Repair Shop Newsmaker Q&A: Terica Devoreh-Spratt

Terica Devoreh-Spratt is a service advisor with Hawthorne Auto Clinic in Portland, Ore. She began working at Hawthorne 10 years ago, as an apprentice technician during her senior year in high school. After graduating and earning an associate's degree in automotive from Mount Hood Community College, Devoreh-Spratt became a service advisor at Hawthorne. Now, she uses the technical knowledge she gained as an apprentice, along with her customer service skills, to explain repairs and estimates to the shop's customers. Devoreh-Spratt is also an active member of Portland's Association of Women in Automotive.

How has the rising price of gas affected drivers in your region of the country? What changes have you noticed in your customers’ driving or car maintenance habits as they relate to high prices of gas?

Gas prices are a concern for everyone. Customers are trying to drive less and bike or take the bus more often. It has not had a negative impact on our business — more people want to invest in their current car to make it last as long as possible because they don't want to make car payments. A well-maintained vehicle is also going to get the best gas mileage possible, while a poorly maintained vehicle will waste gas unnecessarily.

If you find that customers are deferring maintenance, do you talk to them about the importance of proper maintenance for their vehicles? How do you start the conversations?

The rising cost of living can cause people to want to put off vehicle maintenance; however, we have not experienced a large number of customers who are deferring this step. Whenever a car is in the shop we do a general visual inspection on fluids and components. We give them a report on their vehicle and explain that the long-term effects of not doing the maintenance can cause bigger, more expensive problems. If they need to wait, we prioritize the work and schedule a return visit in a few months.

Do you find that customers still demand brand name parts for their vehicles? Or, are they more focused on the bottom line and getting the repair done as quickly as possible?

Customers very rarely mention brands. Their concern is for quality and getting their vehicle back as soon as possible. Most customers seem to have the same expectations no matter the price. Price can be a concern, but if we use a cheap part that won't last as long, customers are unhappy to have to spend their time in the shop for the same problems. They are willing to spend a little more to get a good quality part that will be reliable. We use high quality parts, and are able to give our customers a two-year warranty.

Have longer lasting parts affected the bottom line in your shop? Have you had to adjust the repair portion of your business accordingly and move to another business model?

Over the last 20 years cars in general have become more reliable. It used to be shops waited until cars showed up on tow trucks, fixed them and sent them on their way. Cars are breaking down on the road less frequently now, which makes owning a vehicle less stressful for people, but it has changed the focus of auto repair shops. People are keeping their vehicles longer. We focus heavily on preventive maintenance to ensure fewer breakdowns for our customers and to make all systems last as long as individual parts are now lasting.

Are technicians at independent repair shops having trouble keeping up with all the advanced components and systems in today's cars? Or, is the industry encouraging them to keep up through ongoing education?

Our technicians are able to keep up with the changing technology by attending classes, reading various material, having manufacturer computer scan tools available, subscribing to various manufacturer Web sites and having access to multiple data Web sites in order to know as much as possible about the systems on different vehicles. This is very costly and time-consuming to the shop, and not all shops are able to spend the time and money it takes to stay at the head of the industry. The independent auto industry is very encouraging and works together to be the best. The car manufacturers do not like to share information with independent shops about how their vehicles function. The independent shops have rallied together to make the manufacturers share this vital information. Through proliferation of computer scan tools and information pricing policies, the manufacturers have still been able to maintain close to a monopoly on the most up-to-date information.

With cars becoming more and more technologically complex, do you find it difficult to communicate the intricacies of maintenance and repair to your customers? What strategies do you employ to communicate with them effectively?

It can be difficult to explain how different components work in different systems, especially with vehicles becoming more complex every year. The repair cost is expensive and most people are not sure what they are paying for or why. For the service advisors to communicate effectively, we use pictures and power point displays of components, and explain in non technical terms the function of components in a given system and why the component is important. We use fluid displays to educate drivers about the importance of having clean fluid vs. dirty fluid. We also occasionally offer a class on the weekend for customers who are interested in learning more about their vehicles.

What is the one thing you wish all customers knew about the auto repair business? And, if they knew this secret, would it make repairing their cars easier?

The one thing that we wish customers knew is how difficult it is to work on vehicles and how highly skilled technicians have to be. Even a preconceived “easy” problem can be challenging and time consuming. Unfortunately, there is no secret to making car repairs easier, but it may be less stressful to the customers if they understand the repair process and why repairs are so expensive.