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My name is Jeff, and I'd like to welcome you on a journey of reflection and insight into the tolls and triumphs of a career in automotive repair.
After more than 20 years of skinned knuckles and tool debt, I want to share my perspective and hear other people's thoughts about our industry.
So pour yourself a strong coffee or grab a cold Canadian beer and get ready for some great conversation.
[00:00:00] Jeff Compton: Advice for the young technicians coming in, Daniel
[00:00:10] Daniel Whitey: You have to have, like, a hustle attitude as far as like, "Oh, yeah, you know, I'll do that for you. I'll get that done." Get comfortable using tools. Just because something looks like you can't, uh, remove it without removing, you know, eight other things, like, take your time and, you know, it all has to come from within you.
[00:00:28] Daniel Whitey: It is a hard industry. Like, I think back, like, there was definitely times when I wasn't sure if I was gonna keep going. Like, I was like- Mm-hmm ... "Do I really wanna keep doing this?" If you're gonna do it, like, it's definitely not a career that you're just gonna coast through. Like, this has- No ... to be something you're really passionate about.
[00:00:45] Daniel Whitey: You have to be willing to constantly learn and adapt to new things.
[00:01:01] Jeff Compton: Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome back to another exciting episode of the Jaded Mechanic Podcast. Uh, we're sitting here the first week of June, um, and we're just kind of rolling into the nice weather. We had a... I say nice weather, and this morning we had, like, crazy downpour and, uh, high winds this morning.
[00:01:18] Jeff Compton: But for Canada, it's pretty nice, and, you know, you're like, "You're always talking about Canada." Yeah, well, and guess what? There's another Canadian guest today, so that's just me still trying to be the 51st state, right? You know. I had some people get on me this week about my duck, my, uh, MAGA duck, my Make America Great duck, and, um, Donald Trump and the whole thing, and it's just like, I'll tell everybody, "Don't take it too seriously, okay?
[00:01:45] Jeff Compton: I'm not standing on one side of the aisle or the other." It's just, um, it's all fun. So it's a duck and a Jeep, okay? But speaking of Canadians, um, Daniel Whitehouse is with me today. He's from the Yo- York Region, up near Toronto, if anybody's familiar with that, and he, uh, reached out to me and wanted to be...
[00:02:03] Jeff Compton: just to kind of, you know, as we always do, to kind of shoot the shit and talk. So Daniel, how's it going, man?
[00:02:10] Daniel Whitey: Doing good, bud. How are you?
[00:02:11] Jeff Compton: Very good. Very good. A little stiff. I woke up... Anytime it rains like that, this one gimpy shoulder that I have gets really sore, so it's like, you know, almost before you get out of bed you know what that's like.
[00:02:22] Jeff Compton: But I mean, I was this morning I, I go to this, like, church dinner, well, breakfast with my mo- my parents and my brother, and you know, you're seeing all the old people sitting around, they're talking. And the one guy in front of us literally, like, you know, only one leg and then a prosthetic on the stump, and wearing shorts, and he's grinning his head off, right?
[00:02:43] Jeff Compton: And I'm like, "Well, I'm not gonna get here and bitch about anything 'cause like..."
[00:02:47] Daniel Whitey: It's all relative, right?
[00:02:49] Jeff Compton: Yeah. So how's things there, man?
[00:02:52] Daniel Whitey: Oh, things are good. As you said, the weather's been nice lately. Yeah. I was off, uh, the last week of May from work, and the weather was perfect. And, uh, yeah, can't complain.
[00:03:02] Daniel Whitey: Summer's just started. It's exciting always, right?
[00:03:04] Jeff Compton: Yeah. Now, what did you do for your week? You said you had a week off?
[00:03:08] Daniel Whitey: Yeah, just, uh, took it easy. Took the kids, uh, to the zoo, stuff like that. Tinkered around with the cars a little bit, you know.
[00:03:17] Jeff Compton: Uh-huh. Now I haven't- Nothing too
[00:03:18] Daniel Whitey: crazy ... I,
[00:03:19] Jeff Compton: the last time, it's been 20 years since I've been to the Toronto Zoo.
[00:03:24] Daniel Whitey: Oh, really?
[00:03:25] Jeff Compton: Oh, yeah. It's, because I'm just sitting there and thinking, w- we took my nephew and he was still in a stroller, and I... So yeah, it's probably been pretty close to 20 years. Drove past the exit a bunch of times. Like, I was just in Vaughan Mills with my brother, um, last weekend at Bass Pro Shops, right?
[00:03:43] Jeff Compton: Getting ready for this coming season. Nice And, uh- Nice, yeah ... but I'm like-
[00:03:47] Daniel Whitey: That's not too far. Yeah.
[00:03:48] Jeff Compton: No. Know
[00:03:50] Daniel Whitey: where that is. Yeah. Not too far from where we are, yeah.
[00:03:51] Jeff Compton: Yeah. It's, um, I never minded Toronto, you know what I mean? Like, it's like, the traffic is crazy.
[00:04:00] Daniel Whitey: Oh, absolutely.
[00:04:01] Jeff Compton: Compared to anywhere in Canada.
[00:04:02] Daniel Whitey: Only gotten worse.
[00:04:03] Jeff Compton: Yeah. But it's still manageable. Like, I drove around in Montreal a bunch, and I'll take driving in Toronto over Montreal any day. Any day.
[00:04:11] Daniel Whitey: Me too. So, yeah. No, uh, right turns on reds there. The cops wait for you when they see your Ontario plate. "Oh, is he gonna turn?" Yeah. Right? Yeah.
[00:04:21] Jeff Compton: Oh, yeah.
[00:04:21] Jeff Compton: Just, yeah, you see the Quebec plates fly by you, right? Speeding.
[00:04:25] Daniel Whitey: Yep.
[00:04:26] Jeff Compton: They never get pulled over. You're, you're speeding. "Eh, wanna come get the other
[00:04:31] Daniel Whitey: guy." Second you do anything, oh, yeah, they'll, they'll nail you, man.
[00:04:33] Jeff Compton: It's, it's, it's a trip. And actually, I should be careful, 'cause I had a guy reach out to me from, uh, he's from Quebec City, and he wants to be on the show.
[00:04:41] Jeff Compton: Oh. So I probably shouldn't, I should probably be nice to the French a little more. I'm always nice to them, I just, you know, they know what they are. So kinda give us a, tell us a little bit about yourself, Daniel. Like, um, how, how long you been doing this? this crazy thing that we call being an auto mechanic?
[00:05:01] Daniel Whitey: So I, um, I first, I went to college for it when I was 23.
[00:05:06] Jeff Compton: Okay.
[00:05:07] Daniel Whitey: And I'm 36 now, but I really, to me, I've really been doing it consecutively professionally for about 11 years now.
[00:05:15] Jeff Compton: Okay. Okay.
[00:05:17] Daniel Whitey: Yeah, for, for about 11 years, and, um, I've been licensed for s- almost six years.
[00:05:23] Jeff Compton: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. There's that licensing that we're, you know, always pops up in the conversation now.
[00:05:29] Jeff Compton: Like, we're starting to, people are starting to know what that means, right? Because again, the, a large part of the listener group is still the Americans where we don't, they don't have that, right? Um, and y- you're seeing now they're talking in the last couple weeks about people are like, they're really on the fence about they don't want that to happen in the, in the, in the US because they're, uh, you know, government involvement.
[00:05:54] Jeff Compton: But what do you think about the, like coming up through the apprenticeship program and getting the license, what did you think about it?
[00:06:02] Daniel Whitey: Well, for me, I, I really... I was always fas- like, interested and fascinated with cars ever since I was a kid. Mm-hmm. I always wanted to know how they worked and stuff like that.
[00:06:13] Daniel Whitey: So I didn't... My high school didn't have an auto shop program or anything like that. I... After high school, I found myself working a few different retail jobs, and then I actually, I went to university for a little while, and that-
[00:06:28] Jeff Compton: Okay ...
[00:06:29] Daniel Whitey: just wasn't really what I wanted to do. So then I found myself working at the, uh, Toronto Star.
[00:06:35] Jeff Compton: Oh, nice.
[00:06:36] Daniel Whitey: The production plant, which was in Vaughan. And I worked there for several years, and over the course of time I was there, I got the opportunity to sort of move up a little bit, and I got to know my, uh, mail room foreman, Jim, pretty well, and I did some, uh, training programs. I used to, uh, create standard operating procedure manuals, all types of different stuff.
[00:07:02] Daniel Whitey: And then one day he, he just... We were going over the stuff I had done, and he just looked at me and said, "Daniel, this place is not gonna be around for you for the long run. You have to figure out what you wanna do with yourself now. You know, you- Wow ... you're a young guy, you gotta get going and do something bigger than this place, 'cause it's not gonna be around," right?
[00:07:21] Jeff Compton: Yeah.
[00:07:22] Daniel Whitey: And, you know, I've... No manager or boss I've ever had has said anything like that to me, so, you know, I really took that to heart. So I just figured to, uh, go all in and, uh, just s- do automotive. Because I- Mm-hmm ... sort of always knew it was something, at least learning how to fix a car and how to do certain things, it was always something I wanted to learn how to do.
[00:07:42] Jeff Compton: Right.
[00:07:42] Daniel Whitey: Before I went to college, I had, you know, done basic things, like one time the f- tire was flat on the driveway, you know. I put the spare on. Uh, you know, changed a car battery, stuff like that, wiper blades. Yeah. But I will say, back to your original point of the apprenticeship process, I think it's... I mean, it's not perfect, but I think overall it's a good system to have in place.
[00:08:06] Daniel Whitey: Yeah. Because down in the States is, you know, we've talked, you've talked about with so many different people, it's really just the ASE program. Yeah. And even then they don't... I don't think they mandate that people get their ASEs. It's sort of up to them, right?
[00:08:21] Jeff Compton: Yeah. It's all- Yeah ... it's all on the, on the, on the choice of the employer to either make the people recognize it, right, or on the individual to, to, to take the test to, to have a I don't wanna say proof of knowledge, but like the tests show a level of competency to some understanding.
[00:08:42] Jeff Compton: And competency being the understanding, not necessarily because, you know, "Oh, listen, lots of people can take a test, but, you know, you put the tools in their hand." Yeah, I know, and, and you're not wrong. But it shows a level of understanding at least of the, of the systems that they're teaching, right? You have to...
[00:08:59] Jeff Compton: If you passed it- Of course, yeah ... you probably understood how that system worked. And, you know, what happens in the shop is a, is a different thing altogether. I talk all the time about, like, I'm, I'm the kinda technician that's not never been super fast and, you know, can blow a whole transmission apart on a bench and remember every little piece, 'cause that's not me.
[00:09:23] Jeff Compton: I have to be, like, meticulously laid out and I have a process to it, or else I'll, I'll, I'll forget to, you know, the order of something and have to go back So that maybe, does that mean that I can't be a mechanic? No, 'cause obviously 30 years later I've been successful being a mechanic. It's just I have to, you know...
[00:09:41] Jeff Compton: But I have a really good understanding of systems, right? And that's where I've been allowed to, to keep up and still be very, you know, uh, successful, is because of the sense that, like, my brain understanding helps me get through with my brain's inability to remember photographic memory of how, you know, shit looked.
[00:10:04] Jeff Compton: I don't, I'm just, I don't know where I am on the spectrum on that, but I'm definitely there somewhere. What, um, what college did you go to up there?
[00:10:13] Daniel Whitey: So I did a two-year program at Centennial College. Mm-hmm. It was a Chrysler, a Chrysler co-op diplom- diploma program.
[00:10:21] Jeff Compton: Nice.
[00:10:23] Daniel Whitey: So how it worked was, uh, we did our first eight months in school.
[00:10:27] Daniel Whitey: We did, um, level one and level two.
[00:10:30] Jeff Compton: Okay.
[00:10:30] Daniel Whitey: Then we, uh, went to paid co-op placements for eight months. Then we came back, we did level three. Uh, and when, when I say level one, two, and three, I mean, you know, as mandated by, you know- Yeah, the programs ... well, at the time I guess it was the College of Trades.
[00:10:46] Jeff Compton: Yep.
[00:10:46] Daniel Whitey: That's gone now.
[00:10:48] Jeff Compton: Yeah .
[00:10:48] Daniel Whitey: And then they had a level four program, which was a little more Chrysler specific-
[00:10:54] Jeff Compton: Mm-hmm ...
[00:10:55] Daniel Whitey: I guess, as far as, like, the new stuff that was coming out. It was a very good program, especially for somebody like me. I mean, I had to learn, you know, everything. Yeah. Not just, like, the fundamentals and knowledge base behind it, but, you know, kind of getting in and, you know, getting used to using tools.
[00:11:12] Daniel Whitey: You know, that's its own other thing as well. Yeah. But for me, I, I took my time with it and, um, I persevered and I, I got through it. And, uh, I've never looked back myself. Um, a few guys I went to college with, I'm still in touch with. Actually, two of them, after graduation, we, uh, all worked together at the same Chrysler dealer- Oh, nice
[00:11:37] Daniel Whitey: as apprentices.
[00:11:38] Jeff Compton: Yeah.
[00:11:38] Daniel Whitey: Yeah, we all worked there together. And, um, one of the guys is still there now, and another guy has moved on. And myself, I've moved on as well. But yeah, a few guys that, uh, we went to college with, you know, 13 years ago, whatever it is, you know, we still, uh, still hang out once in a while and catch up, so it's pretty cool that way.
[00:11:58] Jeff Compton: What, what made you pick- So that's, yeah ... the Chrysler program?
[00:12:04] Daniel Whitey: At least when I was looking at everything on paper, it seemed to me to be the most comprehensive program in terms of- Okay ... when I read what it was about, it seemed like it really had an idea and, you know, a direction. You know what I'm trying to say?
[00:12:21] Jeff Compton: Yeah, yeah.
[00:12:22] Daniel Whitey: Um, not just that, but I've... At the time, I've, as I said, I've always been into cars and, you know, like, when Chrysler brought back the, you know, the Dodge Challenger in- Yeah
[00:12:32] Daniel Whitey: what was it? Like, 2008 or something like that.
[00:12:36] Jeff Compton: Mm-hmm.
[00:12:36] Daniel Whitey: I was like, "Okay, here we go. They're starting to- Yeah ... they're starting to pick up again," you know?
[00:12:40] Jeff Compton: Yep. 'Cause, I mean, I hit Chrysler in 2003. Okay. So I can remember, like, the first, you know, the first, like, the, the C-class Hemi car coming, right? And the rear-wheel drive, like the old 300s.
[00:12:54] Jeff Compton: I can remember them coming and, and I can remember when the PT Cruiser hit, and that, that was a big deal, right? Like, oh my God- ... like, a PT Cruiser. And and, 'cause before that it had been the Viper, and then everything else was a Caravan. You know what I mean? Like, it was like- Right. Yeah ... you had a Neon, you had a Caravan, you had a Viper, and you had the Ram truck.
[00:13:13] Jeff Compton: And then they, when the rear-wheel drive cars hit, I was just like, "Oh, yeah." And then of course the Jeep thing too, like, I'd always loved Jeeps as a kid. So when I hit, it wasn't by choice that I picked Chrysler. I literally, same kind of thing, I had some friends that worked at the dealer- Mm ... and I was in a small little independent shop not making enough money to, to survive.
[00:13:35] Jeff Compton: And that's not a knock on them then, it's just... And I went to the dealer because, like, I was there with these guys that were, like, making five bucks more an hour than I was way back in, like, 2002, and they weren't flat rate. They were just, like, hourly, and they're making five bucks more, and they're like, "Why don't you come work with us?"
[00:13:52] Jeff Compton: And I'm like, "Oh, I've heard all these things about working at a dealer. Like, it's, uh... I'll starve," and, you know, their politics and ... And they're like, um... And I was intimidated. I was literally intimidated. Where I was, they weren't trying to, but it was like I wasn't getting exposed to anything, and they're like...
[00:14:09] Jeff Compton: I didn't feel like I was ready. And they're like, "Oh, no, trust me, you're ready. You're smart enough to come work with us," like. And I'm like, "Yeah, 'cause my test scores are doing pretty good and, you know, I'm in the shop working next to you guys on the, on the labs and I'm doing fine." Well, I, I went, and it was the best thing I ever did in, in my career to start out because I got exposed and I got training that I would've never got at the little shop that I was at.
[00:14:33] Jeff Compton: Not to s- and I'm not trying to sit here and say, like, indie shops are dead ends, obviously. I'm not saying that. But I was in one of those shops that we talk about in the groups that, like, it's- It's one of those shops that they set themselves up and design themselves to be, I'll say it, to be the cheapest option in the neighborhood.
[00:14:53] Jeff Compton: And then there's no room for advancement there. Like, they can't... To bring on- If they're hiring young people, they're always hiring young people 'cause it's cheap labor, not because they're trying to get young people to become great technicians. They just, the money's not there. Like, we didn't have training.
