It would seem like now is the perfect time to own a shop that works on cars. Vehicles on the road have never been older, but “older” in this sense means a car that was built in the early 2010s. These are cars that often require more specialized knowledge to repair than even my early-2000s car needs.
You won’t be surprised to hear that service is the biggest chunk of revenue a dealer is likely to earn, but the actual amount some dealers are seeing may surprise you. The Morning Dump is thinking about dealerships today, as the big National Auto Dealers Association annual conference is about to start.
Right now, you wouldn’t want to necessarily be a Volkswagen dealer, as that brand has been in rough shape. Could a name change for an existing model help? Maybe VW, as a brand, could learn from Renault, which has continued to find ways to grow in a challenging environment.
The most challenging environment in the automotive world might be Le Mans, and this year’s Goodwood events will have three of the most famous cars.
85% To 90% Of Revenue At Stake
Last week, I talked about how direct sales were a threat to dealers. This week, I want to talk about service. If there’s a commonality between both, it’s that dealers have long had a huge advantage that’s slipping away due to both consumer preference and technology.
There’s a piece from Automotive News talking about the importance of dealer service centers:
Service departments can generate between 85 and 90 percent of revenue for a majority of dealerships, Rick Wegley, an instructor and consultant at NCM Associates of Kansas City, Mo., told Automotive News.
“There is not a department in any dealership in America more important than the service department,” said Tom McCollum, chairman of the Audi National Dealer Council and CEO of Forbes Todd Automotive Group.
For most brands, margins on new cars are slim, and used cars represent yet another challenge. Service centers aren’t necessarily a slam dunk, though. There’s the ongoing technician shortage, and parts are getting more expensive, plus less foot traffic to stores means fewer chances to grab customers.
The older the car, the more cautious the owner, said Alan Dibre, chairman of the Acura National Dealer Advisory Board and dealer principal of Acura dealerships in New York and New Jersey.
“Customers are very cautious in terms of what their spending is,” he said. “You’re seeing less traffic.”
There are lots of concerns being voiced here, but this can still be a profitable business, as Car Dealer Guy reported last year:
According to Reynolds and Reynolds’ recently released Fixed Operations Golden Metrics, profit per repair order jumped for dealers in nearly all markets with some variation depending on volume levels.
- As of May, major urban stores averaged $414 per customer pay repair order (RO), up $33 year-over-year.
- Metro stores rose $23 to $349 in total, and community-based stores accrued $268—adding $9.
- Rural location gained $2 and averaged $225 per RO.
As always, there’s an upper limit to what someone with a 2014 Nissan Rogue is going to want (or be able) to pay for repairs. There’s also an issue of convenience. Bringing your car to a dealer to be told that it can’t easily be fixed now, and that the fix will be expensive, is a terrible outcome.
One growing solution is mobile service and more technology to reduce errors/labor needs, which automakers like Ford are pushing with its dealers. Here’s Bozard Ford explaining how it works:
Our strategy mirrors a hospital system’s model, that utilizes urgent care centers to manage less severe cases. Similarly, our mobile vans, equipped with Wi-Fi, handle minor issues like computer downloads or quick fixes directly at the customer’s location. This prevents these simpler tasks from occupying valuable bay space in our main service center.
This strategic division allows our primary service center to focus on its core strengths: major repairs like transmissions and engines, and supporting our used car and accessories departments. It’s an efficient approach that maximizes profitability. While our Quick Lane provides fast maintenance, mobile service extends this efficiency by taking an even broader range of services out of the shop, significantly boosting our overall capacity.
Perhaps it’s because I have an old BMW, but I’d be hesitant to take my car to a BMW dealer out of fear of what they’d tell me. I’m not sure yet what I’m going to do with my Honda as it ages out of its warranty.
VW ID.4 To Become The ID.Tiguan?
Volkswagen’s naming convention for its EVs is kinda terrible, right? The ID.Buzz, the ID.4, the ID.7. Whatever. Maybe you like it, but it’s such a shame when the brand has such fun names as Beetle, Tiguan, and Polo.
