5 Surefire Signs Your Car is Due for Oil Change Soon!

 Engine oil is the lifeblood of every vehicle. Engine parts are mechanical and tend to grind against each other a lot. Oil creates a fine layer over these metal parts and stops the repeated grinding from damaging your car’s engine. This is not specific to just car engines. Anything that uses an engine, be it motorcycles or even lawnmowers, needs lubricated parts to function properly.

Role of oil in your car

The main role of oil in your car’s engine is lubrication. Engine parts rub against each other during operation, and without lubrication, they can wear out quickly. On top of that, unlubricated wear and tear generate heat. Furthermore, modern car oils do much more than lubricating the engine: they clean the engine’s insides and prevent acid buildup. 

Why does the oil need replacing

You’re cruising down the highway, and suddenly the oil change indicator lights up. Time for an oil change! But why does the oil in your car need changing? Does it get used up? 

Oil flows through the internals of your engine, lubricating and cleaning it. The oil also keeps the engine’s temperatures within reasonable levels. Over time, oil flowing inside the engine gets ‘dirty’ as debris builds up. This reduces the ability of oil to protect and clean the engine. This dirty oil needs to be replaced with new oil to ensure smooth functioning of your engine. 

If your car has a turbocharger, you may need to change oil more frequently. Low oil levels are unforgiving towards turbocharged engines: a turbo without proper oil levels can get damaged in a matter of seconds.

Signs Your Car Needs an Oil Change

It is usually cumbersome for some people to keep track of their car’s mileage for oil changes. This is why most cars come with dedicated systems that remind you of routine maintenance. Many modern cars come equipped with oil level indicators. Some other cars may use the ‘Check Engine’ light to alert you about low oil levels.

Oil Change/Check Engine Light

If you’re driving and your ‘Check Engine’ or ‘Oil Change’ indicator lights up, your car is due for maintenance. Check Engine light can also turn on if there are other issues with your car. For example, spilling gas outside the gas tank cap may trigger the light in certain cars. For more information about indication lights, check your car’s owner manual. If you can’t find your physical copy of the manual, get a digital version here! 

Engine Knocking

Low oil levels can cause your engine parts to make a ticking or knocking sound. This usually happens if the oil levels are low or the parts are not getting proper lubrication due to old, dirty oil. Engine knocking can be caused by various other reasons too, such as engine bearing failure or damaged piston rod bearings, to name a few. Either way, if you hear a metallic knocking sound coming from your engine, take your car to a service center as soon as possible.

Excess Exhaust Smoke

Modern vehicles do not emit visible smoke when they are functioning normally. If you see smoke coming out from your car’s exhaust, it is a sign of an underlying issue. If your car has old oil or is running out of oil, you may see a lot of exhaust smoke billowing from your car’s tailpipe.

Mileage

You should change your car’s oil after driving for a set number of miles. This varies from car to car, but a good rule of thumb is to get the oil changed every 5000 miles. If you’ve recently come back from a long road trip, it is a good idea to get your car checked by a reputable auto repair shop. Don’t worry if you don’t want to meet a mechanic in person during the pandemic. Many repair shops use auto repair shop management software that has built-in digital inspection features. Some mechanics even do it in your own garage!

Exhaust Smoke Color

The color of your car’s exhaust emission can give you a pretty good idea of the things that might be wrong with your engine. Following are some of the common exhaust smoke colors and their causes.

• Thick, white smoke - coolant leakage 

• Black smoke - clogged air filter, wrong air to fuel ratio

• Blue smoke - oil burning in the engine, worn-out piston rings

• Grey smoke -  oil burning in engine, bad turbocharger

White vapor coming out from the exhaust is usually because of condensation. Do not confuse it with white smoke!

Our Engine Oil Suggestions

So now you want to change your car’s engine oil. But which brand should you go for? Here’s a roundup of our engine oil suggestions.

Best all-around oil: Mobil1 Synthetic Motor Oil

On a budget? AmazonBasics Motor Oil works great!

Got a car that has been driven a lot? Valvoline High-Mileage Max Life may be for you.