[00:15:07] Jeff Compton: We had one scan tool, no service information. Like, it was, it was just half the customers were paying on, like, a, a never, never pay plan. Like, you know, come by and pay once a week with some cash, and it, it was just a gong show. We put on the cheapest parts we could find. Like, everything was cars that somebody went and bought that needed to be safetied, and then when you looked at it, you're like, "Wow, this thing's really bad," right?
[00:15:33] Jeff Compton: And then it's like, "Well, how do... Uh, I mean, I already bought the car," you know? Like, "Well, how do we get it ready?" So that was a big part of what I did, was, like, oil changes and tires and safety inspections and, and on these, I remember these old, rotten Toyotas, and, like, old, rotten Hondas, and everything was rotten.
[00:15:51] Jeff Compton: And, um- ... you know, learned a lot, but I was going broke. Like, I was making $10 an hour, and it w- the, the running joke was, like, the tool truck, there'd be a tool truck every day, a different one, and if you went and bought a tool off the truck and it was 80 bucks, you worked for free that day, right? Yeah, that's right.
[00:16:11] Jeff Compton: Because it was, you know, eight, eight hours time 10 bucks, you just worked for free. Um, and I laugh about it now, but it was the finding a Chrysler dealer that hired me and taught me everything that it taught me really did save my career, for sure. So, and that, that just became why I love the product. Like, we, I, I know I'm going on a ramble, but we in the shop yesterday had a 2023 Demon, and I wanna say, like- Nice
[00:16:40] Jeff Compton: a 2022 TRX truck. I don't know if that's the right kind of date, but it's about that. This guy's trying to sell them both anyways or something. And, like, just to be walking around those two cars, like, are those... I've never seen a TRX up close. I've seen lots of Challengers before. Oh, okay. But I'd never seen a TRX up close.
[00:16:58] Jeff Compton: That thing is something, like, entirely unto its own. Like, it's not like people are like, "Oh, it's like a Raptor." It's nothing like a Raptor. It's completely... I don't know, it, man, it's, it's a truck, but oh my God, is it... It's so much more than that, it's just ridiculous. They fired them up, and of course, like, the boss wouldn't let me drive them around the street, 'cause he knows what's gonna happen if I drive them.
[00:17:23] Jeff Compton: I come back with a speeding ticket. But, um, it was just so cool- ... to be around those two cars, and it was like... Because for me, you know, people have heard me say it, that's why I love Chrysler, right? That's why. That, that, that's their heritage, is building ridiculously stupid, high-horsepower, loud, obnoxious, you know, throwback cars and, and then they still build the best truck on the market.
[00:17:50] Jeff Compton: I don't care what anybody says, but yeah. Sorry, ramble. I
[00:17:53] Daniel Whitey: agree. I agree.
[00:17:55] Jeff Compton: Yeah. The
[00:17:55] Daniel Whitey: Ram, yeah, that's my favorite truck too.
[00:17:59] Jeff Compton: It's- I have to say ... it just feels different, eh? When you dr- when you drive a Hemi Ram and then you get into, like, a Silverado, and I'm not knocking anyone else, but it just has... The way that that engine wakes up in the power band when you're driving it- Yeah
[00:18:11] Jeff Compton: is just different. It's just different.
[00:18:13] Daniel Whitey: Absolutely.
[00:18:13] Jeff Compton: Yeah. And it's always been different. Like, it, it's just... Even 'cause again, like, I worked there when the first Hemis hit, so we were always running the old five-nines and, you know, four-sevens and five-twos. They were junk. And then when that Hemi truck came, it was like, "Holy shit."
[00:18:30] Jeff Compton: Like, it's, it was different. You know, everybody wants a 5.3 and LS to the world, is what they say, but like, no man, you wanna Hemi swap the world if you wanna do something. Like, it's just a different, it's a different beast. So, sorry.
[00:18:43] Daniel Whitey: No
[00:18:43] Jeff Compton: worries. What, um, did you ever get to drive one of the Demons?
[00:18:47] Daniel Whitey: Never driven a Demon.
[00:18:49] Jeff Compton: Yeah.
[00:18:49] Daniel Whitey: Um, I had to go with my service manager at the time, um, across the street. The owner of our auto group, he had a, he had one down in the basement bunker.
[00:19:00] Jeff Compton: Nice.
[00:19:01] Daniel Whitey: And, um, I, I guess for whatever reason, he wanted the carpet liner installed in it, so I had to go down there with him and, uh, put it in. So I've never driven one, but I've-
[00:19:10] Jeff Compton: Yeah
[00:19:11] Daniel Whitey: sat in one. Yeah. I've driven Hellcats. I've driven, you know, th- uh, SRT 392 Shakers. Mm-hmm. Yep. Charger Daytons, ev- uh,
[00:19:23] Daniel Whitey: you know, all that kind of stuff. Yeah. Never driven... Well, I've driven a TRX into my bay. Yeah. That's about it, you know, for an oil, for an oil change. But even- Yeah ... just sitting in the TRX, you can just tell, like, this is a serious truck, man.
[00:19:36] Jeff Compton: Oh, yeah. It's-
[00:19:37] Daniel Whitey: So, yeah ... I,
[00:19:38] Jeff Compton: yeah. It, it, like, and, and I sat in both of them and I'm like, it...
[00:19:43] Jeff Compton: Just the way it, it feels, like, you're sitting in that, like you just... And I, I know performance cars have a feel, but there's just something about those two- Like, the way the cockpit around the, the TRX is designed- Mm-hmm ... I'm just sitting in it, I'm like, "This is like, this is not supposed to be a truck. A truck is not supposed to feel like this seat, and the console, and, and the steering wheel, and the shift..."
[00:20:06] Jeff Compton: Like, it's not supposed to feel like that. It's just, it's ridiculous. And then, you know, the, the, the the Demon is just, I don't know, it's like s- it's like something cool from, like, the '70s, but walked in and then all of this technology going on, and performance. Like, they're... We're talking 7, 800 horsepower.
[00:20:27] Jeff Compton: Like, it's nothing like what anybody ever drove back in the day, right? It's just ridiculous. Exactly.
[00:20:32] Daniel Whitey: No, that's right. You know? Yeah.
[00:20:33] Jeff Compton: Yeah.
[00:20:33] Daniel Whitey: 100%. Yeah. That's, that's- So what did you- ... again, like you said, the heri- sorry, the heritage with Chrysler, like that's- Yeah ... sort of something that drew me in, too, 'cause I love all, you know, the classic cars, and, you know, Challengers, Hemi Cudas- Mm-hmm
[00:20:46] Daniel Whitey: stuff like that, Chargers. So yeah, I agree.
[00:20:49] Jeff Compton: Yeah.
[00:20:49] Daniel Whitey: That's definitely a cool lineage, and they're still... They kind of got off the track for a little while, but I think they're bringing the Hemi back, so we'll see- Yeah ... if they, uh, do some gas Chargers.
[00:21:01] Jeff Compton: Yeah, 'cause that electric one, ugh.
[00:21:02] Daniel Whitey: Get rid of that electric Have you heard one?
[00:21:06] Daniel Whitey: Have you heard the speaker exhaust start-up?
[00:21:09] Jeff Compton: Yeah.
[00:21:10] Daniel Whitey: Yeah, so have I.
[00:21:14] Daniel Whitey: And
[00:21:14] Jeff Compton: it's almost like, I mean, does it serve a function? Sure it does, but I- this almost would've been better without that. You know what I mean? Like it
[00:21:24] Daniel Whitey: just- Yeah,
[00:21:24] Jeff Compton: I think so too. 'Cause it's just- ... it, it gets your attention, which I guess is what it's supposed to do. But no, I'm just, it, it, my, a piece of my heart breaks every time when, when I hear it.
[00:21:37] Jeff Compton: You know? There's a, there's a Chrysler dealer right across the road from me actually that, like, where I used to work years ago. And, um, so yeah, I remember they had one out front for a little while, and I'm like, "That's just looks wrong." You know?
[00:21:52] Daniel Whitey: Yeah.
[00:21:53] Jeff Compton: I mean, you know. What, um... When you started at the dealer, what kind of the, what were some of the jobs that, like, you were really excited about?
[00:22:02] Jeff Compton: And then what were some of the jobs that you were, like, kind of intimidated by?
[00:22:07] Daniel Whitey: So for me, when I first started working there, the place I did my co-op at first, I, I worked in, I did a few different things in the service department. I, you know, moved cars out of the drive-through and stuff like that, and then I got to work in the, you know, the quick lube bays.
[00:22:24] Daniel Whitey: But they were- Mm ... all, you know, drive on racks, and, you know, we were just doing oil changes and- Yeah ... you know, filters and wiper blades and stuff like that. So then when I came, when I got hired at the dealer after graduation, I still had a fair amount of kind of catching up to do, I felt, as far as like, okay, let's learn how to rack a truck.
[00:22:45] Daniel Whitey: Let's learn how to rack- Yeah ... this car, you know, on a two post. So then what ended up happening was, uh, me and another apprentice that had already been there, and he had more hands-on, I guess you could call it, experience than I did. They kind of elected the two of us to be in charge of, uh, their new, uh, what do they call it?
[00:23:03] Daniel Whitey: Uh, quick lane.
[00:23:05] Jeff Compton: Yeah.
[00:23:05] Daniel Whitey: Chrys- or express lane. Chrysler Express Lane. Express Lane, yeah. So then he and I did that- For probably about almost a year, and we would do everything. We would do, obviously, oil changes. We even did, uh, mount and balance tires, uh, tire repairs. Sometimes we would even do the odd little recall flash here and there- Yeah
[00:23:27] Daniel Whitey: depending. Um, and then we would inspect the cars, and then, you know, if something s- you know, if something was loose in the front end or something like that, you know, we'd call, like, a, what, senior licensed guy over and have him kind of verify, "Oh yeah, there's something wrong with this car," you know? Mm-hmm.
[00:23:43] Daniel Whitey: So we were both, we were both learning, but we learned from each other, and then we both got away from that. So then it was actually... I've heard you talk about mentorship before, so- Yeah ... I actually had a great opportunity at this dealer 'cause, you know, while he and I were doing our quick lane, you know, jobs, you know, all the kind of older guys that have been there for a while, you know, they kind of saw, "Okay, these guys can work.
[00:24:09] Daniel Whitey: These guys can move. They at least can do tires and oil changes and put wheels back on properly and torque them properly." Mm-hmm. So then he and I sort of start, each started working with a licensed, uh, technician, and, um, we were their apprentices, and that lasted for quite a while as well. So even when I went to, uh, uh, my buddy Sean Billy, when I went to work with him, I still had a lot of, a long way to go, but he, he taught me a lot, and he was, I would say, one of their top earners, and he was a guy- Mm
[00:24:42] Daniel Whitey: that, at least in my opinion, he could pretty much fix anything. Yeah. He was a really good well-rounded tech. He could solve an electrical problem. He could do suspension work. He could do AC. Like, he could do sh- everything, you know?
[00:24:58] Jeff Compton: Mm-hmm.
[00:24:59] Daniel Whitey: So for me it was- Not so much that I was ever afraid to do something, but I was always just trying to learn as much as I could and do things properly, if you know what I'm trying to say.
[00:25:15] Daniel Whitey: You know, I didn't wanna You know, I, even now where I am, and even, even while I was at the dealer, I've always kind of had a certain amount of quality control for myself when a job gets shipped out, even if it's just, you know, a four-wheel brake job- Yeah ... so to speak, right? So for me, like, I wasn't always the fastest.
[00:25:37] Daniel Whitey: Like, you know, certain things, yeah, I could get in and out and bang out. But, um, I was never, like, you know, lightning speed kind of guy. Yeah. That's just not who I am, you know? But, um, things I was excited to do, uh, when I worked with, uh, Sean, we had the opportunity to do, uh... We did a, we actually did a engine in a Hellcat.
[00:26:00] Jeff Compton: Oh,
[00:26:01] Daniel Whitey: nice. We did a long block. Yeah, we did a long block. 'Cause what happened was it had come from another dealer. They took it off, you know, the delivery truck, and, uh, can't remember exactly what happened, but I think the story is it, it overheated when the, the guy at the other dealer was doing, uh, you know, his PDI test drive, and then they started poking around, and then-
[00:26:23] Jeff Compton: Mm-hmm
[00:26:24] Daniel Whitey: I don't know. They didn't want the car anymore. They did, that dealer- Right ... did, wanted nothing to do with that car. So then, however it happened, w- our dealer ended up getting it, and then, uh, yeah, me and Sean, uh, got the car and got to do the engine in it. And that was sort of the first time he kind of left me alone really and said, "Okay, this is what you need to do.
[00:26:45] Daniel Whitey: You know, go." Yeah. He had done that before for smaller, you know, smaller things. Like, I remember the fir- the first day I started working with him, he g- he hands me a work order and a set of keys, and he goes, "Okay, bring in this Ram truck and change the serpentine belt. It pays 18 minutes. Go."
[00:27:03] Jeff Compton: Yeah,
[00:27:03] Daniel Whitey: yeah. You know, type of a thing.
[00:27:05] Daniel Whitey: So that was a, that was a really, that was one job I did there that, uh... I was still an app- obviously an apprentice at the time, but that was something I'll always remember because it was the first time I'd ever really done a big, a big heavy line repair, let's call it.
[00:27:18] Jeff Compton: Yeah.
[00:27:19] Daniel Whitey: You know?
[00:27:20] Jeff Compton: Yeah.
[00:27:20] Daniel Whitey: And even then, you know, putting everything back together, making sure everything's right, and then, you know, we got to drive it after, obviously.
[00:27:26] Daniel Whitey: We had both keys. We kept, you know, we took- Mm-hmm ... the red key in the car. You know, it was a lot of fun getting to drive it after, you know, we had just done all this work to it, right?
[00:27:35] Jeff Compton: Yeah.
[00:27:36] Daniel Whitey: Yeah.
[00:27:37] Jeff Compton: Yeah. There, that's the kind of jobs that's almost like... You know, and I, I've talked to so many dealer techs, and it's like, yeah, they hate that sometimes, like, they lose their butt on some of the jobs, but just, like, getting to do the quality control test drive on something like that- Oh, yeah
[00:27:53] Jeff Compton: you'll almost, like, give up an hour pay or whatever because it's just- Oh, absolutely ... when else are you gonna get a chance to really, you know, like, flog one of those cars, right? Like, you, you... And that's part of it. Yeah. You put in an engine, and you gotta really get that thing up to temperature and, and, like- That's right
[00:28:07] Jeff Compton: you're, you're shaking it down, right? And yeah, I I'd still be a sucker. You know, if they came back to me and said, "Jeff, come back, and all you're gonna work on is, like, you know, Scat Packs and Demons, and, like, m- but it's not gonna pay great." I'd be like, "Okay, I'll do it." Like, twist my arm, you know, just let me road test all of them.
[00:28:29] Jeff Compton: And that's, that's what always cranked me, is, like, the salesmen are ... You know, even my boss at this job now, he, like ... You know, 'cause he's been in the used car market for a while, so you don't ever really own anything, but you get to demo it, right, extended demos and- That's
[00:28:41] Daniel Whitey: right ...
[00:28:42] Jeff Compton: he had a stick shift, um, uh, you know, Scat Pack years ago, and he said it was just stupid to drive that thing around.
[00:28:50] Jeff Compton: Like, he said you, it was almost, you couldn't drive it in town because the tires were breaking free all the time as, with a stick, right? Like, an automatic, you know, you just put it in D and kinda like just keep your foot out of the pedal and you'll be all great. He says that, it's just like you're just trying to roll away from a stop, and brr, brr, you know, chirping the tires.
[00:29:09] Jeff Compton: Oh, yeah. So he said, "I, I had to get rid of that." Oh. It was a heat score. But he said it was just so much- Yeah ... fun to drive, you know? So and even the- Yeah,
[00:29:15] Daniel Whitey: those cars just wanna go, man.
[00:29:17] Jeff Compton: Yeah, even the 5.7s. Yeah. Like, you know, I can remember the old, the older 5.7s with a stick. I drove an SRT8 Challenger, a yellow one, back, it was one of the last PDIs I ever did for Chrysler, and, you know, stick shift, and it was like that car was still stupid fast, and it's a 5.7.
[00:29:35] Jeff Compton: Like, the 6.2s now- Yeah ... and, and it's just like, "Supercharger, what? Hello?" Like, yeah, you know, thank you. Uh, I'm, I'm, I'm good now, right? Like, I've, I've scared myself. I don't need to, you know, drive super ... Because I've driven, I've driven lots of Teslas, and I mean, that's impressive, right? How it'll accelerate and all that shit, but it doesn't have that feel, you know?
