The Road Test

One of the most common terms of any service station is the road test. Simply stated, this is where the technician should start and end, regarding any concern or complaint on any vehicle. Here’s why. A solid technician will road test a vehicle before he begins working on it for a few reasons. First, It will allow any noises, warning lights, vibrations, smells or conditions to come to his attention. Conditions the customer may or may not already be aware of. Second, a crucial step in addressing any complaint or concern is duplicating the complaint, which is done via the road test. An example: I’ve had a customer give a detailed complaint that ” has only happened a couple of times at a stop light”, that on the initial road test was not confirmed. After talking with this customer further, “Oh, Maybe it was the car behind me making that noise at the light.” -I like to think the road test can help in deciphering mysteries that way. If the customer states “My car usually makes that clunk when backing up from a standstill and turning left.” Then the technician should drive the customer’s car from a standstill in reverse and turning left. A quality check [Q.C.] of any vehicle includes the need for it to be driven after the repair, to confirm it was a successful fix. The road test or test drive as it may be referred to is crucial to the confirmation of the repair performed. Many times, especially when the complaint is not immediately evident, it is not a bad idea to involve the owner of the vehicle to go along on the test drive to try and get to the bottom of the complaint. In the shop, if a novice mechanic says “I couldn’t see anything wrong with that car.” It usually is followed by the experienced Technician or shop foreman replying “Did you road test it?” Often a simple road test can produce answers for both the customer and the technician.

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