Grease The Wheels Podcast

Grease The Wheels
  • 4.5 (46)
  • Automotive
  • Updated Weekly

A Master Technician, a microphone, 30 years of experience in the Automotive Industry: buckle up! Come along as we take a look at the current state of the automotive industry from the point of view of the guys and gals turning the wrenches. So no matter what you fix, how you fix it, or how many tools you have to fix it with: welcome to the Grease the Wheels Nation. Also once in a while we take a look at the makes and models of cars we work on through the lenses of history, economics, politics, our own personal experiences and the experiences of our listeners. Special thanks to The Wrenching Network, Curien, Surfwrench, and Murray the dog.

  1. May 28

    Episode 354: Raising the Bar

    Send us Fan Mail On this week’s episode of Grease the Wheels, we use AI to be introspective and ask it what it thinks of the podcast. Overall, it mirrors many of the opinions of our listeners, which is kinda spooky. It also goes into some of our ongoing projects, which is even spookier! Moving to a multimedia format would be difficult with the way that the content is produced, but we do have some tricks up our sleeves when it comes to that. Also, the march and logo game is about to go off on one of the funniest tangents in the history of branding. Let us know your ideas for segments, all of your most unintelligible repair order lines, and much more over on our Facebook page!  Also Uncle Jimmy talks about why the show doesn’t have guests — except for that one time!  This Episode of Grease the Wheels is brought to you in partnership with Surfwrench Digital! For more on Video MPI Training Visit https://www.surfwrench.com/video-mpi-training-landing/ to learn more. Video MPI Training built in the shop, by your Uncle Jimmy. Use code “GTW” for 50% off your training access!

    1h 5m

  2. May 21

    Episode 353: Stupid Is As Customers Do

    Send us Fan Mail On this weeks episode of Grease The Wheels, we ask Gemini why customers are the way they are. There is a good portion of the customer base who knows that their cars are going to break, knows that they can’t fix them, and trusts you to make the right call when it comes to diagnosing and fixing the problems that they have to get back on the road. There is another segment of the customer base that might not trust you 100%, but is still captive to their own lack of knowledge and likely financial constraints. Then there is the third category of customers who don’t know anything, think they know everything, and are some of the most unreasonable people walking the earth today. We also get into the idea of firing customers, the old of video when it comes to informing that second cadre into making the right decisions, and the idea that the service advisors are often the unwilling hostages in these situations. Bottom line, customers need to make the right decisions, and we need to frame those right decisions properly from top to bottom.  Also Uncle Jimmy forgets that the most important part of the ‘Psychology of Selling’ isn’t in the pitch - it’s in asking the right questions to make your pitch that much more impactful.  This Episode of Grease the Wheels is brought to you in partnership with Surfwrench Digital! For more on Video MPI Training Visit https://www.surfwrench.com/video-mpi-training-landing/ to learn more. Video MPI Training built in the shop, by your Uncle Jimmy. Use code “GTW” for 50% off your training access!

    1h 23m

  3. May 14

    Episode 352: Dear Mr. Fantasy

    Send us Fan Mail On this weeks episode of Grease the Wheels, Uncle Jimmy goes into some of the deepest professional fantasies of ownership, management, and everything in between. Ownership wants a business that essentially runs itself, but to do that they have to empower their management to make the right decisions and give the dealership a level of autonomy. This is something that many owners have a hard time with. Management wants their job to be as easy as possible, hiring people who do a great job every single time and can make the shop the maximum amount of money. Techs want a great wage and plenty of work. Some of these things cannot exist in the same space, which is why it is so rare to have a shop that runs properly in the first place. Many owners treat their investments like they can run themselves, but force all management to run every single decision past them. Often times management is slow to make any decisions, and then will make the wrong ones. And this translates down to the techs as well, whop often provide significantly more friction than managementcan handle. It’s the old two translations of the word ‘utopia’: good place, and no place!    Also Uncle Jimmy holds his fire on service advisors.  This Episode of Grease the Wheels is brought to you in partnership with Surfwrench Digital! For more on Video MPI Training Visit https://www.surfwrench.com/video-mpi-training-landing/ to learn more. Video MPI Training built in the shop, by your Uncle Jimmy. Use code “GTW” for 50% off your training access!

    1h 21m

  4. Apr 30

    Episode 351: Job Search 101

    Send us Fan Mail On this weeks episode of Grease the Wheels, Uncle Jimmy goes hard in the paint when it comes to finding a new place to work — or if you are a new guy, a first place to work. There are a lot of questions that need to be asked when doing this, some of which are simple and extremely specific to who you are as a person, and the rest are a bit more hands on when it comes to site visits. What brand do you want to work on? Do you really only want to work on one brand, or do you prefer an incredible variety of broken stuff rolling (or getting pushed) in the door. Have you looked at the google reviews for the place? What types of tools do they have, and are they proactive about policing and acquiring more when needed? One of the best things that you can do is talk to the technicians at that shop, because more often than not they will tell you the real story that the Service Manager either doesn’t want to tell you, or is too oblivious to notice. We also get into some of the more covert methods where you can test out the service advisors!  Bottom line, when the technician shortage is this bad, and likely rot get worse as the old guys begin to retire at an increasingly rapid rate, you get to call the shots!  Also Uncle Jimmy tells a service manager to their face, “everyone I have talked to about working here says, ‘DON’T DO IT!’    This Episode of Grease the Wheels is brought to you in partnership with Surfwrench Digital! For more on Video MPI Training Visit https://www.surfwrench.com/video-mpi-training-landing/ to learn more. Video MPI Training built in the shop, by your Uncle Jimmy. Use code “GTW” for 50% off your training access!