[00:29:59] Jeff Compton: It just- No ... it feels so controlled and refined. Yeah. Whereas you drive something like that, and, and Corvettes are the same, it feels refined. You drive a Chrysler and it's just like, "This feels like a car." Like, "This feels like a car that can hurt me." And it, but in a good way, right?
[00:30:18] Daniel Whitey: Oh, absolutely. You know? Oh, absolutely.
[00:30:21] Daniel Whitey: Yeah, I'm- My favorite one to drive was always the, um, yeah, the Charger, uh, with the 5.7 and the shaker hoods.
[00:30:28] Jeff Compton: Yeah. Yeah.
[00:30:29] Daniel Whitey: That one was always my favorite, 'cause yeah, still plenty of power, and I just loved, uh, I loved seeing that, the hood scoop out the- Mm-hmm ... front of the windshield, you know? Yeah.
[00:30:39] Jeff Compton: Yeah.
[00:30:40] Daniel Whitey: Yeah.
[00:30:41] Jeff Compton: S- so going back to the, the job experience, 'cause, uh, we can't keep talking about these cool cars, 'cause it just-
[00:30:47] Jeff Compton: people will tune out. Um, w- so did you say that for overall, like, the dealership then they had a pretty good idea about mentorship for you? Like it sounds like it. Well,
[00:30:58] Daniel Whitey: it, it was just sort of one of those things where I don't know if it officially was ever the service manager was like, "Okay, you're gonna go do this now," but it just- Mm-hmm
[00:31:07] Daniel Whitey: sort of ended up panning out for us. I will say we were a pretty apprentice-heavy dealership, and then even after- Okay ... me and my buddy went to go work with the two techs, they had other people they hired and brought in. So it was definitely a very good experience. Like that's, you know, I did my whole apprenticeship at this dealer.
[00:31:28] Daniel Whitey: I got licensed there. Yeah. Like to me, like I wouldn't, definitely wouldn't be where I am now without, you know, that place and that group of guys and, you know, my, my buddy Sean that, you know, pretty much showed me- Yeah ... all the stuff I know and at least gave me some confidence to be able to try to tackle things because it did end up happening where obviously I couldn't be his apprentice forever.
[00:31:52] Daniel Whitey: Yeah. So then I did start working on my own at one point. I got my own bay, but he was, you know, he was pretty understanding of that, and he would still help me when I would-
[00:32:01] Jeff Compton: Yeah ...
[00:32:01] Daniel Whitey: you know, need help with certain things. But, um, yeah, then I started working on my own and, um, that was its own, you know, a new thing for me too.
[00:32:13] Jeff Compton: Yeah.
[00:32:13] Daniel Whitey: And, um- It was a good experience though. I was still hourly when I started working on my own, so I could still kind of take my time. Yeah. I would try to obviously hustle where I could, but certain things obviously I couldn't.
[00:32:28] Jeff Compton: Yeah.
[00:32:29] Daniel Whitey: And then, um, I went flat rate, obviously still working on my own, and then I really tried to go lightning, lightning, lightning, and-
[00:32:38] Jeff Compton: Yeah
[00:32:38] Daniel Whitey: nothing bad happened, so I guess it was okay. But, um, it wasn't, for me at least, flat rate is... I definitely had good days with it and some- Mm-hmm ... decent paychecks here and there, but it was never, like, consistently-
[00:32:55] Jeff Compton: Yeah ...
[00:32:56] Daniel Whitey: it never consistently worked for me, if you know what I'm trying to say. I, you know- 100% I do
[00:33:00] Daniel Whitey: I could never always make my 40 hours every week or make 50 hours. It was sort of always around this, a certain threshold where it was okay, but it was not enough money to, you know, make a good living, right?
[00:33:14] Jeff Compton: Yeah. And we know what it's like- Yeah ... in Canada, right? You get that tire season, that twice annual thing, and all of a sudden- Exactly
[00:33:20] Jeff Compton: you just see a lot more cars, right?
[00:33:22] Daniel Whitey: Mm-hmm.
[00:33:23] Jeff Compton: And that's when you gotta really hustle down and, like, and get it done. And that, those were the days that I'd work the long days. Like I'd, I'd work 7:30 in the morning till 8:00 at night, right? Because if they had, I can remember, like, if they had a bunch of, uh, like, cars that were in waiting to get tires put on, and we only had two tire machines- Mm
[00:33:42] Jeff Compton: and, like, other work to be done, so they were like, I'd stay and get, knock out two, three sets of tires, you know, at the end of the day- Yep ... after everybody went home. 'Cause my dealer, we didn't, like, they didn't dispatch used cars to just anybody, and they didn't dispatch PDIs to just anybody. There was only one guy that got used cars and one guy that got PDIs.
[00:34:01] Jeff Compton: Okay. So, you know, when I... I'm jealous of the guys that I hear about, like, well, you know, when I had a tough week, they'd throw me a couple used cars or they'd throw me a PDIs. Like, that didn't happen for me. We had to, we had to make it on whatever we could find. So I was jealous of the guys that when I hear that, you know, their, their dealer would kind of, and I'm not saying it was right or wrong, would kind of keep that for, to help people out that were down on hours.
[00:34:26] Jeff Compton: That's, I thought that was always really cool. I, I'm like you, I didn't, I stayed hourly for a long time. And when I was hourly, because I was hourly, I got a lot of crap jobs. And I don't mean crap like- ... just recall after recall. I mean, like, here's another check engine light diagnostic. Here's another, you know, when it rains, the, you know, power, you know, the wipers turn on by themselves caravan.
[00:34:53] Jeff Compton: And, and stuff like that, and it was just like go figure it out, you know? I remember I was on, early in my apprenticeship, we had a V10 truck, not a Viper truck, just the old 6.8 V10, and it was in a 3500 with a dump box on the back, and we didn't have even a hoist that would've fit on. And, um, they sold this truck to this French guy, and, um, he blew the engine up in it, seized it right up.
[00:35:18] Jeff Compton: And so he had some kind of extended warranty through the used car department, and, like, we had to put a long block into this fucking truck. And I can remember like- Oh,
[00:35:31] Daniel Whitey: boy.
[00:35:31] Jeff Compton: Yeah. It, it wouldn't fit on the hoist, so I had to do it on the ground. And then, of course- Wow ... because it seized up, I had to, like, pretty much take the, the, the, the mains out and so I could spin the crank to get, you know, the flywheel to come off.
[00:35:44] Jeff Compton: Right. 'Cause- Wow ... you know, it, it was just... I was, like, two weeks getting that truck done. I was not fast, right? And it was like... But it was in a, it was in a flat bay between two bays that, like, you know, and I had parts laying, blown all over the place. There was probably six bags of Ford dry on the floor by the time it was done.
[00:36:00] Jeff Compton: Like, it was... But it was cool to get it done and then drive it. And of course, after you drive it, you realize that it's like, oh, okay, it's got a bad ignition coil. Like, which was common, or not ignition coil, coil pack, which was common on the 6.8s, but, like, you couldn't have known because when it came in, it came in deader than dead, you know, seized up.
[00:36:22] Jeff Compton: And, uh- Mm ... I can remember going through the diagnostic going, "Well, why is it only firing on, you know, five cylinders?" Coil pack. Uh, so it was- ... just one of those things where it was like nobody was chewing my butt, nobody, because by then we'd already had so much money into that job that- Right ... buying an $80 coil pack at the time didn't make any, like, didn't break anybody's hearts, didn't make anybody mad, right?
[00:36:44] Jeff Compton: It was just get the truck running. And, um, I can remember that job, and there's some other ones I remember doing that just sucked. I remember a side impact curtain airbag on a brand-new Grand Cherokee. Like, it had 300 kilometers on it, and it went through PDI. Yeah. And we didn't PDI it, but it went through PDI.
[00:37:05] Jeff Compton: Pretty sure the airbag laid on, and then of course the customer picked it up and then brought it back And, uh, the reason the guy that did the PDI didn't write it up for her was because he would've, they would've asked him to start looking at it and he didn't want to, so he never did. Oh, boy. Um, and I remember finding that that was the first time I'd ever seen it.
[00:37:21] Jeff Compton: They had pinned on a terminal, but never s- stripped the actual wire, the insulation off it. So it was like the, the terminal was crimped around the wire, but there was, wasn't touching copper. And that was the trick- Yeah, yeah ... 'cause it was inside the connector, right? Like, it's hard to see. Mm-hmm. And, uh- Yeah
[00:37:39] Jeff Compton: that took me a while to figure out because I remember I just went to the module and, and started de-pinning at the module and switching stuff around and going, "Well, when I run that circuit down to the other side, like switch left for right like we do with ABS or whatever, um, it's still, you know, the code's following, so it must be a bad inflator.
[00:37:59] Jeff Compton: So get an inflator, go and put it in, the exact same thing. What the hell's going on? It's at the connector at the inflator Right? So, it was just, I was, I was... First time I'd ever seen that, I'm like, "This doesn't make sense." Then you take the connector apart and you're like, "Oh, that's pretty cool." Then you go to, you know, you go to your drawer and you get your connectors out, and you find the connector that has the right pin, and you re-pin the damn thing, and it's fixed.
[00:38:24] Jeff Compton: But, like-
[00:38:25] Daniel Whitey: Then it's
[00:38:25] Jeff Compton: good, yeah ... that was the first time I'd ever seen them do that, that they'd forgot to strip, strip the wire and then make the connection. It was dumb. So, you know.
[00:38:33] Daniel Whitey: Yeah.
[00:38:34] Jeff Compton: That
[00:38:34] Daniel Whitey: was pretty cool. I've seen my fair share of brand new, I've seen my fair share of brand new PDI cars with some kind of light on, and then-
[00:38:40] Jeff Compton: Yeah
[00:38:40] Daniel Whitey: tear half the car apart to find something not plugged in or-
[00:38:44] Jeff Compton: Yep ...
[00:38:45] Daniel Whitey: you know, whatever, right? Yeah.
[00:38:47] Jeff Compton: Yeah. It's frustrating, isn't it? Oh, for sure. Because then it's like... And I don't know, you've probably phoned tech line once or twice, but I can remember phoning them- Right ... and they're like, "What? It's doing what?"
[00:38:57] Jeff Compton: And they, it's like they wouldn't believe you. And I'm like, "Trust me, man. Like, it's..." "Okay." And then they'd call back, you know, or you'd reach out to them in, like, a week later, and you find it, and they're like, "Oh yeah, that makes sense now. Okay. Yeah." Like, they were pretty cool to call. I enjoyed talking to them on the phone.
[00:39:12] Jeff Compton: And if people are listening, be like, "Oh, yeah, sure, Jeff, you called them all the time I bet, right, you dummy." Um, but no, but it was like, you would get really weird stuff, and, like, you would call them up and it's like... And they were pretty smart. They had seen... Well, they hadn't seen it personally, but again, when they sit there and they collect all that, you know, case findings and stuff and sit there and pore through it, they're a really good asset because they had, they had heard of at least, and they'd say, "Oh yeah, go look at this one."
[00:39:38] Jeff Compton: You know? Uh, floors, I talk about it all the time, caravans had those floor splices under the carpet that would rot and corrode and do all kinds of weird stuff. And the old Jeep Liberties, first gen Jeep Liberty, had this connector underneath the console that had, like, 100 wires in it, and it would fill up with water and do weird stuff.
[00:39:56] Jeff Compton: Like, you know, we had one and it was like you turn on the rear wiper and the radio would switch stations. It was, it was ridiculous. Like, it was stupid. And it was this big- Yeah, some of the- ... big connector.
[00:40:08] Daniel Whitey: Oh, yeah. Yeah. Some of the electrical problems you see in Chrysler cars especially, it's
[00:40:13] Jeff Compton: just like-
[00:40:14] Daniel Whitey: You know?
[00:40:15] Daniel Whitey: Yeah, for sure. You
[00:40:16] Jeff Compton: gotta approach the fundamentals though. That's the thing, right? You just gotta break it down to what is it, and then, you know, like-
[00:40:22] Daniel Whitey: Absolutely ...
[00:40:22] Jeff Compton: people trash on them, but I, I love the product. I really do. It taught me so
[00:40:26] Daniel Whitey: much now. I, I do. I do as well. I don't drive one, but there's- Okay ... I do like, I do like the product, and I definitely will always maintain that it's definitely a good brand to learn on if you're going to a dealership.
[00:40:39] Daniel Whitey: Mm-hmm. Yeah. 'Cause it's such a big brand and there's so many different types of vehicles. Yeah. And again, their service information, I found this after I left Chrysler-
[00:40:48] Jeff Compton: Yes ...
[00:40:49] Daniel Whitey: to try out another brand, the service information is really par to none.
[00:40:53] Jeff Compton: Yeah.
[00:40:54] Daniel Whitey: It's fantastic. It's the best
[00:40:55] Jeff Compton: there is, 100%.
[00:40:56] Daniel Whitey: Yeah.
[00:40:56] Jeff Compton: So when we- The scan tool
[00:40:57] Jeff Compton: when we talk,
[00:40:58] Daniel Whitey: you know- The service, everything. Yeah ...
[00:41:00] Jeff Compton: topology. Like, that's- Yeah ... everybody that's using any kind of scan tool now that has topology, you can thank Chrysler for that. They invented that shit. Right. Yeah. Like, so I mean, you know, people wanna rip on them, and it's like, I mean, yeah, they're not perfect.
[00:41:15] Jeff Compton: But I mean, like, look at Ford or look at, like... I mean, everybody has their problems though. Chevrolet has their problems, but did you get into the EV stuff, going back to the, you know, talking about the Charger?
[00:41:27] Daniel Whitey: No. I- Yeah ... so I left, I left Chrysler in the tail end of 2021.
[00:41:34] Jeff Compton: Okay.
[00:41:34] Daniel Whitey: I left there. So we started getting, I think, those, um, like, hybrid Jeep Wranglers and stuff like that.
[00:41:41] Daniel Whitey: Yeah. But there was no- Yeah ... electric, fully electric cars yet.
[00:41:45] Jeff Compton: Mm-hmm.
[00:41:45] Daniel Whitey: So I never really even- Yeah ... I've never driven one of them. I've never serviced one or looked at it. That was just sort of around the bend when I was going there.
[00:41:55] Jeff Compton: Yeah.
[00:41:56] Daniel Whitey: Or when I left there, you know?
[00:41:58] Jeff Compton: Yeah. Yeah. Those, um, EV and hybrid Wranglers are not doing well from what I've heard.
[00:42:03] Jeff Compton: They got lots of, uh, lots, uh, more than one engine issue, I guess, on the... which is, I guess, the Tornado, and you can't blame them for the fact that it's a hybrid. But I guess I know, I know of two that were hybrid Wranglers that, like, literally came off the truck and the engine was junk, so. Yeah. And, um, two of them.
[00:42:22] Jeff Compton: Yeah. And then it was, like, eight months to get a replacement engine. Like, it sat there, like, that long. That's crazy. Um, I can remember the first, uh, I wasn't certified to work on it, but my coworker was, um, hybrid Durango way back when, you know, it was one of the first things they rolled out with a hybrid.
[00:42:39] Jeff Compton: And, uh, I remember looking at it going like, "Yeah, I want no part of this," you know? And now it's, now they're pretty cool. Um, I'm starting to slowly warm to the hybrid thing, but, um, the straight EV thing, I don't ever think I'm gonna be on board with that, especially when you see it with a Wrangler. Like, that to me is just like-
[00:43:01] Jeff Compton: So, so backwards of what a Jeep person would want. And I was like, "Oh, yeah," like, you know. 'Cause the idea that you, it's a vehicle you can take any- everywhere. Well, no, you can't take it very much farther than the next fucking charging center. Like, come on.
[00:43:15] Daniel Whitey: There's no, uh, there's no charging station on top of a mountain you're gonna climb with it.
[00:43:20] Jeff Compton: That's right.
[00:43:20] Daniel Whitey: Exactly. Yeah. Yeah.
[00:43:22] Jeff Compton: Yeah, you get- That's right ... your little generator out of the back and, you know, fire it up and charge your car and keep going down Moab or something like, yeah, no thank you.
[00:43:30] Daniel Whitey: No, absolutely. So what made you
[00:43:31] Jeff Compton: leave?
[00:43:34] Daniel Whitey: Um, it was a combination of things. Yeah. I had been there for so long, and I was just kind of, I was just kinda getting tired of, I guess...
[00:43:46] Daniel Whitey: There were certain things at that particular dealer, you know, I would kinda make, I would voice my opinion about something, it would change- Mm-hmm ... for like a week or two, and then it would go right back to where it was.
[00:43:56] Jeff Compton: Yeah.
[00:43:57] Daniel Whitey: And I was just... So we had a service manager that I really liked. He was our service manager for three years there, and then he left.
