Monday, August 4th, 2014

Diagnostics: The Key to the Repair

Imagine not feeling well, no lets go past that, imagine feeling so sick that you are beside yourself. You’re at the point when you can’t decide whether to grin and bear it and call your physician and hope that you can be fit in the day’s schedule, or go straight to the emergency room. So you call your Doctor and you get a machine that tells you what steps to take and if this is a medical emergency to call 911.

For arguments sake let’s say that you went to the ER and when you get past all of the signing and insurance questions, what is the first thing that happens? A barrage of questions come at you while at the same time someone is checking your vitals. By vitals we mean your temperature, your blood pressure, your heart beat and pulse. Then and only then does the doctor venture to DIAGNOSE what he or she thinks is the problem. We’ve all been through this and rightfully it’s meant to protect the Docs from making a mistake and to keep us from dying.

Imagine now that after the whole process of getting to the emergency room, when you finally get to see a doctor that you can’t speak, or worse you’re unconscious. Imagine what everyone in that room goes through. There is no history, no answers to questions concerning where it hurts, or how long it has been hurting. How about if you have a faint or an irregular- heartbeat while they are examining you, do you think that an electrocardiogram or a crash cart would not be in very close proximately?

Okay, so this is what happened: you’re a diabetic and you lost track of your insulin shots and double dosed yourself. Your blood sugar plunged in to the 50’s, and you passed out. After being rushed into the emergency room all of this was quickly established by the staff and all they had to do was give you a cup of orange juice to bring you back to your old self.

When you get the bill are you outraged: maybe, but truth be known if any of those procedures were not performed or at least around that little mistake could have become fatal, so you bite the bullet and pay the bill. Before anyone goes into an outrage, you must understand that I am not comparing myself to a Doctor, nor do I proclaim to have to access life and death issues at a moment’s notice.

My best friend is a physician and we discuss all of these issues as we walk the miles we have accumulated. It’s good therapy for both of us and it keeps both of us sane. Here is the comparison, machines were invented by man, and the only machine that man could emulate was the human body.

Whenever a vehicle comes into the shop, we try to ask all of the right questions so that we can correctly DIAGNOSE the problem. Many times people feel that we are interrogating them and get inpatient; sometimes they have a ride waiting or are trying to get to work on time. Sometimes people feel that if they give us too much information that it will cost more money to repair the vehicle.

When a vehicle comes in on the hook (ambulance), and is not running (unconscious), we have to perform the same type of preliminary diagnostics. Does it have spark (heartbeat) how about fuel pressure (blood pressure), can it inhale (air intake) and exhale (exhaust), does it have codes in the power train computer (PCM) does the scanner need to be installed (electrocardiogram).

The whole point is that diagnostics take time, diagnostic equipment costs thousands of dollars, and the truth of the matter is the faster we can diagnose a vehicle especially using the newest and fastest equipment the less money it will cost you.

A 1998 Chevrolet Silverado has 28 different modules or computers all interconnected and communicating with each other. A 2005 BMW 7 Series has 54 modules, and like it or not many times they all have to be monitored. Many times we find problems that are not related to the reason that the vehicle is in the shop. This is like going to the doctor for a cold and then being told that you have diabetes or worse cancer, or a heart murmur.

Its news that nobody wants to hear but doctors are taught and required to inform you about them. A well trained technician and a responsible shop are required only by their devotion to our chosen industry and their integrity. Unfortunately this is called “UPSELLING” but if you can just look at it logically it is really called “PREVENTION “.

Gregg’s Automotive is now in the process of developing detailed questioners that can be sent to all of our clients electronically that can be filled out by you in the comfort of your own home and either brought in with your vehicle or sent back to us electronically. This way there is NO interrogation, no stress trying to remember every little detail. This saves us time and time saved is money saved.

We believe that we are the first shop to be embracing this new technology, and we are proud to be on the cutting edge.

So as we close this article once again I have to reiterate:

PREVENTIVE MAINTENANCE INCREASES RELIABILITY, COMFORT AND DECREASES THE COST OF OWNERSHIP

PREVENTIVE MAINTENANCE STARTS AT MILE 00001



PREVENTIVE MAINTENANCE REDUCES THE COST OF OWNERSHIP.
MAINTENANCE STARTS AT MILE 00001

Gregg’s Automotive Maintenance & Repair Center

236 S. Tamiami Tr.
Punta Gorda, Fl. 33950
941-575-8868
www.greggsauto.net
Auto Repair, A/C Repair, Oil Change, Brake Repair & Transmission Services

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