The Caledonian-record. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1920-current, 1922-05-13
IMPORTANT TO
KEEP OLD CAR
RUNNING WELL
Better to Keep Old Car In
Shape Than to Sell
New Car

NOfNal a. HAWKINS, QlfeClOr OF
the sales section of the General
Motors Corporation, offers in the
American Machinist much food
for thought. He says: ave have
arrived at the very sound conclu-
sion that keeping the old car run
ming is of far greater and more
lasting Importance than the mat
ter OF getting the new cars sold.
eve have just inaugurated a
policy in General Motors, handed
down from the president through
the executive committee, that pro-
vides for service parts require
ments being given preference over
production requirements, first, last
and always,-irrespective of the
new car orders on tile-and with
out consideration for any tempo
rary financial loss.
1.-The old car owner must be
given first consideration if we eX-
pect to get new car owners. The
repair parts phase of the indus
try must be conducted for profits,
but these profits must come
through greater efficiencies all
along the line rather than by the
maintenance of prohibitive repair
rates.
at is my prediction that with
in three years every service sta
ton will be operating on some
fiat rate system. Whether we like
it, or not, we've got to come to 1t
and when we do come to it, We'll
be surprised at just how low our
past efficiency has ben.
I'D like someone to tell me the
difference between putting on a
steering knuckle in factory and
in a service station insofar as the
problem of cost analysis is con-
cerned.
In considering the moral or
psychological classification of ser
vice, Mr.. Hawkins says:
Take the matter of keeping
cars clean in a repair shop. A
man may bring his car into your
service station ever so dirty but
this does not license you to turn
1T back to him in a still more un-
tidy condition.
I'm the first place the repair
shop should, itself, be kept clean
and there is no necessity for the
mechanic to wear the same pair of
overalls throughout the season
without washing. A clean re-
PAIR shop is one of the dealers
best advertisements.
"a repair shop should never
have a finish tag on it until the
body exterior has been busted out
and the steering wheel wiped off.
When the bill for repair job
runs over $15 | would say that the
dealer should give the car wash
and a polish free of charge and
he'll find it the best investment he
ever made.
"A repair shop should never
have a Finish" tag on it until the
body exterior has ben busted out
and the steering wheel wiped off.
When the bill for a repair job
runs over SIS | would say that the
dealer should give the car a wash
and a polish free of charge and
he'll find it the best investment he
ever made.
"If | sent a coat to d tailor shop
to have a button put on or a rip
sewed and the tailor spilled a can
of machine oil on it or let his dog
use it for a bed, | would raise the
dickens and so would you, and yet
every day cars are being turned
out after you've ridden around the
block you are a fit candidate for
Il Turkish bath.
even our finest closed jobs are !
not immune-in fact the average
mechanic seems to reVel in the
joys of disseminating grease and
oil on a broadcloth interior-he
may miss the universal joints, the
transmission, and the differential
but the front cushion and the
steering wheel-NENER.
Manufacturers have made y
much progress during the past five
years in the development of en-
closed jobs with piano finish and
luxurious appointments. The
most painstaking care is used in
the selection of the proper mate
rial for the cushions, carpets, cur
tains, etc, but the average garage
mechanic on the other hand has
not yet learned to appreciate the
difference between a $4,000 linn
ousine and a truck.
an the future, automobiles end
the service, that must inevitably
follow, will have to be sold and
sold harbour most valuable al (
les are the 100000 car owners Z
whose continued goodwill rests
argely in the hands of the service
men,"