[00:44:05] Daniel Whitey: And then after that, like, the person who they appointed to be the service manager, I knew her quite well, and I had no problem working for her. It was just, things just weren't changing, and I was just kind of- Yeah ... I just sort of wanted to tr- I wanted to see what it was like at a different, uh, a different brand.
[00:44:25] Daniel Whitey: Yeah. So I ended up going to where my previous service manager was now working, which was a Hyundai store. Mm-hmm. Which was complete opposite ends of- Yeah ... car brands. Yeah. Like, just much simpler, smaller dealer, uh, smaller group of guys. But, um, that in and of, that in and of itself was also a very good experience.
[00:44:51] Daniel Whitey: I re- actually really liked working there. Um- Mm-hmm ... even the couple of guys that I worked with there, I still, I still go by to see them once in a while, you know?
[00:45:00] Jeff Compton: Yeah.
[00:45:01] Daniel Whitey: Uh, we definitely had a good crew. Every, the few places, I mean, I haven't worked a lot of places, but where I have worked, I will always say, and where I'm working now, that, uh, definitely have been privileged to work with a good group of guys.
[00:45:15] Daniel Whitey: Yeah. And a few girls over the years. Like, good group of people that, you know, when you yell for a push, everybody comes to help you, you know, and vice versa. Yeah. You know, stuff like that, right? Or,
[00:45:25] Jeff Compton: you know, when you're- That's, that's a key point, right?
[00:45:27] Daniel Whitey: You know?
[00:45:28] Jeff Compton: Yeah. It's the culture in the shop. That's the main thing.
[00:45:30] Jeff Compton: It's, it's, you know, people always talk about, well, techs are quitting because of money. The recent surveys show that most techs, it's not even in the top five why they quit, money. You know? It's, it's-
[00:45:43] Daniel Whitey: That's right.
[00:45:44] Jeff Compton: It's the culture. Which, the money is part of the culture, but you know, they work with people that don't, uh, you know, they, they don't get along, or there's, they don't even hide the political divide or the favoritism, right?
[00:45:56] Jeff Compton: Like, they don't even hide it, and that makes people really frustrated to come to work every day, right? When you know that you're gonna come in and, you know, you're gonna face the same challenges over and over and over and over and over and over again, that nobody really cares, and you... And then it makes it worse for me 'cause it's like- You know, i- if I just know that you're not gonna change anything, just tell me you're not gonna change anything, and then I'll learn to live with it.
[00:46:21] Jeff Compton: That's really- But when we keep going through the, the rhetoric of like, have a, let's have a monthly meeting and talk about, you know, im- improve me, and then nothing improves, that just the way I'm wired just frustrates me. Like, I just, I, I talk all the time, but in my... I just stopped going to the, the, m- the monthly meetings.
[00:46:37] Jeff Compton: Like, I would go there and eat my pizza, and then I would leave, and I would go back down to the shop, and I would work on whatever I'd left in my bay. And they didn't like that, but it was just like, I'm not gonna sit here and pretend that, like, we're gonna do anything about the amount of comebacks that we have or, you know.
[00:46:53] Jeff Compton: Like, I'm not... No, I'm not, I'm not gonna sit here because they're not my comebacks. I'm not having comebacks. I'm, I'm, I'm slower than everybody else, and I'm, I'm doing m- the work the way it's supposed to get done. And, you know, if I have a comeback, it's because it was an intermittent, we couldn't duplicate it, you know?
[00:47:10] Jeff Compton: Mm-hmm. Like, otherwise- It wasn't a big deal. But, like, we had four chosen guys that, like, could do whatever they wanted, and if, if the car came back, oh well, it was just we didn't talk about it. Right. And that frustrated me, and then it's like, "You know what? We're not gonna do anything about this. Let's just all get along and, and just skip it, eat the pizza, and then go back to work."
[00:47:31] Jeff Compton: Like, you know, don't, don't lecture me with shit that we're not gonna change, so. Was that kinda what you were facing?
[00:47:39] Daniel Whitey: Yeah. I mean, there'd just be so many times when I'd just sort of see the same, you know, couple people constantly just getting fed stuff. Yeah. Like, I remember there was one time me and another buddy were sitting around doing nothing.
[00:47:51] Daniel Whitey: Right. Like, all... Like, for a good couple hours that afternoon, 'cause there was no work. Yeah. We watched the same guy pull in, like, three... What they- how they did used cars, we all got to do used cars- Right ... as well as, um, you know, PDIs. But we saw the same guy pull in three pre-owned inspections back to back.
[00:48:14] Daniel Whitey: Yeah. And they each paid an hour. So before the car was sold, when you would do the safety, you would do the pre-owned inspection and just kind of make a list of what it needs to pass safety. Yeah. Back to back, three of them, and we were just like, "Are you serious?"
[00:48:27] Jeff Compton: Yeah.
[00:48:28] Daniel Whitey: You know? Yeah. Because of course, when the car gets sold, it's going to the guy who did the pre-owned inspection- Sure
[00:48:34] Daniel Whitey: unless they're not there that day for some reason, or they're on vacation- Yeah ... right? So it was stuff- Yeah ... like that, and I was just getting, I was getting pretty burned out on... I was, I was getting burned out on, I guess, warranty jobs there, and, you know, what I was able to collect every week from my paycheck being flat rate.
[00:48:56] Daniel Whitey: It just, I just had enough of it, you know what I mean? Mm-hmm. I just wanted to- Yeah ... try something else- Yeah ... is really, is really all I... Is really the only reason why. And I think it was a good decision for me to, uh, for me to move and try something else, 'cause it showed me that, okay, I can work on another brand and get used to it, or I can just- Yeah
[00:49:17] Daniel Whitey: at least try a new workplace. 'Cause it's one thing, it's one thing, I think, 'cause I was there for six and a half years. It's one thing if, let's say, in the span of six and a half years I've worked at- four different Chrysler dealers with- Yeah ... different groups of people, but I was literally at the same one the whole time, right?
[00:49:35] Jeff Compton: Yep. Yeah.
[00:49:36] Daniel Whitey: Yeah. So it was just, I think it was just time for me to just make a change, and it was a har- it was a really hard decision. It was not an easy decision to make by any means. I took, it took me probably a good month or so of mulling it over and- Mm-hmm ... thinking about it, and going to visit the new place, and talk to the, talking to the owner there, seeing my old service manager there.
[00:49:57] Daniel Whitey: It took about a month of me really mulling it over before I decided to pull the trigger, you know?
[00:50:02] Jeff Compton: So was it a financial, like, increase to go to the new place, like to the Hyundai store- So- ... or not really?
[00:50:08] Daniel Whitey: So it, uh, actually, I did, I did take a $3 an hour pay cut going there.
[00:50:15] Jeff Compton: Wow.
[00:50:16] Daniel Whitey: And I knew that upfront. I knew that upfront.
[00:50:19] Daniel Whitey: Um, but I will say that of course, again, like the cars are a lot simpler. And- Mm-hmm ... at the time when I got there, like they were doing, we were doing a lot of good, uh, service work.
[00:50:32] Jeff Compton: Yep.
[00:50:34] Daniel Whitey: So there was- Yeah ... you know, when I first, when I first started working there, I was, I was happy with my hours I was hitting at first, but it didn't last either, and then, you know, I eventually...
[00:50:48] Daniel Whitey: That's a whole other story. There's a lot of- Yeah ... things that happened at that place, too. I went on vacation- So
[00:50:54] Jeff Compton: you were there when- Sorry? You
[00:50:55] Daniel Whitey: were there when
[00:50:55] Jeff Compton: the engine recall happened?
[00:50:57] Daniel Whitey: Oh, yeah. We did- Yeah ... we did tons of, tons of, uh, Elantra and Sonata, Tucson. Oh, yeah. Yeah. All those engines. I never did- Yeah
[00:51:07] Daniel Whitey: I only ever did long blocks. The guy I worked with was like the, the engine slayer there. Like, he would do obviously long blocks. He would do, he would have a Elantra short block like in in the morning and out by, you know, 2:00, 3:00, running- Yeah ... cooling system, bleeding, everything, you know? Yeah. So we did lots of engine work, too.
[00:51:28] Daniel Whitey: Warranty-wise, I found it wasn't quite the s- it wasn't quite the same as Chrysler 'cause- Mm-hmm ... it didn't seem like the same kind of like ridiculous, again, electrical problems. Nothing- Yeah ... like that.
[00:51:40] Jeff Compton: Yep.
[00:51:40] Daniel Whitey: You know? I was just kind of... I'm not the best at electrical. I can do it, and I understand it, but it's not really my forte.
[00:51:49] Daniel Whitey: So again, I was just kind of tired of dealing with like that kind of stuff, too- Mm-hmm ...
[00:51:55] Jeff Compton: at,
[00:51:55] Daniel Whitey: at Chrysler, you know? 'Cause it just seemed like- Yeah ... in the span of a couple years it was just going from like, "Okay, we know what the problems are with these cars," and now it's like, "Okay, what is going on here with these- Yeah
[00:52:07] Daniel Whitey: new cars?" You know?
[00:52:09] Jeff Compton: Yeah.
[00:52:09] Daniel Whitey: But it was- And it was- Yeah. Again, it was a hard decision to make, but I'd made it, you know?
[00:52:13] Jeff Compton: And that's what ultimately burned me out was it was like- You know, guys could talk about doing the new transmissions or something like that, and I was just over in my corner going, "Okay." Like, I'm, I'm over here doing check engine lights and, and software and, and wiring problems and, and, you know, diag.
[00:52:31] Jeff Compton: That's all I was doing, a lot of it. And so for me, like I found at Chrysler, like we were all okay at it, but a couple of us like were really good. Right. When I made the jump to Hyundai, which was like, I don't know, 2012, say, I landed at a dealer that you could tell that Hyundai from a wiring standpoint was pretty good.
[00:52:54] Jeff Compton: Mm-hmm. Uh, not as prone as Chrysler because none of them were good at, at solving it. Like, it was like if they had A comeback on a check engine light, like it was, it was like a boomerang. It, it, it circled the shop, and I can remember like a couple of them. I got one and it was like low on power, you know, lean fault.
[00:53:15] Jeff Compton: And I'm, I'm like going out and I'm driving it, I'm like, "What does this all had done?" And it's, "Oh, it's had a tuneup and a ca-" And I'm like, "The fuel pump's bad." They're like, "The fuel pump's not bad. It w- It's still starting." I'm like, "Well, you're running up the hill and the thing is running out of fuel. Like y- the oxygen sensor can't keep up.
[00:53:32] Jeff Compton: It's dead. Like it's running out of fuel." And I remember the one, I, I, I've talked about it before. There was, um, a seat airbag fault, and the car had been... Like from 40,000K had this fault in it, and then it had been traded twice and sold twice. And it kept coming back and coming back and coming back. And until they put a whole seat in the car and it still had it.
[00:53:55] Jeff Compton: Every, every airbag module, every seat that you could change, you know, all this kind of stuff, and it was a bad ground. It was a bad ground. And I'm like, "How do you guys not know how to do this stuff?" And they're just like, "Oh, just nobody ever taught us." I'm like, "Taught you? Like it's you know, you're all licensed technicians.
[00:54:13] Jeff Compton: Like you should know how to determine that the ground is bad." Like it wasn't like... And in defense of that, it was intermittent, but there was also like, you could go back into history and look and there'd be like periods where it was like four days that it was in the shop, and it says right in the work order, "Left light still on."
[00:54:33] Jeff Compton: Fault's still there.
[00:54:34] Daniel Whitey: Right.
[00:54:35] Jeff Compton: Right?
[00:54:35] Daniel Whitey: Yeah.
[00:54:35] Jeff Compton: And the customer would drive around, the fault would go away. When I got it, I was literally 45 minutes and then there's the bad ground. I'm like, "How do you- Nice ... not know this? Like this- Right ... you know. And it's... I'm not bragging, it's just like I was amazed at what they couldn't do.
[00:54:50] Jeff Compton: EVAP, oh my, there wasn't a flat rate tech at the Cru- at the Hyundai store that I was at that would touch an EVAP fault. They wouldn't touch it. They gave it all to the straight time guy that worked in the bay next to me, an apprentice. And I'm watching him, I'm like, "This is not hard. Like this is..." But they just wouldn't do it.
[00:55:06] Jeff Compton: They would, they'd give it back to the tower, they'd cry a little bit, and then the tower would give them a service. Here's a timing belt job, you know, like when, when Hyundai- ... still had timing belts. That's how old I was. Mm-hmm. You know, or here's like another front cover to reseal, or here's like a, you know, a, a control arm noise and, and a brake job and...
[00:55:25] Jeff Compton: Y- you know what it was like. Like it was- Yep ... just here's a, here's a good ticket, get out of my face kind of thing, right? Or here's- ... here's two PDIs to do. So I didn't, I didn't last there either. Like, I was just like, "Are you kidding? Like you guys are all master techs." So that's, that's something that's always made me laugh.
[00:55:43] Jeff Compton: And it's like- ... "Oh, that guy over in the corner, he's our master tech."
[00:55:50] Jeff Compton: Not throwing shade, people. Don't get mad at the Jaded Mechanic. Um, so you finally left Hyundai, right?
[00:55:59] Daniel Whitey: Yeah.
[00:56:00] Jeff Compton: Yeah.
[00:56:01] Daniel Whitey: So I left- Where'd you go from there? I was, uh... So I only, I only was at that Hyundai dealer for For almost a year.
[00:56:09] Jeff Compton: Yeah.
[00:56:10] Daniel Whitey: So this is what happened. My service manager that left-
[00:56:14] Jeff Compton: Mm-hmm ...
[00:56:14] Daniel Whitey: my Chrysler dealer, he was there, and he was there for quite a while, but then he left on us as well, and-
[00:56:21] Jeff Compton: Yeah
[00:56:21] Daniel Whitey: it was kind of like, "Okay, what's going on here?" You know? So then they hired a new guy to come in. Long story short, I went on vacation. I was gone for, like, a week and a half. I went down to- Right ... Colorado for my buddy's wedding. Okay. And then I come back, the new service manager that they hired had quit.
[00:56:37] Daniel Whitey: The- ... parts manager, the parts manager had quit. The service- Yeah ... advisors had quit. You know? So then we were like, "Uh, what are we supposed to do?" So the owner of the, the Hyundai store, he was actually a really good guy. He didn't wanna lose, like us, the techs. Yeah. So he was paying us our f- our wage, our flat rate wage straight time, and we would just come in and, you know, come in at 8:00 in the morning, work, you know, an eight-hour day, and we were just catching up on, you know, our engine jobs and- Yeah
[00:57:11] Daniel Whitey: different things we had l- kicking around. So that lasted for a good, I don't know, month and a half probably ... before they got someone else in there.
[00:57:20] Jeff Compton: Yeah.
[00:57:20] Daniel Whitey: You know? And then I just, the sort of, for me, the writing was sort of on the wall that I wanted to try to get into, like, a, like, a straight time fleet-
[00:57:32] Jeff Compton: Yeah
[00:57:33] Daniel Whitey: sort of an environment. Yeah. Yeah. So I was at Hyundai for about a year, like I said, and then, uh, I left there, and I took, um, I took the job where I am now that I've been at for, it'll be four years in November.
[00:57:49] Jeff Compton: Wow.
[00:57:49] Daniel Whitey: I've been at this same place, and it was- Congratulations ... actually pretty wild. Thank you.
[00:57:54] Daniel Whitey: Yeah. Thank you. This is the longest I've been at a place, you know, since I left Chrysler.
[00:57:59] Jeff Compton: Yeah, yeah.
[00:58:00] Daniel Whitey: And I don't really have any intention on leaving, but, um, it was- That's good ... pretty wild because, um, I got the job, and I wasn't really sure how I did in the interview. I thought it went okay, but I wasn't, you know, I wasn't sure, and then I got offered the job, and I accepted it.
[00:58:15] Daniel Whitey: And then maybe about two, two weeks later, after I accepted this job, I found out I was gonna be a father. Oh. So I was just, like, stoked that I found- Yeah ... this job and took it, you know, sort of a thing. So at least I- Yes ... didn't have to worry about the financial stress of being flat rate anymore-
[00:58:34] Jeff Compton: Yeah ...
[00:58:35] Daniel Whitey: you know?
[00:58:35] Jeff Compton: Steady,
[00:58:35] Daniel Whitey: predictable-
[00:58:36] Jeff Compton: Yeah ... income. Yeah. Yeah.
[00:58:38] Daniel Whitey: Yeah. Exactly. So what- So where I work, it's, um... Sorry. Oh, go on. What, so
[00:58:44] Jeff Compton: because you've, you've heard some of the conversations, and people have said that the saying is that, you know, like, people don't quit jobs, they quit managers, right? Mm-hmm. And you kind of talk about, like, you had a manager that you really liked, and you kind of followed him.
