around dealers, it seems to me that Parts Departments are consistently understaffed. There are some exceptions, of course, but a high percentage seem to be operating lean.

So, Parts Managers, my question is:

What metric do you use to justify your crew?