Oh, hey, speaking of Tiguan and Polo, VW already announced it’ll use the name Polo for its ID.2-sized subcompact, and there’s maybe a name change coming, according to CarExpert:
It’s expected the ID. Tiguan will follow suit with a redesigned cabin where the much maligned capacitive buttons and sliders will be binned. Like the ID. Polo, the ID. Tiguan should also feature the company’s latest touchscreen infotainment system with faster response times and an improved interface.
Under the skin, the rechristened ID. Tiguan will use a heavily updated version of the MEB architecture. Cheaper lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery technology is likely to be adopted for some variants, with nickel manganese cobalt (NMC) lithium-ion batteries to continue in longer-range versions.
So ID.4 becomes the ID.Tiguan. It’s not clear if this will happen in the United States, but it makes sense. [Ed Note: ID.Tiguan is not a great name. Just call it Tiguan EV and be done with it. -DT].
Renault’s Five-Year Plan Is Working
Renault is the most interesting European automaker right now, and while my focus has been on the clever EVs they’re building, the long-term plan from the company was to shift from dependence on China and Europe towards emerging markets.
This plan goes back a few years to after the pandemic, and according to S&P Global, it’s working:
Among the expected outcomes of this plan is the launch of eight new products by 2027. Several have already been launched and have contributed to the sales uplift in 2025. A key product has been the Renault Kardian, a compact crossover that is based on the automaker’s long-standing CMF-B architecture. Renault highlighted the model’s contribution to the growth it saw in Latin America and a 44.8% y/y uplift in Morocco.
Another product contributing to this improvement is the Renault Grand Koleos. Built in South Korea and born out of the relationship between the French automaker and China’s Geely—from which this model sources the GEA—the midsize crossover helped boost Renault’s sales in South Korea by 55.9% y/y in 2025.
Overall, this has meant that sales in Renault’s international market represented a 30.5% share of its worldwide sales, up from 28.6% in 2024.
The whole world wants cars, but the whole world isn’t going to be buying electric cars yet. Being able to build cars for the EU market and emerging markets isn’t a giant business, but it ain’t a small one, either.
Goodwood Is Getting The Le Mans 1-2-3 Ford GTs
I don’t know if I’m going to Goodwood this year, but there’s at least one more reason why I’d consider it: The 1-2-3 finishing Le Mans Ford GTs from the 1966 24 Hours of Le Mans will be there.
For the first time in a decade, the three Ford GT Mk IIs driven by Bruce McLaren and Chris Amon, Ken Miles and Denny Hulme, and Ronnie Bucknum and Dick Hutcherson will not only appear together, but also run.
These legendary cars – chassis P/1046, P/1015, and P/1016 – will take to the Goodwood Hill during the Festival of Speed as the event celebrates some of motorsport’s greatest showdowns with the theme ‘The Rivals – Epic Racing Duels’. Entirely apt, as 2026 marks the 60th anniversary of the intense battle between the combined forces of Ford Motor Company and Carroll Shelby’s Shelby American, and Ferrari.
In September, the trio will reunite once more at Goodwood Revival, where they will run on the historic Motor Circuit, offering fans a rare chance to witness these icons in action.
Sweet.
What I’m Listening To While Writing TMD
I just learned that the opening orchestral sound from Portishead’s “Mysterons” is from a British TV show called Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons. There is just so much incredible and weird puppet-based TV from the ’60s I never knew existed (I learned this from Bandsplain, FYI).
The Big Question
Who was the last person to fix one of your cars?
Top photo: Ford
The Toyota dealership charges $95 to change a h11 headlight bulb.
Sure they know how miserably designed the engine compartment is, that you have to partially remove the air intake, and the special order of putting things back together, but it really puts a spin on those changing a light bulb jokes.
I’m honestly lost on whether to take mine to the dealership or not. It’s new, so has some sort of warranty that I don’t know what covers. Plus, I was probably dumb and got some flavor of an extended warranty that I really can’t find what’s covered. But the dealer is 30 minutes away from my house and an hour from work. I usually do my own oil cause it’s cheaper but I’m hesitant to do anything else. Their prices seem to be on the higher end of averages and they always try to sell a fuel+injection/ carbon build up cleaner thing, which I always ignore.
