As a technician, it’s your job to find and diagnose problems with vehicles. In most cases, a customer will come in with a front end complaint, we look for the obvious issue, fix that, and send them on down the road. Have you ever stopped to ask what we are missing?

There are many ways that this can happen. Let’s say that a customer comes in with a complaint of a front end noise.   In a short test drive, you notice that there’s a noise coming from the wheel hub and bearing assembly.   You bring the car in the shop, replace the assembly and send the customer on down the road. A few days later, they come back upset because you didn’t fix their problem.   Yes, the wheel bearing was bad, but it kept you from noticing that the CV axle was making a clicking noise during really tight turns.  On top of that, the bearing plate on the opposite side is just starting to make noise.  

All too often when we find the obvious problems, we stop looking for other, not so obvious problems that may exist in a vehicle that are opportunities to get an additional sale, and to make sure that a customer leaves happy. In this, make sure that you do a complete inspection of each vehicle. Look at each component separately to correctly find and diagnose any issues that could be covered up by other items.

This video is sponsored by GSP North America.