[00:58:57] Jeff Compton: Like, that- Yep ... that happens a lot, especially in the bigger cities, right? Like, especially within dealer groups within- Big cities, that happens. Like a service manager that's known to like treat techs good, it doesn't really matter what the brand is, they'll go to another store and all of a sudden like technicians are following there 'cause they're like, "Yeah, the..."
[00:59:16] Jeff Compton: So in this industry, it's not just about the dealer thing. Your people that are in charge of your, how your technicians are treated You know, that kind of will... And I'm, again, this is gonna sound so divisive. You know, that are the, the, the go-betweens between the advisors and the, and the techs, and, like, that's the manager's role.
[00:59:35] Jeff Compton: He's the leader. Um, if they're strong, you can do... There's no, there's no limit to what you can achieve as, as a business, as a shop, right? Within limits, of course, but there is no limit. You can do, you can have incredible numbers. But if that person doesn't, isn't respected or doesn't know what they're doing or, like, won't fight for the technician for that hour that they should have got paid, you can just, you might as well stick a pin in it and call it done, 'cause it's gonna, it's not gonna be what it should be.
[01:00:08] Jeff Compton: It'll be something.
[01:00:09] Daniel Whitey: Mm-hmm.
[01:00:10] Jeff Compton: Maybe you'll make some money, but it won't be what it could be, so. So you left for the independent side, and I know for me, when I did that, all of a sudden I was really worried that I wasn't gonna be able to fix anything if it was a brand that I wasn't familiar with. And w- did you- Right
[01:00:28] Jeff Compton: did you think about that or?
[01:00:30] Daniel Whitey: So I definitely felt that way when I left Chrysler, because I was going to a new brand.
[01:00:36] Jeff Compton: Mm-hmm.
[01:00:37] Daniel Whitey: And then I kind of thought, "I don't know, I guess we'll see how it goes." But- Yeah ... you know, my boss that, you know, I followed there, he, he was like, "Oh, you'll be fine. It's, they're, they're pretty simple."
[01:00:47] Daniel Whitey: You know, he kind of reassured- Yeah ... me it'll be fine. Where I am now, so I'm at, uh, I'm at a fleet shop. Mm. I work for pretty big company. We're in the courier business, I'll just say.
[01:01:01] Jeff Compton: Okay. Yeah, yeah.
[01:01:02] Daniel Whitey: Couriers and deliveries and stuff like that.
[01:01:05] Jeff Compton: Yep.
[01:01:05] Daniel Whitey: So I took, uh, I took the job there. And what I never, what I didn't think about until I had been there for maybe, uh, the first month I was there, I realized being here is kinda like being at the dealer.
[01:01:17] Daniel Whitey: Yeah. The cars, the trucks are literally all the same. Yeah. They're literally the same trucks, but they're all identical, and you know what I'm trying to say? I never- Yeah, 100% ... I didn't think about that before I went there. Yep. But, um, going there, I realized pretty quickly it's... Everything becomes, uh, repetitive motion after a while, and then- Mm-hmm
[01:01:40] Daniel Whitey: you get quicker with certain jobs that you do a few times there, and it's, uh- Yeah ... yeah, it's cool that way.
[01:01:46] Jeff Compton: Yeah. I, I know- Definitely ... I worked on a, I worked on a FedEx fleet, and that was, like, probably, I'd never worked on so many Fords in my life. Right? That's how many I worked on that. And then it was just like, it was one V10 or V8, you know, box truck, FedEx truck after another.
[01:02:05] Jeff Compton: 3500 rear, you know, dual rear wheels. Mm-hmm. Like, it was just all the time, nonstop. Drive shafts, you know, rear brakes. Like, to where you're doing them, you're knocking them out so fast it's making people go, "Holy crap," like, you know- Uh, you did that rear, rear job in the time that I've seen some guys do a caravan.
[01:02:22] Jeff Compton: It's like, yeah, like I've just done... It's like you said, it's getting the reps in. I've done hundreds of them now, right? Yeah. So they, they look at these bigger jobs and it's like, "Mm, yeah." But, you know. And we had to do them all on the ground. That's the thing. We didn't have a hoist that would lift them. But I mean, we for the, for the, for the guy that we did, like he was f- He had it figured out.
[01:02:43] Jeff Compton: So he was one guy by himself, and it was like he could get the work done. So he was sending up to the fleet shop that I worked at. And he had a hoist that he could lift his and do the tires and the thing, but he, he realized that he was, like, straight time and unionized and, like, you know. So he'd do, like- Mm
[01:03:00] Jeff Compton: one brake job, one tire job in the morning, and that was it. And in the afternoon, he'd do one brake job, one tire job in the morning, and that was it. He was two, two trucks a day. And we'd br- bring them up to our place, blow them all apart, tell him what they needed. He'd send parts up the next day, you know, so it's like it was just sitting there.
[01:03:18] Jeff Compton: Yep. And we'd go down, and the same one that when we left that he was working on, it was still there. And he was eating his... I joke 'cause every time we'd walk in, he'd be like, "Hey," and he was in the back eating, eating his lunch- ... or eating, drinking a coffee and eating a donut. Like, it didn't matter what day that you went in, he was in the office eating something.
[01:03:36] Jeff Compton: And, uh- Just enjoying life ... he joked. It was like, "Yeah." I mean, he, he's like, "I tried to retire there a couple years ago," and he says, "They, they threw a bunch of money at me to stay on." He says, "So I went and bought a new tractor." He owned a farm. He's like, "I went and bought a new tractor." So he's like, "I'm just trying to pay the tractor off" and I'm like, "This is the life," you know?
[01:03:54] Jeff Compton: So not saying that that's what you do. Yeah. Is that you're... I'm not saying you're dogging it, Daniel. Yeah,
[01:03:59] Daniel Whitey: no, no. Yeah, yeah. No, no worries. I didn't take it that way.
[01:04:03] Jeff Compton: Yeah.
[01:04:03] Daniel Whitey: No worries.
[01:04:03] Jeff Compton: He dogged it, for sure. Um, but yeah- ... that's what I just found is... And, you know, the thing is, it's... I was talking to a friend, and she's, she's got a fleet of ambulances that she, she works on.
[01:04:15] Jeff Compton: Um, Chevy 3500 six liters and, uh, gases. And, um, I'm really familiar with them too 'cause I worked on a fleet of those. So, like, we were talking about a mass airflow problem that she was having with the lean codes, and a mass airflow, and all this kind of stuff. And I s- uh, so I went through the whole ramble of how, like, you know, she was telling me how the data was, uh, corrupt, like, or skewed.
[01:04:37] Jeff Compton: And it had a piece of foam in the mass airflow that had obviously ingested the mass airflow, and she, she changed it. And I, we got talking about this, you know, the different ways that you can, what the data should look like and how it should act, and all this kind of stuff. And I said, "Or you can just walk over to another unit and get the air box out of that unit and plug it in this unit and go for a drive."
[01:04:54] Jeff Compton: Like, and that's the beauty of- Swapnautics.
[01:04:58] Daniel Whitey: Yeah, that's the beauty of fleet. That's what I call that.
[01:04:59] Jeff Compton: Yeah. Yeah, it is, yeah. But that's the beauty of fleet work, right? Like, if you have- Yeah ... you got 10 other cars with an identical part, just swap it if you can swap it real quick, you know? Like-
[01:05:08] Daniel Whitey: Oh, for sure.
[01:05:09] Daniel Whitey: Yep ...
[01:05:10] Jeff Compton: you know. It
[01:05:10] Daniel Whitey: was- Or even, uh, yeah, sometimes we've had, um... We couldn't get parts, and we had, like, a retired unit outside- Yes ... so we'd steal the part off that one- Yeah ... and then use it on the truck that's in service. Yeah, for sure. All the time.
[01:05:22] Jeff Compton: All the time. Yep. That was the beau- Like, yeah, they always seem to have- You know, you need a connector, walk out to the dead, you know, the graveyard, cut the connector off or, you know, headlamp bezel- Yeah
[01:05:32] Jeff Compton: or headlamp or, like, you know, wiper motor- For sure ... blower motor, switches, like- Oh, yeah ... all that good
[01:05:40] Daniel Whitey: stuff.
[01:05:40] Jeff Compton: Anything. Yeah.
[01:05:41] Daniel Whitey: Anything's fair game.
[01:05:43] Jeff Compton: Yeah, so-
[01:05:43] Daniel Whitey: Yep ...
[01:05:44] Jeff Compton: the baby comes along, you get a s- a pretty substantial, you know, steady gig It's all good?
[01:05:50] Daniel Whitey: Yeah.
[01:05:51] Jeff Compton: Yeah.
[01:05:52] Daniel Whitey: Oh, yeah. It's been going great. Yeah, no, it's been going great.
[01:05:55] Daniel Whitey: He's, uh-
[01:05:56] Jeff Compton: Uh-huh ...
[01:05:56] Daniel Whitey: he's almost, he's turning three shortly.
[01:05:59] Jeff Compton: Oh.
[01:06:00] Daniel Whitey: And I have a little girl too. She's turning, she's turning two not too far after she- Nice ... he is turning three. So yeah, they're about a year apart.
[01:06:08] Jeff Compton: Very
[01:06:09] Daniel Whitey: cool. And, um, I go to work. I go for a morning shift, and then by the time I get back I can play with them.
[01:06:14] Daniel Whitey: I was doing... When I first started working there before he was born, and for a while after, I was doing kind of more like an afternoon shift. I would kinda start- Mm-hmm ... I would start around 10:00 o'clock, and then I would leave at, you know, 8:00, 9:00 o'clock at night.
[01:06:29] Jeff Compton: Yeah.
[01:06:29] Daniel Whitey: So now I'm, I've been fortunate enough to be on, uh, the morning, more of a morning shift so I can, you know, at least play with them when I get back from home.
[01:06:37] Daniel Whitey: When I get back home- Yeah ... which is great. And, um- No ... yeah, no, it's been a good gig for me. I've, uh, I've really enjoyed it. And we have a... Which we had at the dealer, you know. We have a safety boot allowance. The only difference is it's much more substantial than what was at the dealer. Yeah. And then we also have a tool allowance every year, $1,000.
[01:06:55] Jeff Compton: Yeah.
[01:06:56] Daniel Whitey: Yeah.
[01:06:56] Jeff Compton: That helps, eh? Yeah.
[01:06:57] Daniel Whitey: Oh, it's great. It's, it's really sweet. Yeah. I never, I always wanted to work at a place where, you know, I'd have, you know, something like that, right? It's, it's- 'Cause, you know, you can buy as many tools as you want, but you're always gonna need more. You know, I've bought tons of tools since I started working at this place.
[01:07:14] Daniel Whitey: Yeah. Things I didn't have. You know, bigger wrenches. You know, different things, right? Different, bigger sockets. Yeah. More standards. You know- Yeah ... imperial sockets, right? Yeah.
[01:07:24] Jeff Compton: Yep. That's the thing, 'cause a lot of that, those boxes, those box trucks, that kind of stuff, they're still built with a lot of imperial on them, right?
[01:07:31] Jeff Compton: Like we joke, you know- Oh, completely ... you work in the dealer, like it's, you never see... "What's a 9/16 again?" Like y- You know, it's your 14 mil, dum-dum. But, like-
[01:07:40] Daniel Whitey: Yeah.
[01:07:41] Jeff Compton: You know, when you're, when you're out in that stuff, it's like, yeah, you're, you go to service some of the doors or, you know, the roll-up doors in the back or any of that.
[01:07:49] Jeff Compton: It's all standard stuff in the back. Like it's all that way- It is, yep ... 'cause it's still-
[01:07:52] Daniel Whitey: Completely ...
[01:07:53] Jeff Compton: you know? Yeah. 100%. Now, um, I always found that the trip for me with working on, 'cause again, multiple places that I've worked we've had different fleets like that. What did you find when you worked f- with the drivers directly?
[01:08:06] Jeff Compton: You know what I mean? Like do you find that some drivers are just like really hard on equipment, as Corbl임 says? Or like...
[01:08:13] Daniel Whitey: I... There, there's definitely drivers that I'm sure are a lot harder on the equipment than others.
[01:08:20] Jeff Compton: Mm-hmm.
[01:08:20] Daniel Whitey: Uh, I will say that, without getting into specifics, there was a few drivers we had that I had, uh, a few, uh, issues with for the way they were treating me.
[01:08:31] Daniel Whitey: That- Yeah ... um, I'm just happy that, uh, they're not driving in our sector of the company anymore. Okay. They're driving in a different area where I don't have to deal with them anymore. Yeah. But the most part, the, I will say they're, they're pretty- Polite, respectful. Mm-hmm. There's some that are kind of like, "Eh, whatever."
[01:08:49] Daniel Whitey: They don't really- Yeah ... care. They just treat the truck like, uh... You know, they treat it like it's never gonna break down. That there's- Yeah ... it's either, you know, full throttle or nothing. And they just drive it till the wheel, like, the wheels fall off. Yeah. But then there's others that actually, you know, you can tell they care a little bit more about it, and they try to...
[01:09:10] Daniel Whitey: At least you can tell it's clean inside. They clean it. You know- Yeah ... the cab and everything. They keep, try to at least keep it clean. Yeah. You know, you can tell that they care more than the other guy who has garbage everywhere and everything, right?
[01:09:23] Jeff Compton: Well, that's... You, you know- Yeah ... you get to learn what some of them, their favorite snacks are, right?
[01:09:26] Jeff Compton: If you keep seeing them in the same truck. Oh,
[01:09:28] Daniel Whitey: yeah. It's like- That's for sure.
[01:09:30] Jeff Compton: John really likes Twinkies, like
[01:09:33] Daniel Whitey: Yep.
[01:09:33] Jeff Compton: Um-
[01:09:34] Daniel Whitey: Oh, yeah ...
[01:09:34] Jeff Compton: what always made me laugh or, or just shake my head was some of them is like they would come in and they would complain about this truck. And they go, "It's doing this again," or, you know, like, "The AC's not as cold as John's truck."
[01:09:46] Jeff Compton: And you're like, "Okay."
[01:09:47] Daniel Whitey: Right. "
[01:09:47] Jeff Compton: We've already been through this, right? Like, your, your fleet manager doesn't want us fixing it, right? Like, they don't wanna put any more money into this. So, like, you're complaining to me, but, like, I'm not in charge of that, right? Like, it's already been decided up the thing that..."
[01:10:01] Jeff Compton: Like, you know. You know. Or they would get in, they'd be like, "Oh, the new truck is so much faster." "Well, yeah. It's a new truck." Like, "This one's worn out-" There's- ... you know.
[01:10:13] Daniel Whitey: There's, there's definitely a certain amount of, "Oh, this tru- I drove this truck and it felt better than my truck- Yeah ... that's out of, out for service right now," or, "It did this," or, "It did that."
[01:10:24] Daniel Whitey: There's definitely some comparison that they do.
[01:10:26] Jeff Compton: Yeah.
[01:10:27] Daniel Whitey: My big... We definitely interact with them pretty well on a daily basis because, you know, we'll be, we'll be in the shop doing our PMs that we have to do for that week. And then, you know, if they have an issue with something, you know, they just drive up to the garage door and, you know- Yeah
[01:10:42] Daniel Whitey: then they'll ask you for help. And then you... Hopefully, if it's something quick, you can just get it done so they can get on the road. 'Cause usually when they come over, the truck's already loaded with freight, right?
[01:10:51] Jeff Compton: Yeah. Yeah.
[01:10:52] Daniel Whitey: Yeah.
[01:10:53] Jeff Compton: And that's, that's gotta be a hard job, eh? Driving in, in Toronto. Oh,
[01:10:57] Daniel Whitey: yeah.
[01:10:57] Jeff Compton: Driving one of them trucks. Like, I wouldn't wanna do it. Like, I, I road rage so bad just getting to work now that, like- ... I, it, you couldn't pay me enough money to drive anything as a job. Like, I am so- My brother, we're sitting... Oh, it's funny. We go and leave the gas station today, and we're getting ready to turn, and there's a guy in front of me, and the light turns green, and he's turning a left, and the customer, customer, person in front of him is turning left, too.
[01:11:25] Jeff Compton: So they both are left. It's clear. And he's sitting there waiting and waiting and waiting, and this has been a, like, it's a bit of a high traffic zone. We've been sitting, like, 10 minutes at this light already. And I'm, I'm behind him. He's the first in line, and he's not going. Well, I laid on my horn until I thought I was gonna break it.
[01:11:42] Jeff Compton: And then you see him- ... and he creeps, uh, you know, older gentleman. Probably not gonna go to heaven for that. But my brother is, like, just looking at me like, "Why do you let that bother you so much?" And I'm like, "Because they're flipping..." And he's right. Like, it, it's, it sh- Like, he's holding me up. That's the thing.
