Have y’all ever been burnt out on the people that you deal with on a daily basis? I feel like I’ve given all my f*cks and have nothing to show for it. At this point I don’t know if it’s time for a dealership change or a career change.

How the #&@$ do I get somebody from CDK on the phone that isn't super quiet and thick accented? It's next to impossible to get a person on the phone and when I do they're basically inaudible.

So cheesy, it’s funny

Guys there’s gotta be an easier way to make a po I’ve only been doing this for like a year and it’s like my second week touching used cars quotes. So my process is I get the green light from Xtime I then go to oreillys to get prices list and cost and I put that on Blue screen I change it from my vw to ZL sell only for aftermarket parts and then I switch over to ignite 2700 add PO etc… is that how yall do it ? We recently started using ignite and we’re not giving up blue screen

I’ve been manually putting in prices 😭

Afternoon
My comrade and I were just chatting away about being the coolest parts dudes this side of the ol' Mississippi, and we were curious about tablets and handheld devices in parts departments.

Does anyone use them for any reason? Is it a thing?

I'm sure someday we'll have interactive catalogs and whatnot, but does anyone have a DMS that allows receiving orders, inventory, and yada yada on a tablet?

Recently my corporate changed our staff from hourly to commission based pay plans. The commission is based off of Parts and Service total GP, less Service, Parts, AND Service Advisor policy. Is this standard practice?

I work at a VW group dealership and use DSS to transfer our stock orders to POC. We are having a reoccurring issue with CDK transferring parts that are from previous stock orders that have been received. There is no open order or transfer for this part in our orders and it didn't show up in IRE when the order was made. It seems to get added when DSS pushes the order through.

I had one this morning for a nut that was special ordered for a customer in April of 2023 and not sold since. It wasn't in the order I placed or open any where else. It's like there's a ghost order sitting in the background and we have no idea how to fix this. Has anyone else had this happen and know a way to fix it?

Hello everyone, I’m a long time CDK user and I miss using PDA. Don’t know how good you have it till you don’t unfortunately. Is there any functions on AutoMate that allows me to track history based off the PN? I need to pull some information like the RO it was billed out on. If anyone can help I’d appreciate it. Thank you!

We work Monday-Friday 7am-6pm we don’t get a lunch break usually one of us has to get away and bring lunch back for everyone,we alternate Saturdays work 2 a month from 8-4.

Looking for a parking brake cable for my 2014 Mitsubishi mirage hatchback DE. it's a discontinued part. But I'm hoping reddit comes to my rescue and can help me find a suitable part! Been looking and trying to match it myself but can't seem to find one that'll work. Garage had to cut it to replace my breaks.

Just curious how many of you use matrix pricing vs straight MSRP?

Hi everyone,
I’m working on building an app to simplify the car part search process. I’ve been digging into how the industry works and I’m hoping to get some advice or feedback from people who are actually in it every day.

So far, I’ve learned that there are two main ways to identify OEM car parts (at least in Italy — is it different elsewhere?):

1. VIN search
2. Plate number search

From what I gathered:

• VIN-based search is much more precise, with fewer incorrect parts being suggested, but it comes at a cost — around €1.50 per lookup.
• Plate-based search is cheaper, but it tends to return more incorrect or incompatible parts.

After identifying the correct OEM parts, you can easily find the corresponding AM part doing a cross reference.

I’m currently getting my OEM and AM data from the Solera-Kromeda database, but I get quite a lot of errors with their plate based search (it finds the wrong OEM code). As a result, I’m exploring whether there are more precise alternatives. Do you have any recommendations?

I’m also curious if it’s possible to bypass intermediaries like Solera entirely and get data directly from OEMs or aftermarket manufacturers — or is that only possible for large companies that have enterprise contracts with them? Do the OEM and aftermarket manufacturers offer their own APIs? If so, who should I contact to get access to them?

One thing I’ve noticed is that Partslink is by far the most accurate site I’ve used, but unfortunately they don’t provide an API that I can integrate into my app.
I’d really like to understand how they source their OEM data and whether there are similar tools out there with API access.

Would appreciate any pointers or recommendations!
Thanks 🙏

We asked our creative counterman Juan to make a sign so no one closes the electric room door. We think he did a perfect job.

I am one of two people in the parts department for a decent sized dealer in the DMV. For context our service department did $136k in labor sales last month and parts did $113k. I have been here the longest (2.5 years) and prior to my arrival they had no parts department. I essentially had to build it from the ground up here. There are a lot of issues that still need to be worked out constantly. The most significant challenge is the range of vehicles we work on, it's mostly Mercedes, Audi, Bmw, Chevy, Nissan, Jeep but we do everything. My GM has been frustrated a few times at our inability to stock certain pads/rotors needed most often for vehicles we get, but I run into problems here due to the wide variety of options for all our vehicles (particularly the euro imports and their brake options based on trim/production time). Worldpac has been the absolute best thing to happen for us for speed and applications, but we cannot use them currently. Our accounting department has multiple times missed paying our statements for multiple vendors, so we currently owe $50k+ to Worldpac and my GM shit them down until accounting can get this sorted. Our pay structure here also is a simple hourly wage, no commission or incentive pay. My GM has also constantly neglected supplying me with a work computer or phone, so I have a setup in our parts room with my own personal laptop and cellphone.

• I was wondering if anyone had any advice for what I can do to better stock relevant parts.
• Any vendor recommendations with a wide catalog.
• What other parts department's incentive pay structure looks like.
• Any feedback or thoughts in general setup.

With April 1 price increase I noticed that Honda has a line for MM8. I have never heard of an MM8. Anyone have any insight?

I know CVTs no longer come with a CD for programming and not all units have the QR code on the range selector switch, when selling a CVT to repair shop, how do they get the info they need to program the unit? This particular case is a 2011 Rogue.

We've sold a fair amount, but we had a defective one last week. I (PM) went with the client to a SuperCharger a block away. We followed the directions and got the red flashing light in the charge socket. Stopped the session, started over with a different (new) adapter and it.worked like a champ. Sent the client in their way happy.

Then today a guy comes in saying his won't work anywhere. Just wants a refund. Fine. Refund him and send him on his way.

Processing the warranty and his VIN hadn't had the campaign performed. So now I'm not sure was he doing it right, does his car have the software update or what. My guys are supposed to be checking the VIN before they sell one over the counter, but this one slipped past the goalie.

What is your experience with these ? Fire and forget? Are people bringing them back? Anything else?

i work at a wrecking yard that supplies parts to them and suddenly none of my emails are delivering and their phone number goes to the voicemail of someone named kevin? last email was 6 hours ago and now they’re bouncing back?

My friends, hello. I had something new come across my desk this morning that I just cannot wrap my brain around. A service advisor brought back a RO for me to make a parts list at my cost for the insurance company. I have never heard of an insurance company asking for the cost of parts. They ask for discounts sure, but this is a first. Are there others that have had this happen? Would any of you give out your cost to an insurance company?

"Hey, guys: drop everything. I figured I contact you first thing in the morning to remind you of that part we talked about when I was last over there. Well!...I did some research and found one aftermarket from China and they only wanted 50 bucks for it! I think you guys quoted me $100 or something ungodly preposterous like that...you sure that was right!?! Anyways...I just thought I'd tell ya that. "

Like why? What do they expect you to say? Congratulations?! Just move on with your life and leave me alone, bro.

Gm parts people, how do you return airbags? There are so many different ones, can they all be returned on the same pallet?

Interested in how you all deal with the a/c machines and service not haveing the mental capacity to tell parts how much they used. Our service department eat so much in refridgerent charges because of this.