I noticed that several people mentioned doing a thorough inspection AFTER the appraisal, but we check all of these things in the appraisal process. We're already in front of the car and going over it anyways, so I think it's actually more efficient just to do it all at the same time. We check all the windows, locks, air/heat, lights, touch all 4 corners of the screen, everything. Our goal isn't to use those things to devalue the car, it's just so that there aren't any surprises. Techs aren't going to care about a random window that doesn't roll down as much as the front guys, so that's our job. We don't like surprises. Mechanics are used to them.
As far as getting techs to do a thorough drive, the truth is that with the lack of mechanics and how hard they are to replace, they know they have the leverage to almost do whatever they want. If you threatened a tech with their job if they didn't do the drive, I'm still not sure that they would do it. To me, and I'm not in this position yet so it may be more impossible than I can imagine, but I believe that there is a culture that has to be created in the service department that people seem to feel can't be created. The leader in me can't help it, but I refuse to believe that it can't be done. But as all of you know (and the point that you're trying to get across to Carsten) is that we are talking about a massive wholesale change if you want to change the culture in a service department to caring. The silo effect is incredibly powerful. It always amazes new people when they come in and see how culturally different the sales and service departments are. It's like they aren't even owned by the same person.