[01:11:59] Jeff Compton: I'm like, uh, he's holding me up. I've got nowhere important to be. You know what I mean? Like, we're just out doing the thing today, right? Like, we're running around doing grocery shopping and shit like that. But I, it's just the way I'm wired now after I lived in Ottawa for so long I can't, I can't drive in traffic.
[01:12:15] Jeff Compton: I'm, I'm good for about 20 minutes- I
[01:12:21] Daniel Whitey: definitely... Yeah ... to get in and 20 minutes- That's more than enough, eh? ... going home. Yeah. It, I can't do it. I definitely wouldn't wanna drive all day. There's no way. But imagine them getting in those- I wouldn't wanna... Yeah.
[01:12:26] Jeff Compton: Yeah.
[01:12:26] Daniel Whitey: Those trucks. I know. All day, I, I wouldn't be able to do it either, to be honest with you.
[01:12:30] Daniel Whitey: Yeah. I don't even think I'd wanna drive even just, like, a car all day. Yeah.
[01:12:36] Jeff Compton: Yeah.
[01:12:36] Daniel Whitey: I wouldn't. I, I just wouldn't s- wouldn't be into that myself either. My back'll get stiff. You gotta get out. I just couldn't do it. Yeah.
[01:12:45] Jeff Compton: Half them, the AC... You know those AC, the box trucks, those AC units don't work for shit.
[01:12:50] Jeff Compton: Like, they're terrible. You got the door open half the time. They're noisy, clunky, bangy. The radio's like crap.
[01:12:55] Daniel Whitey: Oh, yeah. Banging around, shakes, vibrations, noise. Yeah. I know. It's gotta be tough, for sure. Yeah. Some of the trucks, like, they're, they don't have air con- they're just not equipped- Yeah ... with air conditioning.
[01:13:06] Daniel Whitey: Yeah. And then the ones that are, you know, when they break down we do our best to get them, you know, fix them.
[01:13:13] Jeff Compton: Mm.
[01:13:13] Daniel Whitey: But, um, you know, it's, we're in the time of year right now where that's everybody's primary- Yeah ... concern. And then you end up getting a backlog of stuff, so it's just trying to keep that moving.
[01:13:24] Daniel Whitey: It's, um- Yeah. The other thing I found, too, I f- when I first went to this place and, uh, you know, I didn't have the, to worry about being flat rate anymore or anything like that, I've realized after all this time, doesn't matter if you're getting paid by the hour or you're flat rate, at least for me in my situation, I still...
[01:13:45] Daniel Whitey: When we're getting backed up with trucks out of service and things- Yeah ... are breaking down and we have a lot to do, it's still the same level of stress, man.
[01:13:52] Jeff Compton: Oh, yeah.
[01:13:53] Daniel Whitey: Or if not wor- or if not worse.
[01:13:55] Jeff Compton: Yeah.
[01:13:55] Daniel Whitey: You know? Yeah. I've, I've realized that the last sort of year or so. It's same stress.
[01:14:02] Jeff Compton: Yeah. I find-
[01:14:03] Daniel Whitey: Just with the workload and the backlog
[01:14:06] Jeff Compton: in the fleet world it's a
[01:14:06] Daniel Whitey: bit different. When it happens, right?
[01:14:08] Jeff Compton: Yeah. 'Cause in the dealership it'll ebb and flow. Like, we talk about the tire season and then we'll talk about, like, you know, uh, September is always a rough month 'cause everybody's w- kid went to school. So nobody had any money. Yeah. And the car was gone from, you know, where it had been, and then showed up somewhere else and it broke down and it was all good.
[01:14:25] Jeff Compton: But, like, when you're dealing with fleet, fleet is always that level of stress of, like, we always, always, always, always have either too much backed up, like units down, and we always have to have a certain amount of units ready to go. Or we're spending too much money and we have to dial back. And then it's like, well, if I don't fix it, you're gonna have more of a backlog of work.
[01:14:47] Jeff Compton: But if we do fix it, we're spending too much money, right? Like, and people, they laugh, but the reality is, is like, if the air conditioning's not working, they're not taking that unit out of, out of service. Like, it's still work- it's still being used.
[01:14:57] Daniel Whitey: Exactly. Yeah.
[01:14:58] Jeff Compton: You know what I mean? My brother was like...
[01:15:00] Jeff Compton: 'Cause I was talking about I bought myself a sweet fan for the shop to work in, and he's like, "Oh yeah, 'cause you don't have air conditioning, right?" I'm like, "I haven't, I haven't worked in a shop that had working air conditioning re-..." Well- It has it, but it isn't like when we think of when we walk into the salesman's office and it's like 61, and they've got their sleeves rolled down, and they're sitting there looking like little penguins shaking 'cause it's so cold.
[01:15:25] Jeff Compton: Like, the shops I've been when they had a- air conditioning, like it took the humidity out, but it wasn't cool. Like, I mean, it was still pu- pushing 75, you know, which is, is hot in, in, in, you know. Whereas, like, I've been at Lucas's shop in the summertime and the AC going, and it's like the whole shop is, like, comfortable.
[01:15:47] Jeff Compton: You know what I mean? It's chilly in there. Like, it's a cool 68. Nice. You know, and you're like, "Wow." And, um, but up in Canada, nah, we don't air conditioning shit, so. Yeah, they don't pull the truck out of service 'cause the AC doesn't work. They don't care. Like, it's gonna, it's gonna keep rolling, right? Like, you know.
[01:16:03] Daniel Whitey: The driver who usually drives that truck may say, "I don't wanna drive it today. It's too hot. The AC doesn't work." Then they'll do their best to find them a truck where the AC- Yeah ... works, but then somebody else will take that truck or, or- Yeah ... it'll sit there for a few days- Yeah ... while it's too hot. It all just depends.
[01:16:19] Daniel Whitey: But, um- Yeah ... yeah, definitely it's that time of year. We're already, uh, in the midst of that already. Yesterday-
[01:16:26] Jeff Compton: Mm-hmm.
[01:16:27] Daniel Whitey: Yeah ... I put a compressor on a truck, which isn't too bad to do. I just gotta hope the lines come off, 'cause then if they- Yeah ... don't, then I gotta change the lines too.
[01:16:34] Jeff Compton: Yeah.
[01:16:34] Daniel Whitey: Which again- That's-
[01:16:35] Daniel Whitey: just not the end of the world, just takes more time, you know? Yeah. Turns a repair into, you know, a lot longer than it could be, right?
[01:16:43] Jeff Compton: Mm-hmm.
[01:16:43] Daniel Whitey: We're always trying to, you know, obviously, do things qui- as quickly as we can, but then there's certain things just, uh, obviously just can't be helped, right? Yep.
[01:16:51] Jeff Compton: Now, how many techs in your current place now?
[01:16:55] Daniel Whitey: So in total there is, uh, 10.
[01:16:59] Jeff Compton: Okay. Not bad.
[01:17:01] Daniel Whitey: Yeah, 10 guys.
[01:17:02] Jeff Compton: Yeah.
[01:17:04] Daniel Whitey: Yeah. That's a good- So it's, it's a good size. It's a good size. And, um, again- Everybody gets along? Great. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It's, it's a good group of guys to work with. Um, yeah, no complaints there. Again, I wasn't sure what to expect when I got, when I got there, but the nice thing actually was...
[01:17:23] Daniel Whitey: So after I had my interview, when I got offered the job, the manager at the time, when he called me to, you know, let me know that I've got the job, I, I said, "Listen, I'm, I'm pretty certain I wanna take this job. Like, I'm like 99% sure." But I said, "If it's okay with you, would you mind if I came by and at least, like, checked out the shop and, like, met some- Yeah
[01:17:44] Daniel Whitey: of the guys?" And, uh, he was actually okay with that, which was really nice. So then I got to go, and then I met a couple of the guys. I looked around and then... It wasn't a long thing. I was maybe there for, I don't know, maybe half an hour tops, and then after that I was like, I shook his hand. I said, "All right, I'm in."
[01:18:01] Jeff Compton: Yeah.
[01:18:01] Daniel Whitey: You know? That was it. Yeah. So that was a cool thing, too, that he, uh, was okay with me doing that.
[01:18:09] Jeff Compton: Yeah. What about, um, did you hear any, any... Like, did anybody, when you, so when you gave your notice, like at, at the Hyundai dealer, you know, we, we talk sometimes and people say, "Oh, well, you know, they finally offered me, you know, a different, a raise," or, "They finally offered me something different."
[01:18:27] Jeff Compton: Did that happen with you? Or they're just like, "See you"?
[01:18:30] Daniel Whitey: So when I, when I went to talk to the, you know, the owner of the dealer, who I liked, he was a really good guy actually. I got along with him really well. He, he was, he treated us well I think overall. Yeah. He was, he was definitely not a bad guy at all.
[01:18:45] Daniel Whitey: But so he, um, I told, I gave, had to give him my notice and then he said, "You know, like, is there anything I can do? Like, can I ask why?" he said. And I just told him where I'm going to work, and I gave him an idea of like what they're paying me per hour, and he just was like, "Well, you know, obviously I can't really compete with that."
[01:19:06] Daniel Whitey: And, uh, but, you know, that's... He wished me well. Like, it- Yeah ... we left on, like, good terms, and he totally understood why I left.
[01:19:14] Jeff Compton: Mm-hmm.
[01:19:14] Daniel Whitey: You know? So we, we definitely left on good terms.
[01:19:17] Jeff Compton: Yeah.
[01:19:18] Daniel Whitey: Yeah.
[01:19:19] Jeff Compton: It, it's, it's-
[01:19:20] Daniel Whitey: It was pretty, it was pretty painless really. It w- And I, I mean, I was only, I was only there for about a year.
[01:19:26] Daniel Whitey: It was harder leaving the Chrysler store.
[01:19:28] Jeff Compton: Right.
[01:19:29] Daniel Whitey: That was- Even that interaction was, uh, a lot different than my one when I left Hyundai, if you know what I
[01:19:37] Jeff Compton: mean. Well, tell, tell me about that. When you left the Chrysler, like, did they, did they come up and throw money at the problem, or- Well,
[01:19:43] Daniel Whitey: he didn't throw any money at me.
[01:19:46] Daniel Whitey: Yeah. But he was just try- he kinda tried to say, like, "You know, if you don't tell me what's going on, like, I can't help you," and blah, blah, blah. And I was like, "Well, you know, we've kind of been down this road before, and I just think it's enough. And I just... You know, it's been a great six and a half years.
[01:20:03] Daniel Whitey: You know, thanks for everything, but-"
[01:20:05] Jeff Compton: Yeah ... "
[01:20:06] Daniel Whitey: you know, I, I'm gonna, I'm gonna do this. I've already made up my mind." And then- Yeah ... even there, we left on, we left on, like, pretty decent terms, 'cause I would still go back there and visit, like, the guys- Yeah ... that are, that are there. And then I would see him, and he'd still say hi to me.
[01:20:20] Daniel Whitey: So, you know, like, it was fine overall. But yeah, that was a hard, a hard decision to make, leaving the, the Chrysler store, for sure.
[01:20:27] Jeff Compton: That's fu- Yeah ... that's funny, the way, Daniel, when they say to you, "Well, if you don't let me know," like, "What can I do about it?" And it's like, you see my paycheck, you know-
[01:20:36] Daniel Whitey: Exactly
[01:20:37] Jeff Compton: on. I mean, you see it. You know the hours are s- are sucking, right? And, and, you know, maybe... I don't know if they tell themselves that it was like, "Well, the hours are low 'cause he's not hustling." I don't know if that's really... It probably is a big part of what a lot of them tell themselves. And, you know- Mm
[01:20:53] Jeff Compton: there are guys that just don't hustle, you know what I mean? Like, they just kinda just come in and do their thing, and they- and, you know, they're, they're totally satisfied. Me, when I was flat rate, like, if you'd have told me that there was more work to get done And it was like pretty easy, good work that I was good at doing.
[01:21:15] Jeff Compton: Oh yeah, I, I, I would've jumped at the chance to say... Like I, I, I tell everybody all the time, I worked a lot of six-day weeks, man. 'Cause it was- Right ... trying to just get up to 50, you know? And, and I would come in and if it was like, you know, 'cause the regular day there'd be 12 of us in the, in the, in the Chrysler store, and on Saturday there'd be three.
[01:21:36] Jeff Compton: And I was like, "Well, I can make, you know, there's a lot better opportunity," is what you're telling yourself. A lot better opportunity- Mm-hmm ... when there's only three of us. Now, 'cause there's not many cars coming in. But I would be like, "Well, you know, I'm sitting here at 41 hours and it's Saturday, you know, uh, I'll come in and I'll, I'll hopefully I'll hit 50.
[01:21:57] Jeff Compton: You know, one, one good job and I'll, I'll hit 50." And more days than not, like you were there from, I remember it was like you'd start at 8:00 and you'd be done at 4:00 instead of being done at 5:00. And by 1:00 you had nothing. You had like, you had indigestion from the cheap lunch that they bought you and no more work.
[01:22:15] Jeff Compton: And then it was like, "Ah, I guess I'll change the oil in my own car," right? Like I'll do something like that or, you know.
[01:22:21] Daniel Whitey: Right. Yeah.
[01:22:22] Jeff Compton: But you, you didn't come in and, and make 10 hours on a Saturday most of the time. Like it was just, it sucked, you know? Um, and now it doesn't matter what they could pay me. My, my rule is like if any place is open on Saturday I don't even apply to it.
[01:22:36] Jeff Compton: I don't even apply- Mm-hmm ... to that job. I'm just not, not doing it. Weekends, weekends are mine and, and, you know, I don't think they should be... Well- You can make the argument, I guess, for why we should be open on Saturdays if we truly wanna serve our customers, and I can kinda see the argument. But the thing is, like, I never, in the dealerships landscape, it never worked.
[01:22:59] Jeff Compton: Because if I started a job on Saturday, and then I wanted two consecutive days, Sunday and Monday, I- when I came back on Tuesday morning, my job from Saturday was finished by somebody else every time.
[01:23:11] Daniel Whitey: Okay. Yeah.
[01:23:12] Jeff Compton: So I never got two consecutive days. So you come in on, on, you know, if you, you come in on Monday maybe and you do your, your wrap-up, and then it's like, "Well, you can have any day off this week you want."
[01:23:25] Jeff Compton: And you're like, but you're always carrying over. You're always carrying over, so you never got two days. So I worked a ton of six-day weeks. Ton.
[01:23:32] Daniel Whitey: Yeah.
[01:23:34] Jeff Compton: And that's just what did it for me. I did as well,
[01:23:35] Daniel Whitey: yeah.
[01:23:36] Jeff Compton: You know? No, for sure. And I, like- Yeah ... I talked about the indigestion, but it was like, the running joke is always, you know, pizza, right?
[01:23:43] Jeff Compton: Like, we got... We didn't get pizza. We had a local diner that sent down, like, you could order anything from the menu. This is, boy, inflation's a bitch now. As long as it was under 12 bucks, you could get whatever you wanted for lunch. Like, you could get, like, a hamburger with cold fries, or you could get, like, you know, a lasagna with, like, cold garlic bread or something.
[01:24:06] Jeff Compton: It was like, that's how long ago it is. It was 12 bucks. Now you can't eat anything for under 20. And then you'd go out to the sales office, and they'd be, like, eating, like, pizza or, you know, subs got catered in or, like, it was just like- And we're like, "You guys haven't even sold a car today." Like, and y- and your lunch budget's, like, you know, 300 bucks.
[01:24:29] Jeff Compton: And, um, and ours in the back was, like, 50 bucks. Yeah, it was a, it was a trip. So I learned a lot on Saturdays, and I had some good Saturdays too where I g- I, I made some good money, but more times than not it was just not worth being there. And now that dealer that I spent all my tenure at, they're not open anymore on Saturdays, so-
[01:24:48] Daniel Whitey: Oh, really?
[01:24:49] Daniel Whitey: You know. Yeah. Oh, nice.
[01:24:51] Jeff Compton: Yeah. That's good. And, and a lot of them around here now, the only... If they do open, they just open the quick lane. They don't book anything else in the back. Like, you can't... I can, I can remember a joke, like, I- it was Saturdays was recall day. Recall day- Yeah ... child seat anchor bolt day.
[01:25:08] Jeff Compton: Like, it was just, you know, towed in from other dealer day. Like, you know, they'd, they'd- ... they'd come in and it's like, "You're, you're from the other side of Ottawa. Like, you're literally, like, 90 minutes to drive around Ottawa. Why are you here?" "Well, the other dealer's not open on Saturday, and we've had this ongoing thing since we bought this."
[01:25:26] Jeff Compton: And you're like, "Oh my... Are you kidding me right now," right? So you would dig into it, and you'd find the ghost in the machine, but now this customer's like, you know, you're waiting to order a module on Monday, and now the customer's, like, calling. "I need my car, I need my car, I need my car." And it's like, you know, "I, I'm having to rent a car.
