automotive technician

lube technician

car sales executive

human resources manager

service technician

Ken Garff Automotive Group

My role included supporting multiple locations. A lot of my time was spent traveling, on the phone, in meetings and or developing strategy. For the most part management at the corporate level is exceptional, although the CEO changes his mind often and he leads with an authoritarian style. You should never "say the wrong thing" or be perceived to be slow to respond. Dealership management varies by location especially in California. Some GM's were beyond exceptional others had opportunities. Everything revolves around around 30 days. One bad month is not a good experience. Turnover is outrageously high. This is a result of a lack of cohesion and different directions from senior leadership, often siding with GM's who drive profit, regardless of their opportunities.  You have to be able to read between the lines in regards to your performance as there are no real KPI. You are rated simply on what others might say about you and this can change from day to day. You may develop an idea for improvement that may be shot down but later introduced as the next big thing. You must be comfortable with others taking credit for your work and management defends that as teamwork. The best part of working for KGAG is the people. There is a strong but unfocused commitment to the employment brand and treating employees well.  Still the efforts are nice and add warmth to the work environment and the overall culture. The workload is significant and multiple initiatives will happen at the same time. The benefits were the worst I have ever had, and only aimed to keep up with industry standard as opposed to adding value for the employees. Paid time off is simply unacceptable compared to other companies. Total rewards is a significant opportunity for KGAG. Overall great company, great people but absolutely proceed with caution. Your job is never secure. Expect the minimum. You will enjoy the people and the unique cultures across locations. With the rapid growth of the company, there is a good chance your ideas will add value which is exciting. The feel is like working for a family owned business but in a large corporate environment.  Regardless of any adversity you will always be treated fairly and with respect. Senior HR leadership is outstanding! Make sure you buckle up and enjoy the ride! Its truly an experience.

While in the Garff Automotive Group, I worked in a three different dealerships. This was due to being transferred where the need was. However, I spent most of the time at Ken Garff Ford in American Fork, Utah. It was at this Ford dealership that I learned the most of what it takes to be a car salesperson.

On a typical day, I would walk the lot to see what was new in the inventory and understand where the different models were parked. As potential customers drove in, called or emailed us; I or any other salesperson would greet them and figure out the needs and/or wants of the customer and their family. 

Before narrowing down on any car, truck or SUV; I would find out their: budget, what would fit best for their situation and suggest a solution to their needs. Once the narrowing down was complete, the choice was usually between one or two vehicles. I would them discuss the features and benefits, take them on a test drive and return to the dealership to discuss the numbers. If management and the customer agreed on the price, payments and length of the loan; I would complete the initial paperwork and put the customer in line to complete the sale with our Finance Manager. Once finalized there, I would assist the customer in taking their new or used vehicle home.

The hardest part of this job was the negotiation of the payments or price. Typically, the Sales Manager and I would go back and forth (each time narrowing down the term or payments) and present the figures to the customer until we agreed.

The most enjoyable part was helping people in tough situations, figuring out which vehicle would suit their needs and at a fair price. This was tough, but extremely rewarding. The rewards were not just the commission, but actually helping people.

You learn something new every day.  Pay was fair for work performed but now, the place is very stressful.  Not enough technicians to get work done.  The company wants more customers to come in to the service department but there is not enough personnel in the shop to keep up in the quick service or main repair.  We can write up cars all day but what does it matter if only a third of them will be worked on in a timely manner.  How are we supposed to build a customer base that way when a simple oil change is taking up to 4 hours?  What about all the come backs?  Takes two to three visits to fix one thing?  Makes us even afraid to try and upsell more work.  This is why service advisors have seemed to give up.  They say we need more writers, we really don't.  Plenty of good experienced advisors to get it all done easily, just most have given up due to empty promises from management.  How do you move up two lube techs, fire another, one quits leaving only three out of seven and still open up more appointments than normal?  How do you let it get so bad that two master techs quit and replace them with those two lube techs that moved up and expect work to get done?  How do you prioritize used cars over customer cars and still expect good csi?  Unrealistic expectations.  You got no support for technicians, no shop foreman to help anyone, no lead in the lube bays, no one to control anything.  You are overworking your techs.  We as service advisors and technicians are taking a beating and it seems like no one cares.  Ken Garff values and mission statements are not honored at this location anymore.  No one hears us.  It seems decisions are being made by someone with no idea of what is going on in this place and it shows in the attitude and lack of motivation of every single employee in the service department.  Really sad, place has so much potential and yet, no one cares.

