Blog Post
The aftermath of Covid on our business
Anne Jones • Oct 22, 2020
(or how the Pandemic continues to affect our business)
Are you like us in that certain words or phrases that have appeared since the beginning of the year make your blood run cold? Words like “unprecedented times”, “clusters”, “tricky virus” or “the new normal” – ugh!
We have been very fortunate in our industry in that we have so far survived the Covid Pandemic thanks mainly to the Government for assistance packages and also for the loyalty of our clients who continue to support our workshop. We have been able to continue to operate our business as we did before and are forever grateful that the only time we had to close down completely was over those five weeks during Lockdown 4.
We have however noticed a few minor problems that have an impact on the speed and proficiency of servicing or repairing our client’s vehicles. In the past we prided ourselves on a reasonable turnaround. Unless it was a major repair, we could almost guarantee that a vehicle would be in and out in a day. In some cases now though, we are having to wait for over a day, sometimes two for parts to arrive from a warehouse that might be just over the other side of the Harbour Bridge and not to mention how long it is taking for parts to arrive from overseas! It is disappointing for us that we are having to wait so long for parts to arrive but we understand how disappointing it must be for our clients too and we thank you heaps for your patience and understanding.
This is causing a “cluster” f*** and “tricky” to work around - but is this the “new normal” during these “unprecedented times”?
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Petermark Automotive add WOFs to their list of services
The video and photos attached show the importance of regular servicing and oil changes, this is an extreme example. I know we sound like stuck records going on about why long-interval servicing doesn't work, but if you were faced with a $7000.00 repair bill and a long time off the road I think you would understand why we push this issue. Unfortunately even after the vehicle has been repaired we believe the engine will not last as long as it should do if it had been looked after. This vehicle has not had regular servicing. The turbo charger failed and on inspection we discovered that the oil had turned to an almost solid-like jelly, blocking the oil galleries which has led to the failure. We highly recommend having your vehicle serviced at a minimum of 10,000kms or 12 months whichever comes first.
After October 10th it will be illegal to have an unwarranted and unregistered vehicle on the road. If you were to be stopped by the police you would be ticketed - we're not sure how much the fine would be, possibly around $400.00 for no WOF or Rego. There were 500,000 cars that fell into the amnesty period and up until now only half of those cars have been checked and had a WOF issued. This means there are roughly 250,000 cars that still need to have an overdue WOF check before October 10th. That is on top of all the vehicles that are going to be legally due on or after that same date. It's a bit scary when we think about people’s safety as there could potentially be a lot of unsafe cars out there on the roads. Realistically, it would be impossible, between now and October 10th, for WOF testing stations and repairs shops to be able to process all those vehicles. On top of that are the repairs that may be required to obtain a WOF and then having to go back for a re-check. Unfortunately, what is going to happen is that there will be a massive push during October to get those WOFs done and no doubt there will be long queues and wait times at testing stations. This will compound into next year as well and will probably slowly filter down in the oncoming years. A Warrant of Fitness can be forward-dated by 14 days but the financial loss is minimal: presently our WOFs cost $60.00 (incl GST). If you break that down into weeks it would cost $1.15 (incl GST) per week for your WOF. An example of this would be: If your WOF is due on October 3rd and you were to take it in on that date, you could potentially be sitting in a very long queue amongst a lot of people who took advantage of the amnesty and were getting their overdue WOFs at the same time. If, however, you were to take your vehicle in earlier, financially all you would lose is $1.15 (incl GST) per week. Even a month earlier it would only cost you the price of a takeaway coffee. Our advice to you would be to please get in early and not leave it until the last minute to get your Warrant of Fitness. Please ring if we can assist you in any way – but remember don’t leave it too late!