[01:25:46] Jeff Compton: I live 90 minutes away." Lady, you're the one that brought it 90 minutes 'cause the last two dealers couldn't fix it, and now you're blowing up our phone about, like, the commute? I'm sorry. Like, what do you want us to do? It's a free repair. It's a warranty repair. I just... I would just shake my head. Like, I just...
[01:26:03] Jeff Compton: It's where a lot of, I think, like, my sense of humor about this industry came, 'cause it was just like, it was like Groundhog Day so many, for so long, right? Like, it was just- Rinse, wash, repeat. Here's another recall that comes out that, like, the first time- Yeah ... you do it, the time sucks. And then I can remember, um, Jeep Liberty ball joints that, like, were, like...
[01:26:28] Jeff Compton: I remember the first one we were doing, everybody's like, you know, getting buried under the time, and then by the fifth one you're just, like, zinging them out. Like, it was just amazing how- Yeah ... fast you done them. And the Dakotas had an upper ball joint recall too, and it was just like you could do them so fast.
[01:26:43] Jeff Compton: So fast. You know, everybody was like... You'd be fighting over them. It was, it was ridiculous. Like, it was a good job, you know? It was, um... You know, the one thing I hated seeing coming in was anything on a PT Cruiser. Just hated it. Just hated it. Like, control arms, that was a good job. Everything else, F those little cars, man.
[01:27:03] Jeff Compton: They sucked. I hated them.
[01:27:04] Daniel Whitey: Never really worked on one other than, uh, like we... There was a guy who had one at the- Oh? ... when I worked at this place, but he would bring it in just for like, uh, you know, we'd change the oil on it. That was really it. Yeah. I'm sure it was there for other things too. I never touched it for anything other- Yeah
[01:27:20] Daniel Whitey: than that, though, you know? Yeah.
[01:27:22] Jeff Compton: Yeah. We had a couple customers with the turbocharge ones- Mm-hmm ... and they thought they were something special, right? Like that it was a really special little PT Cruiser.
[01:27:31] Daniel Whitey: You ever work on, uh, you ever do anything on a Prowler?
[01:27:36] Jeff Compton: Uh- Plymouth Prowler? A little bit. I had a... So, funny story.
[01:27:40] Jeff Compton: I had a Prowler come in one Saturday for a tire repair.
[01:27:44] Daniel Whitey: Okay.
[01:27:45] Jeff Compton: And I joke about this all the time, 'cause it was like, they're staggered sizes, right? Mm-hmm. Special order. He comes in on a Saturday. We hadn't sold the car. And he was all pissed off 'cause he'd bought at another dealer, and like, "Well, they're telling me it's gonna take, like, a, a week to get a tire."
[01:27:59] Jeff Compton: I'm like, "That's why he's here," and he's driving around and he's, like, having to put air in the thing, 'cause a nail in it or something, and the nail was at the point where you couldn't have plugged it. Not that I thought you should be plugging Prowler tires anyway.
[01:28:09] Daniel Whitey: Right. Yeah.
[01:28:10] Jeff Compton: But it was like... So we give him the estimate to replace the tire, and, um, 'cause again, it's a Prowler, low mileage, right?
[01:28:18] Jeff Compton: Like, they don't drive them, they just sit and look at them, wipe on them with a diaper. And he's like, "Well, that's the same price that they, they gave me. I thought I'd save some money coming here." It's like, we're buying the tire from the same vendor, dumbass. Like- Same ... there's only- Same place ... one place there's only one place that has this size and this brand.
[01:28:36] Jeff Compton: Like, what'd you think? Um, and I had, remember I had another guy come in- He carried a Viper tire in under his arm. He wanted the tire repaired. And I'm like, "It's a Viper." "Yeah." And I... So I explained to him like, like, "Here's what I can do. I can take this, bust this down, and put a plug in it, no problem. Um, but these letters that are on the side of the tire for speed rating, I technically have to grind that off because now it's a plug tire, it's not a speed rated.
[01:29:04] Jeff Compton: And he looked at me like I had shot his firstborn right in the head. And he looked at me like I was crazy, and he's like, "You gotta grind?" I'm like, "Yeah, you're supposed to grind that off the tire. It's not a speed rated tire anymore." And he's like, "You can't fucking do that." And I said, "I don't think we should plug this tire for you, sir."
[01:29:18] Jeff Compton: And he left, and he was all pissed off- Yeah ... and called the service manager. The service manager, of course, I had a good service manager. He laughed at him. He said, "No, the tech's right." You know? But so that was my, the whole experience to a Prowler. Um, and then we had... I had one with the... God, I'm trying to think of what it is The Chrysler Crossfire.
[01:29:42] Jeff Compton: Did you ever work on one of those?
[01:29:45] Daniel Whitey: I haven't, but there was a few we had in the shop a couple times. Yeah. Yeah, I know, I know what you're talking about. Yeah, yeah.
[01:29:52] Jeff Compton: They're weird. They are weird- Oh, yeah ... little cars. Yeah. Very strange. 'Cause it's like half Mercedes... Eh?
[01:29:59] Daniel Whitey: Yep.
[01:30:00] Jeff Compton: That's right. Yeah, half Mercedes, half Chrysler networking.
[01:30:02] Jeff Compton: Half Mercedes, half
[01:30:02] Daniel Whitey: Chrysler.
[01:30:04] Jeff Compton: Yeah. Some kind of weird vacuum door locks and switches. It was just stupid. Like, it was just dumb. And, um, yeah, I... No. PT Cruisers were the weirdest customers to get. They were weird. They were weird. Timing belt on a PT Cruiser's a terrible job. I don't care what anybody says. I know lots of people that go, "Those are gravy.
[01:30:23] Jeff Compton: I love doing them." You must have little tiny hands then, and, like, can contort your neck in a funny way because, like, I hated, hated doing timing belts on those. I hated them. They were terrible. There's no room. You gotta jack that engine so high up to get it up where you can line your cams up- Right.
[01:30:39] Daniel Whitey: Of course.
[01:30:40] Jeff Compton: Yeah ... that you think you're gonna break shit. But you get it done. But, like, yeah. And then do you work on any of the, uh, eco diesels?
[01:30:49] Daniel Whitey: A little bit. Not-
[01:30:50] Jeff Compton: Yeah ...
[01:30:51] Daniel Whitey: we had a guy. We had a, an actual dedicated, like, diesel-
[01:30:56] Jeff Compton: Mm-hmm ...
[01:30:57] Daniel Whitey: tech there.
[01:30:58] Jeff Compton: Yeah.
[01:30:59] Daniel Whitey: So, you know, I-- the odd time I'd do, like, you know, like an oil change or a fuel filter on one or something like that, but nothing too involved.
[01:31:07] Jeff Compton: Yeah.
[01:31:07] Daniel Whitey: But he, he, he would take care of all that kind of stuff. And I know at least at that time that he was doing engines in them- Yeah ... and, you know, different things. Yeah.
[01:31:18] Jeff Compton: Did you touch any of the Genesis stuff when you were at Hyundai?
[01:31:22] Daniel Whitey: I did actually. Yeah. One of my first jobs when I got to Hyundai, I did, I did a clutch on a Genesis Coupe, the 2.0 turbo.
[01:31:34] Jeff Compton: Mm-hmm.
[01:31:35] Daniel Whitey: It was like, you know, car was, you know... It was an older car, but the guy loved it. You know, he'd had it- Yeah ... since new and it needed a clutch. And so this is what happened. I kind of inherited the job. I didn't look at the car. Yeah. I didn't look at the car, right? But, um, it was clear to see, yes, this car needs a clutch.
[01:31:55] Daniel Whitey: Yeah. So what had happened was- Maybe some time before the clutch went out on it, he had a wheel bearing noise. Hmm. And this was, like, a few years ago, and they told him, "Yeah, you need, uh, whatever side, uh, rear wheel bearing," right? So that was a couple years ago. So now he's coming back, "Okay, I'm gonna do the clutch, so, like, let's do the wheel bearing."
[01:32:15] Daniel Whitey: So then we're like, "Okay." So I do the clutch. That went, like, okay. It went fine. It took some time, but-
[01:32:21] Jeff Compton: Yeah ...
[01:32:21] Daniel Whitey: it went, it went well. So then I go to do the wheel bearings, and, you know, the car's, you know, 15, 16 years old. Literally everything seized in the back.
[01:32:31] Jeff Compton: Yeah, yep.
[01:32:32] Daniel Whitey: It needed new everything in the back. And then the guy, he loved the car so much, so he agreed to do it.
[01:32:38] Daniel Whitey: That was the largest repair bill I think I've ever been a part of. Oh, yeah. I think the guy spent, like, 13 or 14 grand fixing this car. Like, it needed new, you know, axles in the back, new- Yeah ... control arms, new everything, just so we could change the bearings, and then, you know- Yeah ... new hubs and parking brake shoes and just- Yeah
[01:33:00] Daniel Whitey: it went on and on and on. Like, I swear I had that car and it wasn't my dedicated bay. It was, like- Yeah ... a secondary bay next to mine, which was also great, so I could still kind of bring in, you know, quick jobs- Mm-hmm ... if I was sort of on a standstill for parts. But oh man, yeah, that guy s- that guy loved that car.
[01:33:19] Daniel Whitey: He spent big bucks on that thing. And then I finally get it all done, you know, and I'm driving it around, and, you know, it drives good, but, you know- Yeah ... it still drives like, you know- Like it drives nice ... it still drives like a 17-year-old car. You know? But, you know, I get, I get it. You know, I have a car- Yeah
[01:33:37] Daniel Whitey: that I've had for a really long time that I, you know, try to keep running. So this guy- Yeah ... yeah, he loved this thing. And then I also worked a bit on, like, you know, the more high-end, uh, you know, the four-door ones, like the nice- Mm-hmm ... the nicer stuff. Yeah. I liked those, um-
[01:33:54] Jeff Compton: Yeah ... I liked the four-door Genesis.
[01:33:54] Jeff Compton: Do you remember when they used to look like a Jag? When they kind of- Yeah ... were styled... Yeah, like, it was, uh, like a... Someone say a Jag or, like, I'm trying to think of what, but they were styled kind of like that Euro, they had that Euro styling, right? Yeah. And I remember looking at them going like, "When this thing ain't broke and has electrical problems..."
[01:34:12] Jeff Compton: 'Cause they, like, everybody, that was the joke, was like every Genesis had electrical problems that was way worse than any Hyundai did. But they were a pretty cool car when they were working. You know what I mean? Like, it was a pretty nice car for what you could buy. Now I think it's so funny- Oh, for sure
[01:34:27] Jeff Compton: how you see, like, they've become this prestige name, and it's this separate dealer for Genesis and all. And I'm thinking like, I can remember when that thing was just like a, a warmed up Tiburon. That's all it was. You know, like, it was just like a- ... a Tiburon that somebody put a bigger body on. A Tiburon.
[01:34:43] Jeff Compton: Like, that's all it was.
[01:34:45] Daniel Whitey: Right.
[01:34:46] Jeff Compton: But, oh, it's a Genesis now. I see them in traffic and I'm like Oh, okay. It kind of looks like a Cayenne from the back. I'm talking the SUV ones, and then it's like you get a close one- Right ... like, oh, it's a- Yeah ... it's a Genesis, you poor schmuck.
[01:35:01] Daniel Whitey: Oh, for sure.
[01:35:02] Jeff Compton: What, um-
[01:35:02] Daniel Whitey: Yeah ...
[01:35:03] Jeff Compton: do you have any advice for the young technicians coming in, Daniel?
[01:35:09] Daniel Whitey: My advice really, what I was always sort of told by, you know, my peers and, you know- Mm-hmm ... people above me is just, you know, just you gotta have... You have to have, like, a hustle attitude as far as, like, "Oh, yeah, you know, I'll, I'll do that for you.
[01:35:28] Daniel Whitey: I'll get that done." Yeah. But aside from that, you know, a lot of, you know, when you go to tech school or whether maybe they haven't gone to tech school yet, some people, and they're just starting to work in a shop, that would be the biggest thing I would say. Mm-hmm. But for people who have, you know, are going- have gone to school and at least have some knowledge of what's going on with the systems they're working on, the biggest thing I can say is just, you know, get comfortable using tools.
[01:35:57] Jeff Compton: Yeah.
[01:35:57] Daniel Whitey: Just because something looks like you can't, uh, remove it without removing, you know, eight other things, like, take your time and, you know, a lot of it has-- it all has to come from within the individual, right, at the end of the day. Yeah. That's sort of what I have even tried to teach some people that I have somewhat, not, I wouldn't say mentored, but I've taught certain things to- Yeah
[01:36:19] Daniel Whitey: over the years, like younger guys. You know, it all has to come from within you.
[01:36:24] Jeff Compton: Yeah.
[01:36:27] Daniel Whitey: It's a hard indust- it is a hard industry. Like, I think back, like, there was definitely times when I, I wasn't sure if I was gonna keep going. Like, I was like- Mm-hmm ... do I really wanna keep doing this, you know?
[01:36:39] Jeff Compton: Yeah.
[01:36:40] Daniel Whitey: You leave work at the end of the day, maybe, maybe you didn't make much money, but you know, your, your hands are all cut up and your- Yeah
[01:36:47] Daniel Whitey: you're sore, and you know, it's 45 degrees out in the summer, and it's just, it's a really- Yeah ... hard industry. I would say, like, if, if you're gonna do it, like, it ca- it's n- it's definitely not a career that you're just gonna coast through. Like, this has to be- No ... something you're really passionate about- Yeah
[01:37:05] Daniel Whitey: and you have to wanna get- you have to be willing to constantly learn and adapt to new things.
[01:37:14] Jeff Compton: Yep.
[01:37:15] Daniel Whitey: You know? That's, I guess that's really what I would say about that.
[01:37:19] Jeff Compton: Yeah. You, you never get to a level of comfort where it's like, "I can coast." You know what I mean?
[01:37:23] Daniel Whitey: No.
[01:37:24] Jeff Compton: Because it's, it's the- Definitely not
[01:37:25] Jeff Compton: the technology's ever-changing, you know? And it's even, to say it in the fleet garage is similar because it's like, "Oh yeah, we got all Fords." Well, next season they may buy, like, a whole fleet of GMs. And then all of a sudden- That's right ... it's like, if you haven't worked on a GM in a long time or at all or whatever, it's a, maybe it's a new, you know, scan tool, new service information system.
[01:37:47] Jeff Compton: Like, it's, it's the same as jumping dealers. And I tell everybody, like, you've gotta learn how to learn, and that's... my guys that I mentored, like, what I taught them wasn't just the fundamentals of, like, diagnosing a car and diag and electrical and, and, you know, that, kinda the stuff that I like to do. But I taught them how to learn how to learn, which is like, if you don't know, you have to learn this stuff, which means you have to be ready to go home and, and reach out to someone and, and get the answer, or reach out and get, you know, the training that you need.
[01:38:22] Jeff Compton: And, and you're gonna have to learn. It's just a constant ev- evolution of learning more and more things. And don't... I, I tell everybody now, it's like the stuff I can't remember, as I'm 50 now and I'm in 30 years in, the stuff that I can't remember is, like, starting to pile up. And that's okay because it's, it's not relevant anymore, right?
[01:38:44] Jeff Compton: Like, it's like guys that, like, talked about the old Cavaliers with the two twos and they used to do the head gasket so fast, and guys I worked with that used to do a K car head gasket so fast, and I'm like How many of those do you do anymore? Like, you, you, you do so many- Yeah, I really- ... for so long and it's like- Yeah
[01:39:01] Jeff Compton: you know, what do I care anymore? Like, it, it's not relevant. I don't even get to be exposed to it. The, the thing to remember is the fundamentals of how you diagnosed it the first time. That's what you need to- Mm ... like, hold to your process. Your
[01:39:16] Daniel Whitey: process-
[01:39:17] Jeff Compton: Yeah ... is
[01:39:17] Daniel Whitey: very important. It
[01:39:18] Jeff Compton: is. Guys that just, like, "I remember this splice," or, "I remember this, you know, connector always backing out," that, that, that's like it's good to know when it's making you money, but man, once those cars go away, like you just let that, let that shit go, you know?
[01:39:35] Jeff Compton: Don't, don't hold onto it as like your- Yeah,
[01:39:37] Daniel Whitey: that's right ... your, you know- Doesn't matter anymore. Yeah.
[01:39:40] Jeff Compton: Yeah, because it's, it's like the guys you see in the diesel side, and it's like they got really good at fixing 6 liters. Well, how many 6 liter Power Strokes do you see? Not too many anymore up here, and if you do, like, they're in rough shape, and they're not, people are not putting money into them, right?