It’s a subie though, so needs consistent regular maintenance. Don’t know what the best thing to do is. Probably just wait for the car to explode and spend the rest of my life in an old Camry while I pay off the remaining loans of whatever we have or had
My wife initially misread Tiguan as ‘Tiggan’. A better name, in my opinion.
Tech shortage? But that’s where all the money is? If only someone out there had any idea that the answer was to PAY YOUR FUCKING TECHS, typing it in all caps so it’s super easy to see and internalize.
Oh well. Maybe one day.
The last person to fix one of my cars was an independent service center. Why? Because the dealer told me to pack sand because my vehicle was over their 10 year limit. They didn’t even let me tell them what the problem was. As soon as I told them the year, they noped right out. 2012 model for the curious and this was in 2024 so it wasn’t something ancient.
What brand?
Mazda Miata. On the plus side, I have one more year before they’ll disavow my 2017 Mazda 6 and someone won a class action suit for their garbage intotainment ghost touch, so I can get the replaced for free.
Miata is always the answer I guess.
Is that just at that dealership, or is that a Mazda thing.
I wouldn’t buy any car that got cut off after 10 years, or 20 years for that matter.
I saw some pics of the ID Tiguan online, and the tweaks do make for a nicer looking vehicle. Hopefully the interior follows the ID Polo with the return of physical buttons.
Service centers these days are worse than trying to do it yourself. I brought 4 rims and tires to a local tire shop for install. Not only are the prices high, they automatically add a per-wheel charge for valve cores? I paid $156 for tires to be installed and the valve stems on 2 of them leak. The $100 tires I bought used are fine, but paying more just to mount and balance is nuts. They didn’t even take off the old wheel weights, they just added more to balance them out.
I don’t have room for tire mounting and balancing equipment in my garage, why can’t a service shop do decent service?
About a month ago: 2011 Subaru Outback to the dealership to replace some seriously worn lower control arms and both worn out front half shafts. This was about half the work they “recommended” but the other stuff was neatly itemized and is now on my own to-do list. The half shafts are supposedly an easy job, but it’s not my idea of fun in the middle of a MN winter below 0F in the garage especially when the dealer already had stuff apart replacing the lower control arms. Plus, the dealer pricing seemed reasonable and it’s one of the first real repairs we’ve had on the car since buying new 15 years and 160K miles ago.
For the 2012 Honda Civic-me (oil changes, transmission fluid change, new thermostat to correct an overheating problem, replace stolen airbag, replace cracked air cleaner hose to pass smog, that’s about it, this car has been relatively trouble free).
For the 2011 Toyota Sienna-dealer to replace a tire and tire sensors and do a scheduled maintenance service. More $$$ than it really should have been, but it’s really my wife’s vehicle and she was willing to fork out for it.
The really high margins/cost of parts and service from the dealer keep me from going there unless really necessary for my cars. Though of course until the last few commuter beaters, they were all 20+ years old cars anyway.
I know it’s been kicked around before, but it seems obvious that VW has no IDea what they are doing with naming the electric variants of their vehicles. VW of the 60’s and 90’s was fun. Now they are like a German version of Nissan: Making vehicles that not many people want at all.
I’ve driven Volvo 240s for most of my motoring career, which have been serviced by a range of independent shops and a few old-school Volvo specialists.
I’m mechanically confident enough to swap in parts or make emergency repairs, but I loath doing oil changes. As such, I’ve never been the main person wrenching on any of my vehicles. I reserve that energy for bicycles, snowmobiles and the other combustion-powered crap our business has collected over the years.
We bought a lightly-used F150 a few years ago, so that truck has been going to the dealer for the balance of the warranty. We haven’t had much trouble with it, other than an occasional vibration in the front end that took 3 separate dealers to diagnose. The second dealer threw in a new front diff trying to fix the problem. Turns out one of the electronic locking hubs for the 4wd system sometimes struggled to disengage- Which the tech at the third dealer correctly recognized based on some noises I made over the phone. Glad we got that sorted before the warranty ran out!
