Episodes

  • Episode 49 - The CSI Retention Paradox

    Episode 49 - The CSI Retention Paradox
    Jun 4 2026
    Steve Shaw and Dave Rogers tackle one of the most confusing — and most urgent — paradoxes in fixed operations today: customer satisfaction scores are at all-time highs, while customer retention and RO traffic are quietly collapsing. Those numbers should not be moving in opposite directions at the same time, and yet they are, everywhere in the country. Dave and Steve unpack the real economic forces driving this paradox, then return to the prescription: a back-to-basics, slow-down, every-tenth approach to fixed ops.
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    30 mins
  • Episode 47 - The Great Technician Exodus: Why Your Best Tech is About to Quit

    Episode 47 - The Great Technician Exodus: Why Your Best Tech is About to Quit
    Jun 2 2026
    Dave Rogers and Steve Shaw tackle the single most urgent crisis facing the automotive service industry: how dealerships pay their technicians. Manufacturer warranty labor times have been squeezed to the point where flat-rate technicians cannot make a living on warranty work alone, and the industry is hemorrhaging talent. This episode covers the realities of flat-rate pay, the importance of techs being able to perform maintenance and customer-pay work, the emerging legal angle of warranty labor multipliers, and why dealerships should maintain customers' vehicles at greater intervals than the manufacturer recommends.
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    27 mins
  • Episode 46 - From the Service of Our Country to the Service Drive: A Conversation with Armen Mansouri

    Episode 46 - From the Service of Our Country to the Service Drive: A Conversation with Armen Mansouri
    May 28 2026
    Dave Rogers and Steve Shaw sit down with Armen Mansouri, Service Director at Porsche South Bay — and a U.S. military veteran whose service shaped the leader he is today. This episode is built around honoring Armen's service, exploring why veterans make exceptional dealership personnel, his 1% Rule for building an elite service department, the mentor who shaped him, and the leadership principles he carried from his time in uniform to the service drive.
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    32 mins
  • Episode 45 - Dave Rogers Just AMBUSHED Steve Shaw with ChatGPT — You Won't Believe What Happened

    Episode 45 - Dave Rogers Just AMBUSHED Steve Shaw with ChatGPT — You Won't Believe What Happened
    May 26 2026
    Episode 45 is the sequel — and the rematch — to Episode 42. This time the tables turn: Dave Rogers puts Steve Shaw head-to-head with ChatGPT. Dave skips the training questions and instead hits Steve with the real-world fixed operations scenarios from Steve's days running stores and consulting on service drives across the country. Steve has to take off his trainer hat, put his fixed ops director hat back on, and answer in the moment — no notes, no script. Then ChatGPT runs the same scenarios and the answers are compared side-by-side.
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    26 mins
  • Episode 44 - The $100K Career Nobody Tells High Schoolers About (And It's at Your Local Dealership)

    Episode 44 - The $100K Career Nobody Tells High Schoolers About (And It's at Your Local Dealership)
    May 21 2026
    Steve Shaw and Dave Rogers celebrate the career service advisor — the often-overlooked professional whose dedication keeps customers safe and dealerships profitable. This episode makes the case that a young person can build an above-average income, raise a family, and enjoy a meaningful life as a career service advisor — no four-year degree required.
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    30 mins
  • Episode 43 - Why Your CDJR Dealership Will NEVER Be a Luxury Brand (Until You Fix This One Thing)

    Episode 43 - Why Your CDJR Dealership Will NEVER Be a Luxury Brand (Until You Fix This One Thing)
    May 18 2026
    Steve Shaw and Dave Rogers tackle one of the most underrated challenges in the modern dealership: what happens when a high-volume domestic or import store suddenly decides it wants to play in the luxury sandbox? The case study hits close to home. Steve walks us through his own Jeep Grand Wagoneer experience at a Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram dealership — where a $100,000+ luxury SUV gets serviced in the same chaotic drive as a $25,000 Compass, a leased Cherokee, and a twelve-year-old Wrangler with three brake jobs in arrears. The mismatch isn't just uncomfortable — it's costing dealerships real money, real CSI, and real luxury customers.
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    29 mins
  • Episode 42 - AI vs 30 Year Fixed Ops Expert: The Results Will SHOCK You

    Episode 42 - AI vs 30 Year Fixed Ops Expert: The Results Will SHOCK You
    May 14 2026
    In Episode 42, we put 30+ years of fixed operations expertise on trial against the most advanced AI on the planet. Steve Shaw asked Claude to generate ten of the toughest, most revealing questions a fixed ops expert could face — then handed the mic to Dave Rogers and let him answer them cold. We then compared Claude's AI-generated answers side-by-side with Dave's real-world, dealership-tested responses. Key talking points covered in this episode: • Claude (AI) generates 10+ expert-level fixed ops questions • Dave Rogers answers cold — no prep, no script • Side-by-side comparison: AI answers vs. expert answers • Where AI surprises us — and where it falls flat • Why the future belongs to experts who know how to use AI
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    29 mins
  • Episode 41 - Service Writing Fundamentals with Tyler Smit

    Episode 41 - Service Writing Fundamentals with Tyler Smit
    May 12 2026
    Dave Rogers and Steve Shaw sit down with service advisor Tyler Smith — an experienced young man who ends up schooling both of them on how to write service in 2026. The kicker: the fundamentals Tyler swears by today are the same fundamentals that drove top-performing service drives back in 1987. Key talking points covered in this episode: • Preparation for the appointment • Reviewing the repair orders before the customer arrives • Proper menu presentation • Why having a manager working the drive is non-negotiable
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    27 mins