For those in Automotive Service, which system?

I have a rare opportunity to have started a new job at a GM dealer NOT writing service and one of my first tasks is to help the owner decide to renew and upgrade with ADP (From 2007 to Drive for metric buttloads of money) or change to a different dealer software package.

We carry three brands (Buick, Cadillac and GMC). We write 60-100 ROs a day and have a full service body shop.

I have used ADP and Reynolds and Reynolds, I have heard Corum(sp?) is a player as well as others. Who has used what and what are your thoughts?

JmfnB

I would go with what ever Mr.Goodrich wonts to use.

Given a choose I would use a sys that has spell check and cut and copy. That way the techs will not shy away from giving better detailed decorations of the work they performed.

Customers don't mind paying more to have work done. When they can read how labor intensive a job was or is.

I know the dealer I last worked for, a GM/Chrysler store, switched from R&R to AutoSoft or something.

I, personally, LOVE R&R, ADP in ANY form suck donkeyballs. The other one I listed is somewhere between the two, but it would be a bottom halfer.

ReyRey is a PITA to learn, having to know all those screen numbers (3010, 3030, 3040, 3651, 3654 ad nauseam) but its single biggest strength over the Windows based systems: It rarely (if ever) crashes. I'd stick with ReyRey on that alone.

It also will do anything you ask, you just need to know where to look (there's that training thing again).

Yeah, no spell check is a PITA but that's a lot of why the service advisor is there: to clean all that up.

ADP and Reynolds&Reynolds both have their strong and weak points. R&R is a bit more clunky, but more reliable. ADP is more user friendly but crashes a lot. How good is your in-house IT support? If its strong then the ADP problems aren't as bad. If you have weak (or no) in-house IT then go for R&R.

Can you guys come up with a system of sticky-notes and blue pens? What's with all this high-tech crap?

ReyRey doesn't like others meddling in their programs and tend to keep their support to themselves, which can be a drawback.

If I was King of the World the absolute FIRST thing I would do is outlaw the sticky note. Those damn things create more problems...

Curmudgeon wrote: ReyRey doesn't like others meddling in their programs and tend to keep their support to themselves, which can be a drawback. If I was King of the World the absolute FIRST thing I would do is outlaw the sticky note. Those damn things create more problems...

I will try to remember to take a picture of the board my predecessor left me of his "notes" absolute mayhem.

We use ADP Drive (former Saturn, now Mitsu dealer). Before that we had a previous version of ADP. The Drive is more user friendly, at least to me, the older guys have more trouble adapting to it. It has had its share of malfunctions but overall is a pretty efficient system.

If you have older computers it will run very slow, I am often frustrated when it takes 10-15 seconds to respond after entering an RO number or other command. However, we do 20 ROs on a good day so it isn't a huge deal.

After using both, I think ERA is the better way to go. There are more options, more solutions and overall is a really good system. I will bitch about it from time to time (it's what we do!) but it really is a great system. The biggest thing is getting everyone TRAINED and actually utilizing the system. That is our biggest hurdle is getting everyone onboard at the same time and using it as it is meant to be used.

Busy times we'll see 60-70 RO's a day, not so busy we'll see 40. We don't have time to "wait" with ADP.

The majority of the technicians are 45+ years old and have been with the company for more than 15 years. I am concerned about losing two goods ones with a system change, geographically there is a bit of a void in talent. It seems the good young techs are all crooks and have set out to screw the system at any cost. They fired one on wednesday for theft, I fired one yesterday for falsifying an order (claiming a repair that was not done and attempting to take the parts home) the old timers ratted him out.

I bought them all lunch today to say thanks.

Thank you all for the info.

R&R has a better accounting system, ADP was faster at closing RO's but then they would get lost in the system. R&R's real strength is the customer database. It tries as hard as it can to stop you from entereing customer info 14 times.