If your car manufacturer suggests using conventional oil, Penzoil Conventional Oil is a good pick. 

Top 6 Reasons You Should Invest In A Cell Phone Repair Shop Software in Texas

 

Despite an abundance of cell phone repair shops in Texas, repair shop owners do not understand the need for cell phone repair shop software. What they don’t understand is that they are missing out on a lot of revenue. How, do you ask?

Before we get into that, let’s tackle what repair shop software is first.

What is a Cell Phone Repair Shop Software?

A good cell phone repair shop software in Texas will have a variety of significantly skewed features to meet the needs of a repair shop. It will accelerate a repair shop’s processes, manage all its operations from a single platform and help your employees become more efficient.

What’s So Good About A Cell Phone Repair Shop Software?

Before you decide to subscribe to a repair store software, you will need some convincing, and we get that. So, here’s a list of the primary functions a cell phone repair shop software in Texas performs. And mind you, this is just scratching the surface.

1.     POS

All repair shops need a point of sale for a smooth check-out. It helps process orders and makes the retail experience better. It allows you to jot down a customer order and collect payment for it.

A POS system picks items from the inventory and adds them to the cart. It creates a record of all the sold items, customer-wise and overall.

A POS can perform many functions because it is connected with the inventory, repair tickets, employee management, marketing, and reports modules. So, you can manage everything from your POS.

2.     Ticket Management

Creating and managing repair tickets is one of the most important benefits of a cell phone repair shop software in Texas. It contains a pre- and post-repair checklist to keep the repair shop owner safe from fake claims. It also has notes that the customers and the sales reps can add to include further information about a repair. These customer notes are visible to the customer. However, the internal notes are for the technicians.

Moreover, the repair ticket management module automatically updates the customers on the repair status via SMS or email. For instance, when the technician updates the repair’s status to “Processing,” the customer gets an SMS/email that their repair is underway.

Repair tickets also include ordering of parts, if any are required for a specific repair. With multiple vendor integrations within the software, it is easy to order parts.

You can also assign repairs to different technicians within the software, and you can receive the status of the repair as well, keeping you updated on what’s happening in the shop.

3.     Inventory Management

One of the key aspects that most repair shop owners struggle with is inventory management. It is hard to keep track of in-stock items, out-of-stock items, and what has been lying around for far too long.

A cell phone repair shop software will help you with all of the above and more. You can easily update your inventory by scanning barcodes or manually entering products. You can also upload an excel sheet directly to the system.

When a customer buys something and adds it to the invoice, the moment they pay and checkout, the inventory is updated accordingly. If you want to know when you are low on stock, there is an option to turn on the alert, and it will notify you the moment you need to replenish your inventory.

4.     Employee Management

Whether you have one store or multiple repair stores, keeping track of your employees can be a hassle. With repair shop software, you can keep a check on your employees. What time did Employee A come in, how many repairs did Employee B do in a day, when did Employee C log out, and so on.

You can also assign repair tasks according to their priority to technicians from within the software. You can also fix their hourly rate and commission, if any. The software will automatically calculate their pay according to the hours and sales logged into the system with minimal effort from your side.

If you want to manage your employees efficiently, a cell phone repair shop software in Texas is necessary.

5.     Reports

For any business to grow, you need to forecast the need for your products and services. And that is where reports come in handy.

You can see best-selling and items that are not selling from inventory reports. This way, you can stop getting items that don’t sell so well and clear your inventory by offering discounts on them.

You can also keep a check on your earnings: how much of your earning is derived from sales and how much is derived from repairs. You can determine the peak hours of your shop and whether you need to hire more staff to increase productivity or not.

And the list goes on.

6.     Marketing

Cell phone repair shop software now gives you automated marketing options as well. You can market your business via emails or SMS. You can inform your customers about any deals and discounts going on at your shop.

So, automated marketing tools can help you retain your customers, lure them into buying more, and increase your revenue.

Many other features make a repair shop software worth the investment. It comes with multiple integrations with QuickBooks, payment processors, WooCommerce, IMEI Gurus, Google Calendar, customer portals, and more.