We just rolled over 100,000km so I guess it’s time to start looking around at other options. Unfortunately, most of the independent shops in the area we live do not have stellar reputations. I’m tempted to stick with that 3rd dealer, but their prices make me wince.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IqS4kWK6aV0
The first episode of Capain Scarlet is available on Youtube. I’m still scared of the Mysterons.
Other than me? I perform nearly all repairs myself but a year or so ago I did take my International 1200D to an independent mechanic for work on its kingpins because I’m not set up for that. The tricky part was finding someone in the area who was.
Last time I had someone work on one of my cars it was the dealership. The A/C system quit working during peak summer heat. There was an extended warranty from Honda on the condenser, so I was hopeful that would cover it. Annoyingly though it also needed a compressor and the Type R has a unique one, so the cost would have been about the same or more anywhere else. My dealership’s parts department cuts me a break on parts for being a Type R owner, I get them at invoice plus 5%
Years ago I went to my local Honda dealer to buy an oil filter for my S2000. He quotes me a price and I responded “that price is 3X list price” (MSRP for parts). He tells me that’s the “S2000 tax”. I went somewhere else. I can’t believe you got a discount for having the expensive, high performance model.
At this point, I’m pretty much mail ordering even $5 parts from out of state online dealers. The markup on a single $5 part at my local dealer is more than shipping and I refuse to pay the mark up even if I can get the part sooner (but they don’t actually stock anything, so it’s at least 2 trips to the local dealer anyway as they want payment in person before they will order the part).
I was genuinely shocked too, that dealership as a whole is one of the more pleasant car buying experiences I have had too. No BS back and forth on pricing, competitive trade in value as well. The parts department manager is an old school Honda guy that is friends with some of mine too, so I am sure that helped.
Dealership is just for warranty jobs and thats about it. I can see why they are scared of EVs, mine hasnt needed anything big other than wipers, windshield washer fluid and my oldest one (2017 Volt) other than oil changes and basic filters, I just had brakes replaced.
My gas fleet (Miata NB, Super Beetle, Ranger, SN95 Mustang, Insight Gen 1) go to the local shop in my city if thats something I cannot fix or I dont have the time for it.
You know they are going to find ways to make battery cars impossible and/or deadly to repair.
Dealer techs have confirmed to me manufacturers are actively designing cars to be unrepairable.
They expect to make their money in the first 50,000 miles.
GM was a pioneer at this.
GM famously said no one expects a car to last more than 50,000 miles.
I paid a shop to estimate better front end settings until I can replace the entire front suspension.
Last job I did myself.
Had to figure out what specialty tools are mandatory, and track down parts.
But now I can teach the techs I’m paying for advice the best way to do it.
85-90% of profits (I’m assuming that article means profits) is higher than I thought. Some years ago I read that it was a bit over half, followed by profits from trade-ins, and then a small percent from new car sales.
Regardless, once you’ve spent some time dealing with a dealership, it’s pretty easy to infer where the money is made based on their behavior. Just look for the areas with the biggest dickish screw-you attitude: the F&I office, the lowball trade-in offer, and the absurd hourly service department charge.
I kind of feel like the mandatory minimum 500 dollar bill from literally every stealership these days is a real problem. Is it because they have gotten lazy about cost because they overcharge the warranty claims like hospitals and pharmacies do to those with insurance? Or is it because they think “their” Master Mechanics are just that much better than any other Master Mechanic? From My experience that seems unlikely. the last person I took a vehicle to for anything was for an alignment. That individual was very likely not ASE certified as alignments seem to be in the same vein as oil changes and the newb or possibly even someone not certified in anything seems to get that work. but anyway he uggaduggad my lugs until he snapped I think 6-8 of the studs. I asked him what he was setting the torque wrench was on and his deer in the headlight look was all I needed to know. suffice to say his company had to eat those being replaced, but certainly most would just accept it and get upcharged for negligence.
I tell myself that i reserve going to a technician only for the things that are too specialized or too physical for me to do. Typically that only involves a welder or a press even if spring compressors give me the fear of god.
Because of that, any general part replacement I feel I can do and to be honest that is 95% of what a dealer will even touch nowadays.
They arent in the business of solving problems or diagnosing. If a switch takes 2 hours of removing a door card, just change the door card. Engine pop a head gasket? Replace engine.
