gsp9700

[TSCRIB23]

more and more pressure is being exerted from the manufacturer to purchase the hunter GSP
9700 road force variation machine.Has anyone
solved the problem of return on investment to justify this purchase w/owners

[robc]

I am not sure I am in a position to give absolute advice because I always hear second hand opinion for the newsletter. That being said, I can't possibly imagine that any shop that isn't big in the tire/alignment business can make a solid case to justify purchasing this machine.

I might be wrong, and the factory might be cutting you a break on the machine, but when an independant friend of mine priced it he was looking at $30,000. That is way too much money for anyone not seriously into tires.

Myself, I'd look to find a local shop that has one. Then on those troublesome vehicles, I might sublet the work out to them to be transparent to the customer. For most stores there aren't enough of these problem childs to justify the machine. Plus for 30K I could buy a ton of new rims and tires to satisfy customers.

Also, maybe if you belong to a group of five or so stores within a quick drive of each other, it might make sense for one of them to own it.

Does the machine work and is it totally cool - absolutely. I think it is by far the best way to guarantee the best rim/tire match out there. Is that worth $30K, I don't think so. Why are we as dealerships spending this money to underwrite the factory's defect in tires or rims? Maybe it is just me but I totally see this as us paying money to save them money. Not a good bargin in my book.

I would really welcome opinions to the contrary. Besides factory relations insurance why would this seem like a good deal?



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** Rob, Editor WD&S **
Help is only a message post away!
robc@dealersedge.com

[flyboy]

Food for thought.

If you were in a dealership selling lots of Corvettes, or perhaps other semi exotics, maybe even highline SUV's etc, this could actually be a good move. True the $30K is a bit much, but the cost can be absorbed in the custome wheel market and CSI benefits.

No, it is not for everybody. But what is? Each store needs to weigh out the possibilities, ie, think outside the box! Is there an opportunity to capture a niche?

[David Eby]

I have had a GSP 9700 balancer for several years in our shop. I can not imagine solving vibration problems without it. My only concern is the amount of bad tires that we find. The current price from GM Dealer equipment is only $9811.00 without a printer and $10931.00 with a printer. The ability to fix cars faster and the amount of increased customer satisfaction should be enough return on investment.

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[robc]

$10K is much more in the realm of reality, and kudos for GM dealer equipment for getting the price down into that area.

As David said it makes solving vibration problems a lot easier and it sounds like it is working well for his store given theproblems he has seen with tires.

Begin useless rant: There is no doubt that there are some bad tires out there, but again, why are we as dealerships paying $10K to solve the bad tires in the world? Shouldn't that total cost be on Goodyear's shoulders, on Bridgestone's shoulders? :end rant

Again, my thoughts are that not every shop *has* to have one of these. That is totally dependant on how much work you do on whether it would pay for itself.

What difference does it really make if your shop has one, or you sublet it to the shop down the road? On Hunter's website you can do a search for local shops that have a GSP 9700. I found 36 within 25 miles of me. Several within a few miles, a dozen within a 10 minute drive.

Begin useless rant #2: Do you know how many of those 36 stores were GM dealerships? Two. This wasn't mentioned specifically, but most often the factory puts pressure on dealers by saying something like - "you guys are the only dealership who are pig-headed and refuse to buy the machine we want you to." Come to find out only the few that it made sense to opted for the machine, but most didn't. :end rant

Here's the business case since we are discussing GM's offering. GM warranty pays just under an hour for wheel balancing on all but 2500 and larger trucks. If the national average labor rate is about $66 - let's say the average balancing pays $60 for warranty and $40 for CP (that actually would be on high side for comparison shopping).

With a third of that is going to the tech, we are talking about a shop doing the first 250+ balances just to pay off the machine. For some of you that could be in three months, for others that could be three years.

Again, nothing against Hunter and what is probably the best tool to cure vibration complaints.



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** Rob, Editor WD&S **
Help is only a message post away!
robc@dealersedge.com

[gman]

Hello all,
Its been awhile since I last posted, and in that time I have ended a 20 year career as a fixed ops manager. While it is great not to have the daily stress load of dealing with the public, manufacturers, and owners, the "biz" still runs in my blood! Rob, I hope you will allow me to continue to get my "fix" with you guys here at dealersedge. What this change does offer is a clear perspective that can be offered without fear!

In regard to the GSP-9700, with a 45 bay shop we were the first in our state to obtain this machine. Without doubt this was done due to pressure from the manufacturer. (read GM) With our facility having such high visibility among our peers, pressure was brought at the dealer level to set the example for the area. The first discussion I had with my dealer was his instruction to order it. My belief is that our rep looked at it as a way to tranafer alot of tire
related vibration concerns back to the tire manufacturer and away from cpvs. In reality this is exactly what occurred, but at our expense, and at that time, with us caught between the customer and reluctant tire dealers. The point: most manufacturers will gladly transfer any cost of satisfying customers to you as a cost of doing business, especially if it takes them out of the picture.

But wait, this is not all factory bashing...
In attempt to make the best of a bad situation as you guys do every day, we put the machine to work. In attempt to cost justify it in reference to the retail tire replacement business, we gave up - it was just too expensive. What we did find is that we were able, due to its almost "dummy proof" operation, to utilize lower skilled techs in the initial stages of vibration diagnosis instead of having to get the job to a tech who was capable of not only setting up and using an "EVA" but having the skill to interpret the data correctly. The results did indeed prove that a majority of these cases resulted in tire/wheel related problems that could easily be corrected by this lower cost tech with at most a little assistance from a shop foreman/manager. It drastically reduced cycle time and return visits for these vibration cases. In that regard it was worth the expense. If you operate a high volume shop, it is a great and justifiable tool. From the numbers we had it appeared that shops with 15 or greater techs and actively in the tire business the expense could be retired and maybe have marginal ROI.
For smaller shops, Rob's advice is sound thinking. Find a local facility, work out a good sublet arrangement, and ship 'em.

Good Luck!

gman

[Michael White]

We have a 9700 in it is great. We do about $30,000 a month in wheels and tires, and is critical to customer satisfaction. road Force variation is not as problematic as it was in 98-99, but it is still out there. rob, I do not know where you go the $30k figure at.