Fixed ops’ costs get in way of profits

TO THE EDITOR:

Regarding the editorial “Car warranty reimbursement battle driven by naked politics,” autonews.com, Feb. 26: I am working with a Texas dealership group, and we have been fighting for years to get our franchisers to honor Texas retail-for-warranty laws. Most do now, with Ford being the latest to comply.

Warranty is the least productive work in the shops and requires the most tech training investment by the manufacturers. We only charge them what our retail customers pay for repair work. The high profits the editorial refers to do not usually extend to fixed ops, for while most that are well run are profitable, they are operating on the same margins they did before the pandemic, with the exception of cost of labor, which is actually at an all-time high. This also does not take into account the facilities and equipment upgrades that have been mandated.

JIM RICHTER, Owner, Warwick InfoTech, Calera, Ala. Warwick InfoTech provides parts operations support to a major auto group in Texas.