Ive half convinced myself to buy a computer for coding simply because its the only leverage they have left.
Counterpoint: the last (and only) time I let a dealer tech install a head on a block that block got a new window 2000 miles later.
The last person to fix my vehicles has been the dealership, they’re actually great about giving me loaner if it’s going to be more than a couple of hours on something. I bought my truck from them (used) and Mustang (new). Truck had a water pump failure at 150,000 miles and they gave me a nice Bronco as a loaner. I know they would love for me to buy the loaner, however I love having two paid off vehicles. I used to do all the work on my vehicles before but don’t miss fighting to keep beaters on the road.
Dealer resistance to EVs? The reason is right here in this article. They have a lot to lose.
Are you saying a middleman, who’s existence depends on lobbying to keep it legally required, isn’t always acting in the consumers’ best interests?
Is this a multiple guess question?
Last person who wasn’t me to fix one of my cars was a nearby convenient independent shop to swap a turbocharger on the lady’s car. I could have done it, but not quickly and there are no other automatic cars for her to drive at the moment.
Nearly $5000 all-in and I’ve sworn off downsized turbo-DI engines in daily drivers. 100k miles since bought new. A head gasket, a short block, a long block, a turbo, and a steering rack. Also sworn off Fords, I think.
Cannot recall the last thing done on one of my vehicles but was either my dad or I.
Last service – Me.
Replaced the front control arms and sway bar links on my Forester.
I have been to a dealer very few times, and each visit reminds me why I avoid them. It is infinitely easier and more convenient to fix something small myself instead of going to the dealer.
At present I am probably averaging 4 dealer visits per successful fix. I do not have the time for that.
Most recently I brought my car in for something under warranty with a TSB. Mentioned the specific issue and TSB when I booked the appointment. Asked them to have parts ready so I didn’t have to make a lifestyle out of resolving the issue.
They did not have the parts, because they did not diagnose it themselves. When they did look at it, it was the exact issue covered by the TSB. They then tried to charge me $4300 for the work, so I had to argue to get warranty coverage. Then had to wait a week for parts and when I finally got it back they didn’t install the heat shields.
I bought a 1998 Civic with a CVT and it took 5 visits to diagnose an issue with the transmission, and that was just luck. A tech was walking by when I was describing the issue to a service advisor. He overheard and interrupted by telling the advisor to order a transmission. If he hadn’t walked by I don’t know how many more visits it would have taken.
My Scion FR-S ate its own engine internals at ~38k miles. Took over a month to get it back from the dealer. I didn’t feel like the loaner Corolla was an equal replacement.
My solution to dealerships is a spare (operational) vehicle and a decently-equipped garage. We can put the spare into use until parts arrive and I have a chance to do the repair.
Wife’s Kia goes to the stealership because it’s still under warranty. BMW goes to an independent specialist. The trucks and daughter’s Lexus are 90% serviced in my driveway, I have another local independent that helps me source some parts and handles stuff that needs special equipment or the use of a lift.
“Who was the last person to fix one of your cars?”
Me. Upper shock mount replacement. Both sides took about 20 minutes with one 13 mm,socket, didn’t even need to remove the tires. $22 all in.
Before that was an alternator. A bit tricker, one wheel had to come off. Still not a hard job. Had I the new alternator in hand when I started it would have taken less than an hour. All in $130.
Before THAT was an oil and filter change. Maybe 20 minutes and $25 all in for Supertech full synthetic high mileage.
Unless you count the three new wheel studs I had to have replaced. Why? Because a couple of months ago I got four new tires at Americas Tire. When I went to take off the wheel for the alternator a few weeks later I couldn’t get one of the studs off! To their credit AT didn’t fight me, they just sent me to a local shop. Unfortunately the shop I was sent to refused to do the job as they were DEEP into arrears with AT (I was told they fixed a lot of AT mistakes). I was sent to another shop…which turned out to be closed. The THIRD shop confirmed the stud was FU and was able to schedule me for the next morning. I made sure to ask them to check ALL the studs. Good thing as they found the other two that had also been FU. I’m so glad I found out now instead of in a couple of years trying to change a tire on the side of the road.
Gotta love the *professionals*.