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. 6D AGO

    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

  2. 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

  3. 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

  4. 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

  5. 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

  6. MAR 19

    Episode 346: The Technician Shortage Part II: Money

    Send us Fan Mail On this week’s episode of Grease the Wheels, Uncle Jimmy comes down hard on one of the major contributing factors of the technician shortage - the money. From warranty times that keep getting slashed to an abysmally low starting average pay, there is no wonder why the attrition rate is so high amongst young technicians. Throughout the industry, keeping talent is a problem - for some! For others who run a business well and understand that skilled labor isn’t cheap, there is no technician shortage. We also get into the weeds on a concept called “The B******t Factor” which will either compound or allow more leeway with what it is going to cost you to keep working there. There are many contributing factors to the technician shortage, but it is highly dependent on the attitudes and compensation of talent throughout the industry.     Also Uncle Jimmy blows up old Porsches.  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 6m

  7. MAR 12

    Episode 345: Society’s Problem

    Send us Fan Mail On this week’s episode of Grease The Wheels, Uncle jimmy starts in on a series that is addressing the technician shortage. Throughout the history of media that has included cars, mechanics (and their modern iteration of technicians) have been unduly vilified as grifters, cheats, and scumbags. While there are some bad actors in the field, the same can be said for literally other occupation on earth (most notably, the ones that actually deal with the customers and complete the transactions in our industry!) We challenge this notion in it’s entirety, as many of the technicians that we know and love, especially the ones that listen to this podcast, are some of the best people that we have ever met. So how do we go about changing this societal view on an entire profession - media. While this media might not be a good example! But between the small screen in a customers pocket that is showing them a perfect video MPI on their vehicle, to larger scale scripted media, we are working to change customers perspective of the fixed operations department, one interaction at a time.  Also Uncle Jimmy quotes last week’s episode write up!  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 9m

  8. MAR 5

    Episode 344: Greasy Heads & Hands

    Send us Fan Mail On this week’s episode of Grease the Wheels, Uncle Jimmy takes a common problem and solves it in the most insane way that he possibly can! We have all seen manuals, repair instructions, and bulletins that seem to be written by someone who has never turned a wrench in anger, but sometimes they are egregious enough to actually be a problem. Such as the one that attempted to have Uncle Jimmy start messing around with battery connections on a live battery - pro tip; don’t do this! So we decided to reimagine these forms of literature in the forms of common children’s stories - some for technicians, some for other techs, and even some for customers to get the point across in a simple and digestible way. The practical application of this comes from the definitely-non-children author, H.P. Lovecraft who famously said, “the oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown” The more that we help both professionals in the field and the customers that use the products that we keep running every single day understand what is going on, the less fear there well be overall.  Also Uncle Jimmy drops a positively millennial/gen-z hot take, “don’t die at work, that means work wins!” 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!

    46 min
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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
    357
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Grease The Wheels Podcast
  • Show Website
    Grease The Wheels Podcast

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