[01:39:56] Jeff Compton: So if all of a sudden- Mm-hmm ... you were good at the 6 liter, but you didn't get onto the 6.4 and you didn't get onto the 6.7, you're 20 years, like, left behind. Oh, for sure. Try to think of what the technology now to try and catch up in 20 years is. Like, it'd be crazy if I snap my fingers and I'm back at Chrysler in 2002, and all of a sudden I have to go back to work in 2026.
[01:40:19] Jeff Compton: Like, the, the, the architecture of those cars is so different now. If I had never continued to apply myself so that I could fix the 2026s, I'd be so screwed, you know? So that's what I tell all the young people, is just, just get ready to, to be constantly learning. It's not about- And yeah, the money's getting better for sure, but-
[01:40:42] Daniel Whitey: Mm-hmm
[01:40:43] Jeff Compton: the expectations is also getting really heavy too, Daniel, like what they're expecting us- I think so ... to be able to solve now. And that's the, that's I think what's
[01:40:50] Daniel Whitey: driving- I think it... Yeah, for sure ...
[01:40:51] Jeff Compton: you know, a lot of these kids up and everybody goes, "Well, these kids are washing it. Like, they're not staying in the industry."
[01:40:57] Jeff Compton: I'm gonna say this, I think some of them leaving is not a bad thing because I think they know where their strengths are, and they know that when we go more and more into the side of stuff that's electric, they want no part of that. And, and, and then, you know, if you're not strong on, on electrical stuff, look at all the...
[01:41:20] Jeff Compton: I mean, now to do a brake job, you gotta use a scan tool, right? Parking brake. Like- That's right ... resets and all this 'cause if you're not comfortable with service information, you're not gonna be the kind of technician that's gonna be successful in this industry, and I hate to say that because, you know, we've all worked with guys that, like, these were good.
[01:41:38] Jeff Compton: You know, their hands were good. Now, you can't ride on that anymore. You really can't.
[01:41:44] Daniel Whitey: No. Overall, you're definitely right about that. Yeah. The other thing too, like, sort of to your point of, um, like when we were saying, um, yeah, with service information, like that's a great example. Mm-hmm. Like, you know, so many times, like there- I was guilty of it too when I was, like, first starting out.
[01:42:04] Daniel Whitey: I wouldn't know how to do something, then I'd ask someone. Yeah. They'd be like, you know, "Go, go on s- dealer connect and, you know- Yeah ... look it up." And then, you know- Yeah ... that's what I... That's kind of what I meant to say when I say, like, you know, it has to come from within you.
[01:42:19] Jeff Compton: Mm-hmm.
[01:42:19] Daniel Whitey: You have to know how to tackle, like, everything yourself.
[01:42:24] Daniel Whitey: Yeah. You know? So there's times when everybody needs help, but you really have to have that fundamental knowledge of this is what I need to do to figure out my problem or what I need to fix on this vehicle or where I need to find this information. It's- Yeah ... there's a lot involved with it, you know? When I think about it now, it almost makes my head spin, you know?
[01:42:44] Daniel Whitey: It's a lot.
[01:42:44] Jeff Compton: Think about it like this tomorrow, like we all, you know... Think about if you walked into your shop tomorrow- And everyone else had quit, and it was only you. You and the service information, and all the bays that you could ever want, and all the- Yeah ... cars you could ever want. But there's nobody else to reach out and come get you, right?
[01:43:03] Jeff Compton: Nobody else to reach out and say, "How do I..." You would just... You would, you would be like, "Damn." But then you'd just be... You would have to get really comfortable with the service information, and then just start fixing cars. And that's what I, I tell them, is it's like, you know, it's nice when we get along with each other and we can help one another, but you can work in a place where nobody likes anybody and nobody wants to help anybody.
[01:43:29] Jeff Compton: Yeah. And I'm not saying to stay in those places, but that doesn't mean you're trapped, right? If you've got the service information and, and you've got some ability, you can still fix the cars without people to help you. That's for sure. And that's what I think we've gotta- Right ... this, this younger generation has gotta learn how to do.
[01:43:46] Jeff Compton: And I'm not, I'm not picking on them, I'm not labeling them as anything. I'm just saying, like my friend Brian Pollock says all the time, "Read the effing manual, man." And because- Yeah ... he's not saying because he doesn't wanna help people. Brian's one of the best guys you'll ever meet for trying to help people, but he's...
[01:44:01] Jeff Compton: It's his way of saying there is so much in there that if I just tell you how to do it, you're not gonna get. And he- And it's, it's that ability to then teach yourself, to learn how to learn. And, and that's, that's the secret sauce, man, is, is, you know, learn your service information and learn how to, to make it your, your superpower, and you'll be, you'll be good.
[01:44:22] Jeff Compton: We'll all be good. You know? Um, I hate it sometimes. You know, s- some of it sucks. Uh, I hate when now- Oh, definitely ... when I run into something and it's like... Like working on Tesla, like I talk about all the time. I get the occasional Tesla and I'm like, "Ugh." But now I've had a friend reach out and help me out and give me some links, and, and it isn't terrible.
[01:44:44] Jeff Compton: Do I want to be known as a Tesla guy that can f- No, I don't want those customers in my face all day. But, but the car doesn't intimidate me, and I guess that's what I'm- Right ... trying to say, is learn. Focus on the car, and focus on the service information, and more of us will be successful than will be failures, so, you know.
[01:45:05] Jeff Compton: I think that's part- Yeah, for sure ... of the mentorship. You know? Any closing
[01:45:09] Daniel Whitey: thoughts, Daniel? Well, it is, like even... Oh, sure.
[01:45:11] Jeff Compton: Yeah.
[01:45:12] Daniel Whitey: Um-
[01:45:12] Jeff Compton: Sorry. I
[01:45:13] Daniel Whitey: was just gonna say, like even like, you know, what during when I was working with, uh, the licensed tech, like- Yeah ...
[01:45:19] Jeff Compton: you
[01:45:19] Daniel Whitey: know, he had to see a certain amount of- Basic knowledge and fundamental from me before he would even consider taking me on as, you know, as his apprentice.
[01:45:30] Jeff Compton: Yeah.
[01:45:31] Daniel Whitey: You know, just from doing all the basic things that you learn to do, right? Tires and, you know, racking a car, you know, changing the oil, doing it properly without any, you know, leaks or comebacks- Yeah ... or, you know? Yeah. Yeah, no, for sure. Yeah. It definitely- Clean the corrosion off ... you have to own, hone those skills.
[01:45:45] Daniel Whitey: Hone those skills first. Yeah, clean the corrosion off the hubs, put the rims on- Very, yeah ... properly. Very important. You know?
[01:45:52] Daniel Whitey: Yeah. That's very important. I do, I've been, I've always done that. I do it where- Yeah ... I work now. I've been, always done that, yeah.
[01:45:59] Jeff Compton: Yeah. Um, so- Very
[01:46:01] Daniel Whitey: important ...
[01:46:02] Jeff Compton: in closing, I think you, you, you think mostly Americans should just adopt our system and, and be done with it
[01:46:09] Daniel Whitey: Well, it, I think it couldn't hurt because it seems to me, at least from what we see, is that there are always, there's always some, you know, story down there about somebody- Yeah
[01:46:20] Daniel Whitey: who took their car somewhere and- Yeah ... the guy's not certified at all, and he said he was, and now their car- Yeah ... is in shambles taken apart, and they're like, "Well, what do I do now?" So I think it couldn't hurt, you know? It would only benefit their, their workforce if they're so hard up for, you know, technicians or, you know, like, you know, all that stuff with the Ford CEO and all that- Yeah
[01:46:47] Daniel Whitey: business that's going on. We have all these empty bays. Well, you know, we're gonna have to have some kind of mandate come in, fix things to make an actual process for people to at least have a pathway to figure out how to go about this. 'Cause here it's, it's pretty good. I mean, it works, worked for me and lots of people I know and-
[01:47:06] Jeff Compton: Yeah
[01:47:07] Daniel Whitey: you know, it's not a perfect system, but it, it's pretty good, you know?
[01:47:11] Jeff Compton: I th- I think up here for us what we, what we, you know, we don't have a choice. Like, it's just the way you have to do it. You can't-
[01:47:19] Daniel Whitey: Exactly ...
[01:47:20] Jeff Compton: you know, y- can you get hired in a shop without a license? Yeah, but it's almost impossible to.
[01:47:27] Jeff Compton: There are a couple around that will still, but, like, it's the same thing. Like, they will only have you do certain things and, you know, when the M- Ministry of Transport's coming around or Ontario College of Trades or whatever, they'll hide you. They'll tell you to stay home that day. Yeah. Because, like- That's great
[01:47:44] Jeff Compton: you know, because you're such a liability there. And, and, you know, I'm not trying to say that all those guys that didn't get the test, didn't pass way back then, and somehow they worked for 40 years and fixed cars, I'm not saying that they were all, like, shouldn't have been or dumb or I'm not, I'm not saying that.
[01:48:01] Jeff Compton: But I think that, like, the industry should just realize that a basic level of competency is not an obstacle. It's just what it is. It's the bare minimum of where everybody should start. And- Oh, yeah ... you know, it's the same as us. Like, we, the, the critique I have always for our licensing system up here in Canada is that we don't ever retake the test, and we don't ever recertify.
[01:48:25] Jeff Compton: You know what I mean? So it's like if I had to go back and take the test, am I stressed? No, not at all, right? I stressed it the first time I wrote it. I was like, "Oh, my God, this is gonna be..." And, like, I was like, I was the last one to finish in the class, and I had the second-highest mark in the class. So I was like, again, that's just the way my head work.
[01:48:46] Jeff Compton: And, you know, when you think about everybody's against it, I don't think we should be because, like, going back to your, to your saying, people, you know, they don't know what they're getting when they c- they, they reach in the Google and, and they, "Oh, mobile mechanic," or, you know, somebody doing auto repair for $60 an hour.
[01:49:08] Jeff Compton: And they go, "Oh my God, my, 'cause my local dealer is, like, 160, so 60 is, like, that's, uh, you know, times are tir- tight right now. I can really afford 60 is way better than 160." And listen, it might, you might get the same result. I'm not saying you don't. You might. But man, when s- when something- But you probably won't
[01:49:26] Jeff Compton: goes sideways... Yeah. Yeah. When something goes sideways at that $60 an hour shop, like, y- it's, like, they're coming with a tow truck to get it out of there, right? And then you're into, like, where do you drag it after that, and who wants to touch it? It's a big thing. So- Yeah ... that's what I've always never liked about the idea that ASE didn't mean, you know, doesn't...
[01:49:46] Jeff Compton: is because nobody ever asks. Up here they go, "Oh, Daniel, you're, you're Class A technician, or you're 310S or you're, you're licensed technician." Down there they don't ask anymore, "Are you ASE certified?" Like, they don't even ask. They don't even ask. Mm-hmm. And it's just, like, they look at your shirt, and you're working, and they assume you're qualified.
[01:50:07] Jeff Compton: And, you know, if you're never touched that car before for that particular problem drivability-wise, whatever, um, you probably shouldn't be touching it. And, um, you know, the fact that, like- People just, "Oh, well, we'll try." You know? I'm not against people trying, but, like, you have to be upfront when you're trying versus when you're saying, "Yes, I can."
[01:50:38] Jeff Compton: You know? It's a different, different language, different, different approach, different everything. Not to get too philosophical, but we have to be- ... we have to be a lot more honest with where we are, each of us is within the industry- Yeah ... and what the goal is, and then I think we'll get a little bit better.
[01:50:52] Jeff Compton: Like right now, the attrition rate of technicians leaving is, is not good. It's scary. Um, but I think that the... When we get to minimum certification level, minimum level of competency, I think the pay will come up because you're gonna see a whole bunch that can't get that are gonna be gone, and then it's gonna bring the pay up a little bit, whatever that looks like.
[01:51:18] Jeff Compton: I don't know. And then we start to really break into what is the different levels of technician within the industry. What does that really look like? ABC, licensed apprentice, ma- you know, master, blah, blah, blah. I think it becomes a lot easier to start to classify, you know, what everybody's value is to, to who they're working for, so.
[01:51:40] Jeff Compton: Anyway, uh, Daniel, um, closing thought. Give me something.
[01:51:53] Daniel Whitey: Well, thanks for having me on. It's been great. Really enjoyed, really enjoyed it. Yeah.
[01:51:58] Jeff Compton: Yeah.
[01:51:59] Daniel Whitey: Really know what else to say.
[01:52:01] Jeff Compton: Yeah.
[01:52:01] Daniel Whitey: Um- Um, definitely, uh Yeah. It's been a, it's been a long ride in this industry, and I'm sure you can relate 'cause you've been doing it even longer than I have.
[01:52:13] Jeff Compton: Yeah.
[01:52:14] Daniel Whitey: You know?
[01:52:14] Jeff Compton: I love it, though.
[01:52:15] Jeff Compton: Yeah. I really do. Like, I mean, most days, most days now for me, um, they're better days. There's more good days than bad days. You know what I mean? The stress is behind me. Um, you know, I've gotten to where, like, I can, I can live comfortably and I'm... You know, the tool thing, that's the big thing. I don't have to buy too many tools anymore, right?
[01:52:35] Jeff Compton: They're all... Like, I'm, I'm mostly paying, I'm paying off my Zeus, and I'm paying my subscription to it, and that's it. You know, I don't have to buy anything else- Okay ... if I don't want to. And that's, I'll tell the young people in this, in closing, like, don't get yourself under a pile of tool debt, and don't feel like you have to buy everything all at once.
[01:52:58] Jeff Compton: There's- Oh, yeah. Absolutely ... like, there's some tools, you know, it's really nice. Some tools make the job very easy, but if you can keep some money in your pocket and learn a different way without having to spend all that money on that tool, think about that as still there's some, still some value there.
[01:53:17] Jeff Compton: And that's, and that's just what I'll close with. It, it's, you know... Daniel, thank you for being here, man. Uh, you know, I really am happy you reached out to me and said, "Hey, I wanna share my, my story," because, you know, it's... I like, I like to see dealer techs come on and not be like, "Oh, it was the worst thing I ever did."
[01:53:38] Jeff Compton: Because, like- Yeah ... I'm, I'm one of them where it was like, without, without that opportunity that that dealer gave me way long ago, I wouldn't be sitting here in front of y'all. So, you know, I, I love everybody. I don't care where you work. It doesn't matter to me. I don't judge you as being, you know, oh, you're not as good as this or that because you only work here.
[01:53:56] Jeff Compton: I've met some incredible people that, like, worked out of the back of a truck. You know what I mean? And then I worked- I've met some incredible people that were, like, top tier at a dealership, and then superstars in the aftermarket. I've met them all, and it doesn't matter. It comes back to what Daniel said.
[01:54:11] Jeff Compton: It comes back to what's inside of you that's gonna determine, you know, how well you succeed in this. So Daniel, thank you for being in here with me, man. Um-
[01:54:21] Daniel Whitey: Thank you, Jeff. It's been great.
[01:54:23] Jeff Compton: Thank you, man.
[01:54:23] Daniel Whitey: Really enjoyed
[01:54:23] Jeff Compton: it. Yeah. All my supporters and everybody, you know, Launch Tech USA, Tech Metric, thank you for, for, you know, providing for me the ability to do this going forward.
[01:54:34] Jeff Compton: I mean, we don't, we don't see it stopping anytime soon, so I mean, you know, reach out to me if you wanna, if you wanna be like Daniel and share your story with me, or if you just, like... If you need, if you're not comfortable being recorded, but you need to talk, always still reach out to me and I'll do that.
[01:54:51] Jeff Compton: I'll be happy, happy to, to listen. Because I have people that I talk to every day in the industry that I don't record that I just need to unload to, and that's, you know, June is Men's Mental Health Month- And there's a big problem with it going on in our industry. You know, a lot of high su- suicide rate for technicians, and I wanna see that stop, or I wanna see it get better.
[01:55:16] Jeff Compton: So at any point, you know, reach out to me and say, "Hey, I need to talk to you," and I will do everything I can to talk to you as soon as I can for as long as I need to. So don't feel like you're alone, guys. Daniel, thank you, brother. Appreciate it. We'll talk to you again. Thank
[01:55:34] Daniel Whitey: you, sir. Have a good one.
[01:55:36] Jeff Compton: You too, man.
[01:55:36] Jeff Compton: Thanks.
[01:55:36] Daniel Whitey: Talk soon.
[01:55:37] Jeff Compton: Thank you, everybody Hey, if you could do me a favor real quick and like, comment on, and share this episode, I'd really appreciate it. And please, most importantly, set the podcast to automatically download every Tuesday morning. As always, I'd like to thank our amazing guests for their perspectives and expertise, and I hope that you'll please join us again next week on this journey of change.
[01:56:01] Jeff Compton: Thank you to my partners in the ASAP group and to the Changing the Industry podcast. Remember what I always say, in this industry, you get what you pay for. Here's hoping everyone finds their missing 10 millimeter, and we'll see you all again next time