Every Day starts by reviewing the Help Desk Tickets and/or continuing work on escalated tickets. Check in with other IT staff to see status on tickets. Perform other daily essentials such as server/network/help desk management. 

Common duties include but not limited to; 
Help Desk Management
Sole provider for Tier 3 support for entire nationwide Enterprise
Complete/Sole IT Management of Iowa Operations
End-User PC Support of Windows Environment
Server support for 2003, 2008, 2012 Servers in a Virtual Environment
Support for multiple Software's across multiple stores
PC Imaging/Building
Vendor Management
Project Management
Network Management
etc...

I have learned many traits, one most important being Time-Management as well as Communication across all levels of Management, Executives, Clients, and customers. 

Most co-workers come to me for advise/escalation/problem solving which quickly led to being Tier 3 support for Enterprise wide operations, not only Local support. 

I find remembering names as being the most difficult part of my job. I love what I do, however, with so many employees that I support and the turn around rate, it makes for a near impossible time to remember names. 

I really love the variety of work that I do conduct on daily basis. Not 1 day is alike and being able to conduct work in all areas of IT makes for not only Fun, but also Challenging times.

A typical day at work would be making sure to clock in to their phone systems and you will take all inbound calls. Calls can range from 30 to 80 and up. They would like you to meet a goal but now they are focusing more on other goals that you can control. So you don't have to take as many calls. You do still have to take as many as possible and make sure your quality is good! But the co workers make the day fun when you are in between calls or there is any down time. It is faced paced though so not a whole lot of down time. But they do have fun games to play to earn points that you can turn into cash or days off! It is very easy as well, because the calls are setting check ins for concerns customers may have with their vehicle. The system is easy to understand and pick up on fairly quick! I learned a lot and still do learn a lot about communication and listening to the customer and making sure I am giving them my best efforts to help them! The management is fun and very empathetic!  The culture is friendly and very inviting! The hardest part is trying to make sure you don't miss an opportunity to help the customer, because sometimes that can happen. The most enjoyable part is being able to make a difference in the customers day when they are concerned about their vehicle and not having a good day. We get to get them scheduled for the vehicle to be looked at by a tech and they are happy to know they are in good hands!

-
•	Responsible to schedule appointments and manage multi-line telephones
•	Responsible for filing and data entry of daily/weekly/monthly sales reports
•	Created PowerPoint and Excel output files for sales associates’ weekly meetings
•	Handled large volumes of cash and credit transactions daily including bank deposits
•	Commended for multitasking abilities
•	Assigned the shifts for part-time/weekend receptionist; responsible for continuity actions between shifts
•	Worked primarily unsupervised; responsible for task prioritization and completion
•	Cashier in charge of miscellaneous sale

- I learned that there's a lot more than goes into a car than I had realize at age 19.

-Management wasn't present as much as we needed them. They often traveled to other Ken Garff dealerships and swapped out car and attended conferences. 

-Most of the employees were very laid back most of the time, but when it was busy, they were all business and we came together well as a team.

-The hardest part of my job was the long period of inactivity  I was given a task list everyone Monday that was supposed to be completely within 7 days. I typically had it finished within 7 hours, so for the rest of the week, I would offer my services to everyone else on the team. 

-The most enjoyable part of the job was assisting customers. I loved meeting new people and seeing the satisfaction of their purchase.

I got a job here as a parts delivery driver. Overall the job was not bad. the coworker were nice, people in the other departments were friendly, and free coffee! 

