I was having a chuckle with a mate of mine about this today (he's got 25+ years in the business as an owner/manager and the best diagnostics man I know - but even he gets stumped from time to time):
www.godiagnosticsfranchise.co.uk/
Apparently by paying £20k+VAT you can become an expert in automotive diagnostics (following a week's course!!) and make £1000 a week without lifting a bonnet.
I wonder what happens to the guys who invest in this and then pull up next to their first call out and find 5 CAN-related codes?
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Aprilia
Mmmmm... Where do I sign....
A whole week's course! That should easily cover everything. And no working under the bonnet - so no confirming your initial diagnosis with anything as technical as a scope - or even a meter - then?
I note that all they claim to do is provide a diagnostic report - not actually spend hours finding the problem. So; a glorified code reading then - and we know how much use they are!
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Excellent! It certainly takes a special sort of person to throw £23.5k away on a franchise like this. Mind you, most franchises advertised in the likes of Daltons Weekly appear dubious at best to a person with any level of business acumen. Certainly wouldn't trust my car to anyone with only a week's training in their field, neither would anyone else with any sense.
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I have a builder friend who has a similar scenario from those who do a basic brickbuilders' course and rapidly seek employment.
They assure him they are top class bricklayers and he equally assures them that they are not, much to their bemusement and chagrin.
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What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
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They assure him they are top class bricklayers and he equally assures them that they are not much to their bemusement and chagrin.
Doesn't he realise that experience and years of knowledge are no match for a week-long "get-rich-quick" course offered at great expense though some training "academy"? ;-)
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>>are no match....h>>
I'll have a word with him on your behalf...:-)
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What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
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For reasons which escape me now, I spent several days last year watching the Audi Channel. One programme followed a diagnostic technician in his work.
My abiding memory is that for each breakdown, the routine was the same. Plug in pc; diagnose fault; be told by the clever computer that the car needed to be towed to a garage; arrange tow-truck.
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This sort of thing has been going on for donkeys years. It used to be called a Sun or Krypton tune up. Usually not a tune up though, just a printout of various voltages and resistances. Anything more than the printout or report was a big extra.
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its directed at the trade though isnt it ? theyre not going to somebodies house to give them the "complete" answer .
they will be visiting car sales outlets smaller garages etc,
so for instance the car sales outlet will [should] have a greater idea of what to fix or what to tell there mechanic the problem is , as in "this is what the code is" .
for the smaller garages that cant afford all the code reading equipment, if they can call in this company, to give them the "basic start of what to look for" then they are not loosing a customer and can still charge the going rate to the customer withut the heavy investment ?
this is assuming theyre quoting cheaper than taking to a man who is all kitted up and its a genuine mobile service.
i am not saying go and throw 20k of your hard earned to this company, what i am saying is if you go looking for it i am sure the work is out there in quite big amounts.
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Horse
There is a huge demand for diagnostics - virtually unlimited in reality. It's the laughable week's course that marks this out as a scam. Three years experience working alongside a good Diagnostic Engineer; then, maybe, you're ready to make it on your own.
Just reading codes and filling in a standard report will quickly be found useless by these poor saps' potential customers and lead to some very expensive claims. Although I've been using the "I point - you undo" method for years; I'd never just "read it and run." Reading codes is merely five minutes of the first step of Systematic Fault Analysis - information acquisition. That step alone can take hours of research - then the hard thinking starts.
Handing even competent technicians a list of codes is about as much use as writing them in Runic script. Most would struggle to grasp the essential difference between a boost solenoid and a boost sensor; virtually none would know where to find the possibly faulty component, let alone know how to test it effectively - or even to use the necessary equipment.
No; this scam will be like many others; very profitable for the perpetrators and very hard on the good, but naive, people that are suckered in.
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There's a hint in there that you can expect to earn the £20k +VAT fee back in nine months. This really doesn't tally with earning £1000 per week.
I doubt you could learn where all the interface connectors are to plug the laptop into in a week, let alone anything else.
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I read often, only post occasionally
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spikey
You're right about the DLCs; I once spent a whole afternoon taking the dash apart on a Rover 25 and still didn't find it!
Actually taking £1000 a week is fairly easy. There is - sadly - a big difference between takings and earnings.
I also had a laugh about the "we've spent tens of thousands finding the right kit." Tens of thousands are needed for every franchisee. To do what was written on the van would need - as a minimum:-
A top Generic scanner: the AD Pro in the picture was once pretty good but now.... But something like it; a Marelli Unicheck; a Bosch KTS etc. with all the extras - say £6-8 grand.
A good key programmer - something like an AD100. Two or three other security-specific bits of kit. [Classified!]
An Asian scanner; a fully-loaded Carman-Scan Hi-Scan in one of it's guises maybe.
Manufacturer specific tools; GM Tech 2; Renault Clip; Ford IDS with Jag and L/R; Peugeot Diag; Cit Lexia; Vag-Com; BMW; Merc;
Add that little lot up and £30,000+ has gone - then pay the £10,000 a year subs.
A good scope; some meters; acoustic and thermal diagnostic tools; a basic tool-kit; tech data access - another £20,000.
Most new businesses don't make a profit at all in their first year - repaying that franchise fee in nine months is pure fantasy.
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Screwloose has it right, I'm afraid. All this will do is drive down the price of a code read and drive up demand for oxygen sensors! LOL!
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