Should you charge for diag when you can't duplicate it?

Yes, for the diagnostic time the customer approved before the tech started. A could-not-duplicate is a result, and the customer paid for the testing that produced it. The approval is what makes the charge hold. Connecticut requires shops to tell customers the price of a diagnosis before doing it, and Florida's written estimate has to cover diagnostic work before any starts. Sell intermittent diag in blocks and write down every test.

Key takeaways

• Say the price of the first diag block at drop-off, and write it on the RO with a stop point.
• When the block runs out, call before going further. The customer decides on block 2.
• A CND line lists what was tested and under what conditions, so the customer can see what an hour bought.
• Waive diag on your own comebacks, and record every waiver as a discount so it shows in your numbers.

Why is a could-not-duplicate still billable?

Because diagnosis is a separate service from the repair. Mitchell 1 lists diagnosis among the things its published labor times leave out, unless the operation says otherwise. An hour of testing was never inside anybody's book time.

Car owners hear the same thing from the Federal Trade Commission, which tells them "Many repair shops charge for diagnostic time." The customer bought an hour of testing, and the tech spent it. A clean result on an intermittent is still a result, and the concern, cause and correction on the ticket should show the work even when the cause stayed hidden.

The charge falls apart in one situation: the customer hears about it for the first time at pickup.

What do you have to tell the customer before diag starts?

The price, or how the price will be figured, before anybody picks up a scan tool. Rules differ by state, so check yours. These three show the range.

• Connecticut. A shop that charges for a diagnosis "shall inform the customer of the amount of such charge before making the estimate or diagnosis." Consent has to be written if the customer asks or the charge is fifty dollars or more.
• Florida. On repairs over 150 dollars, the written estimate covers diagnostic work "before effecting any diagnostic work or repair." It states the charge or "the basis on which the charge will be calculated," which is how intermittent work gets priced honestly: a rate and a stop point.
• California. The Bureau of Automotive Repair says "A tear down estimate is required before disassembling a portion(s) or area(s) of the vehicle or vehicle component(s) for diagnosis."

Our auto repair authorization form covers the paperwork. A verbal authorization by phone needs the same record as a signature.

How do you sell a diag block at drop-off?

Name the block, the price and the stop point, then ask for the yes. Here is a script for an intermittent stall:

"Stalls that only happen warm are hard to catch, so here's how we do it. The first hour of diagnosis is [price]. In that hour the tech scans for codes and checks for bulletins on your car. Then they drive it the way you described, warm with a few stops. If we find it, I'll call you with the repair price before we do anything. If it doesn't show up in that hour, I'll call you with what we tested, and you decide whether we keep going. Nothing goes past that hour without your OK. Does that work?"

Then write it on the RO in words the customer and the next advisor can both read:

AUTHORIZED: Diagnostic block 1, 1.0 hr at [diag rate] = [amount].
Stop at 1.0 hr and call customer before any further diagnosis.
Diag credit toward repair: [shop policy]. Approved by: [name],
[in person / phone number], [date, time].

Before the car goes back, get the conditions from the customer in their own words. Ask these at the counter:

• Does it happen cold, warm or after the car sits?
• How often: every drive, once a week?
• Is the A/C or the rear defrost on when it happens?
• Did any light come on, and did it stay on?
• When did it start, and has anything been worked on since?

Those answers decide how the road test goes. Without them the tech is guessing at the conditions, and the hour goes to guessing.

What do you say when the first block runs out?

Call before the tech goes past the stop point. Tell the customer what the hour bought, then offer the next block with its price:

"Hi, it's [name] at [shop] about your [car]. The tech spent the hour we talked about. There were no codes stored and no bulletins that match your car. We drove it 24 miles with eleven stops, warm, with the A/C on and off. It never stalled. That rules out a lot. I have two options for you. We can do another hour and a half, a longer drive with a recorder hooked up to catch it when it happens, for [price]. Or you can take it home today and write down the date, the temperature and whether the A/C was on the next time it stalls, then call me. Which would you like?"

Two options is enough. Leave room for the customer to pick the cheaper one without feeling pushed, because a customer who chooses "take it home" and comes back with notes is a customer who trusts the shop.

What goes on the RO when you can't duplicate it?

An illustrative example. The vehicle, times and findings are made up to show the format.

RO 20417 · 2016 midsize sedan, 2.4L · 118,402 mi
CONCERN:  Customer states engine stalls at stoplights 2 to 3 times
          a week, warm engine only, check engine light comes on after.
AUTHORIZED: Diagnostic block 1, 1.0 hr. Call before exceeding.
          (Approved in person, 8:05 am)

TECH NOTES, BLOCK 1:
  - No stored or pending codes. No freeze frame data.
  - Service bulletin search for stall at idle: none for this VIN.
  - Road test 24 mi, 2 full heat cycles, 11 stops at idle,
    A/C on and off. Concern did not occur.
  - Warm idle steady. Fuel trims within spec.
  RESULT: Could not duplicate (CND) in block 1.

ADVISOR CALL, 10:40 am, customer's cell:
  Offered block 2 (1.5 hr, extended drive and data logging).
  Customer declined. Customer to note date, outside temperature
  and A/C state at next stall and call to schedule.

The customer pays for line 1. Line 2 stays on the record as declined work. When the car comes back with a code, the next tech starts from these notes.

What do you say at pickup?

Hand over the tech notes with the invoice and walk through them:

"Here's what the hour covered. We scanned it, checked for bulletins and drove it 24 miles the way you described. It didn't stall for us, so we didn't replace anything on a guess. When it happens again, write down what you wrote on this card and call me. If you bring it in within a day or two, the tech starts from these notes instead of from zero."

Keep the tech off the phone unless the customer asks something the advisor can't answer. The advisor who sold the block explains it.

What if the customer says "just replace the part"?

It happens on every hard intermittent. The customer read a forum thread, and the part is cheap. Sell it as what it is:

"I can do that. I want to be straight with you, though. We haven't proven that part is bad, so replacing it may not fix the stall. If you want it anyway, I'll write it up that way so we're both clear."

Then put that on the estimate line:

Replace [part] at customer request. Cause of concern not confirmed.
Customer informed repair may not correct the concern.

A part sold as a fix that doesn't fix anything becomes a comeback the shop can't defend. The same part sold as the customer's choice doesn't. Some shops refuse parts-on-request for intermittents entirely, which is a fair policy too. Decide once and write it where every advisor can see it.

When should you waive the diag charge?

Use a rule, so every advisor gives the same answer.

Record waivers as a discount. Deleted hours pull your effective labor rate down with no trace of why. The same goes for measuring techs: pull unbilled diag out before you compare clock time to book time, or the numbers blame the tech for a policy.

Where does the estimate come in?

When the next block finds the cause, the job changes from testing to selling a repair. Mechanica writes the priced repair estimate from the tech's finished finding onto the same repair order, and your advisor reviews it and makes the call. If the repair grows once the car is apart, how to re-authorize a job that grew has the next conversation.

More on pricing labor at the counter is on the blog.