One of the downsides of my position is that I only deliver if the company was selling a lot of parts to shops all around the city. And in late summer and early fall there isn't much to do. So I got stuck separating used parts that the mechanics brought in to either be scrapped or sent back to the manufacturer. That happened a lot. 

One of the good things was I got a huge discount on parts and services at a fraction of what the average customer pays. Though they hate it if you brought in a Ford vehicle for a Dodge tech to work on. 

But the real dark side is the fact that when they say that like their customers, the employees are their top priority... that is far from the truth. Sure, if you were a salesman who brings in a lot of cash or a mechanic who quotes a number that favors the company, then your career is set. 

But if you are a young adult who got the job doing grunt work, working hard and hoping to rise in the company, then they see you as easily replaceable. Happy to take you in one day, then throw you out the next for no reason. Willing to keep a parts salesman because he makes the company money even if he never shows up if the boss is gone, but eager to throw out a hard-working man who has never missed a day in his life if they view him as expendable.

The sad part is that it's no big secret to the other workers there. I just happened to be the next one in line.

I have to say the company itself with Ken garff and the employees are great, and they care about their employees. Management is solid,. just the problem with the actual dealership is an issue. I been an advisor for 12 years and this dealership where its located is extremely difficult to make a living, customers in this location are rude and most of them do not care to service anything else but an oil change and its unfortunate because it has so much potential to be something great. But the amount of hardwork and stress to make a paycheck here is the most difficult task due to the area they accommodate to. And most of which just come in for their advantage cares and don't want to hear anything about the recommendations at all. And granted the advantage care is a great marketing tool to get customers to come to try to push upsales but falls short due to the type of customers they get. There are 6 advisors total and 3 of which including my self made a decent pay checks. And again the company is amazing but its just not worth the amount of competition and stress when there is not enough work for everyone to make a living. And decided to move on.

Ps. There is many other issues in the main shop. But hey if you decide to pull the trigger and join the team, you will find out shortly how difficult it really is...



I was at Elevate when they opened the doors. It was a fun environment and had a great team. We worked to build a culture that gave customers a fun experience while getting into a great deal on a Quality auto. Then came the management change to a bad leader and his minion. Extreme favoritism and a complete drop in moral. One by one people left and the quality of the product went way down. I stayed as long as I could until I was unable to do what I enjoyed for over a year. I was a believer in Elevate making it one of the hardest decisions I’ve made when calling it quits. As long as it is managed by the current regime this place is destined for failure. If your in to micro managing, lead funneling to one sales person, a grim atmosphere, lack of inventory, low customer walk ins, and a constant lies to keep you in line then your in the right place.
 I was the top sales person for 13 months averaging 20 + sales a month and my last two months I had under 10 sales and a lead flow of 10 or less customers I had to call 30 times a day. I was given no offer to stay and treated like I was not important to Elevate. It’s sad to say it but this place will drain you so I suggest finding a better place to begin your new career. 

A typical work day is full of challenging and fun objectives to conquer that give employees a sense of accomplishment.  Ken Garff teaches their employees that any company's goals or mission statement must include all employees as the number 1 priority.  One example of this is when Ken Garff spent millions helping employees get back on their feet after Hurricane Harvey.  They did this by helping employees remodel their homes, pay deductibles, rebuild, and instructed all employees to take care of their loved ones and not return to work until they felt they were ready. The management here understands the goal and is 100% bought into the culture and philosophy set by the leaders.  Management uses terms such as "We" and "Team" instead of "I" and "me" when describing success. The culture is one of positive motivation and sharing the benefits of success with the entire team.  At Ken Garff we are very selective when it comes to bringing candidates on board.  Choosing to hire someone is a commitment for all parties involved.  A productive candidate or applicant that shares our values can be difficult to identify during an interview. The best part of the job is watching employees move up through the ranks and achieve their career goals.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Automotive technician 1 salary reported	$27.50 per hour
Lube technician 1 salary reported	$15.50 per hour
Car sales executive 7 salaries reported	$82,622 per year
Human resources manager 3 salaries reported	$70,000 per year
Service technician 4 salaries reported	$25.50 per hour

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