    1h 27m

  5. Apr 22

    Episode 350: Radio Free Grease The Wheels

    Send us Fan Mail On this week’s episode of Grease the Wheels, Uncle Jimmy goes over some ways that you could *theoretically* sabotage the shop, and some of the ways to fix it. The conclusion that he comes to however, is one of the coldest lines in this entire series of podcasts - mainly that most shops are sabotaging themselves! From poor management to ineffective service advisors, when times get slow from either external or internal factors the personnel that stand to lose the most happen to be some of the most valuable in the shop, and the ones that have the highest demand for their skills! There are tons of ways to fix this, but the bottom line is, if you don’t have the work the people who suffer the most are the techs, and they often times have the best exit strategy!     Also Uncle Jimmy gets the palladium sombrero on repair order up-sells.  This Episode of Grease the Wheels is brought to you in partnership with Surfwrench Digital! For more on Video MPI Training Visit https://www.surfwrench.com/video-mpi-training-landing/ to learn more. Video MPI Training built in the shop, by your Uncle Jimmy. Use code “GTW” for 50% off your training access!

    1h 3m

  6. Apr 16

    Episode 349: You Can Call Me AI

    Send us Fan Mail On this week’s episode of Grease the Wheels, Uncle Jimmy goes down the AI Rabbit hole with some of the most pressing causes of the technician shortage. Weirdly, Gemini has apparently been an avid listener of grease the wheels, because the last few episodes were often referenced! However, where it completely excels is in the numbers, specifically looking at the aging population of auto mechanics with mid-60% being over the age of 45 years old. Apparently Millenials avoided the industry all together, but might be coming into the skilled trades as the aforementioned AI takes their office jobs! The real focus needs to be on Gen Z and more importantly how to keep them in the shop, to which Gemini actually has some very solid ideas. We also get into the idea of institutional knowledge drain.    Also Uncle Jimmy catches a wave listening to Dick Dale as a proud member of, “The Silver Tsunami” This Episode of Grease the Wheels is brought to you in partnership with Surfwrench Digital! For more on Video MPI Training Visit https://www.surfwrench.com/video-mpi-training-landing/ to learn more. Video MPI Training built in the shop, by your Uncle Jimmy. Use code “GTW” for 50% off your training access!

    1h 18m

  7. Apr 10

    Episode 348: It Hurts

    Send us Fan Mail On this week’s episode of Grease the Wheels, Uncle jimmy concludes his symposium on the technician shortage with the simple fact that the job is dangerous, and it will hurt you at some point. There are a million and a half ways to get hurt at work, from the cars to the equipment, to not properly using either. There are also a millions ways that the job can kill you, such as trying to catch rolls royces, to chemicals. In this episode we go over the burns, cuts, sprains, and strains that can knock a good tech out of commission, and if bad enough get their coworkers to leave the game all together. Seriously, everyone listening to this has, at some point in time, gotten hurt on the job. And if employers think that this is not a cause of the technician shortage, they are delusional!     Also Uncle Jimmy goes over how the Germans do it right, and how The King ultimately ended up dying on the bog.  This Episode of Grease the Wheels is brought to you in partnership with Surfwrench Digital! For more on Video MPI Training Visit https://www.surfwrench.com/video-mpi-training-landing/ to learn more. Video MPI Training built in the shop, by your Uncle Jimmy. Use code “GTW” for 50% off your training access!

    59 min

  8. Mar 26

    Episode 347: The Technician Shortage Part III: The Bullsh*t Factor

    Send us Fan Mail On this weeks episode of Grease The Wheels, Uncle Jimmy expands on the concept of “The Bullsh*t Factor” Quite simply put, this is anything that makes your job as a technician more difficult. This can from the environment, such as shops that are not properly climate controlled for the climate that they are in. It can also come from management and other support staff, being either too involved or not involved enough in keeping up standards, or adding steps to processes that should be incredibly simple. It can come from ownership that sees their technicians and support staff less as an investment, and more as a cost. It can also come from Parts Departments, usually because they are so underpaid for the job that they do. The bottom line is that if the effort is not there, and the view on the fixed ops department is that it is not a good investment but rather a human run impediment to selling more cars — then the situation is never going to improve and it is time to grease them wheels.     Also Uncle Jimmy resurrects an old intro format and gets an amber alert that almost completely derails an important bit.  This Episode of Grease the Wheels is brought to you in partnership with Surfwrench Digital! For more on Video MPI Training Visit https://www.surfwrench.com/video-mpi-training-landing/ to learn more. Video MPI Training built in the shop, by your Uncle Jimmy. Use code “GTW” for 50% off your training access!

    1h 4m
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4.5
out of 5
46 Ratings

About

A Master Technician, a microphone, 30 years of experience in the Automotive Industry: buckle up! Come along as we take a look at the current state of the automotive industry from the point of view of the guys and gals turning the wrenches. So no matter what you fix, how you fix it, or how many tools you have to fix it with: welcome to the Grease the Wheels Nation. Also once in a while we take a look at the makes and models of cars we work on through the lenses of history, economics, politics, our own personal experiences and the experiences of our listeners. Special thanks to The Wrenching Network, Curien, Surfwrench, and Murray the dog.

Information

  • Creator
    Grease The Wheels
  • Years Active
    2018 - 2026
  • Episodes
    360
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Grease The Wheels Podcast
  • Show Website
    Grease The Wheels Podcast

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