Keeping the above factors in mind, it is undeniable that cell phone repair shop software in Texas is a necessity. Not only will it help you grow your business, but it also streamlines your processes to save you more time you can spend with your family.

Do business the right way with a computer repair shop software in New Jersey

 Running a repair business in New Jersey isn’t all fun and games. There are a lot of things to deal with on a daily basis. And if you don’t keep up with all the management needs of your business, things can get out of hands. But there is something that will not only help you manage things better, but also give you a well-deserved breather. Say hello to a computer repair shop software in New Jersey.

All you need is a piece of software. Once you put that in place, all your management hassles will become a breeze. Here’s how you can achieve that.

Cut down your manual hard work

Please tell me you are not running your repair place with the old school method of pen and paper. Because if you are, I cannot imagine how you are handling all the manual grind.

Seriously, creating paper tickets and receipts, manually calculating your sales and taxes, and doing manual inventory counts in 2020 is nothing but donkeywork. And you need to get out of it as soon as possible with a repair POS software in New Jersey.

With a point of sale (POS) system, you can check the customers in, enter their device and repair information, create repair tickets and invoices, accept payments, order repair parts and accessories, and do so much more within just a few clicks.

Imagine not having to stress about little things like which inventory items are getting low on stock and need reorder, where did you save a customer’s repair ticket or invoice, how much taxes you have to pay this month, etc.

With a point of sale software in New Jersey, you will have everything waiting for you on a computer screen. All the tickets and invoices, inventory reports, customer database, and more.

So, you can take a break from all the drama and breathe. 

Make your customers feel special

The first and foremost rule of running a successful business is to take special care of your customers. But how would you do that if you keep struggling with the daily operations of your repair store, right?

A repair shop software works as a customer management software in New Jersey and gives you the right tools to make your customers happy and satisfied. 

✅ Speed up the check-in and check-out processes and save your customers’ time. 

✅ Email the repair tickets and invoices to your customers for service transparency.

✅ Send automated email and SMS notifications to customers and keep them posted on the status of their repairs.

✅ Run a customer loyalty program and give them loyalty points on their purchases.

✅ Give customers store credits and never say no to their refund requests.

✅ Sell product and service bundles and save customers’ dollars.

Use email and SMS marketing to your advantage

When you manage your sales with papers, you lose the golden opportunity of using your existing customers to drive more sales. A computer repair shop software in New Jersey will change that.

Your repair POS software will give you the advantage of automated marketing by saving all your customers’ contact information (emails and phone numbers). You can use that to send out emails and SMS updates to inform your customers about your new offers, services, products, etc.

All you have to do is draft a promotional message. You can then populate the recipients with your POS software, hit ‘Send’, and you’re done. The message is out to all your customers via email as well as SMS. Now watch your existing customers rush to your store to get the new discount offer, repair service, computer accessory, etc.

Put your employees’ full potential to use

You cannot monitor the activities of your employees all the time and that’s a bummer. You have got to know what your employees are doing, how much they are bringing you in, how much they are taking from you, etc. 

With a computer repair shop software in New Jersey, you can define different employee roles (cashier, technician, salesperson, etc.) and give access permissions to those roles. Afterwards, you can create separate accounts for all your employees and assign an employee role to each of the accounts. 

Once this is done, you can control what each of your employees can and cannot do in the POS system. Moreover, you can easily monitor their activities in an Employee Activity Log Report. 

Next, there’s an Employee Productivity Report that tells you all about the performance of each employee. So, you can analyze how much your employees are earning for you and pay them accordingly.

Regularly analyze your sales numbers

Forget about calculating your profits, losses, revenues, taxes, and all other sales numbers manually. Your computer shop POS software will tell you everything in a set of automated sales reports.

✅ Item-wise sales report

✅ Customer-wise sales report

✅ Sales summary report

✅ Tax report

✅ Multi store sales report

✅ Total revenue by sales report

✅ Profit and loss report

✅ Cash in/out report

Simply log into your repair shop software in New Jersey and pull up these reports. There you’ll have your daily, weekly, monthly, even yearly sales numbers. 

One computer repair shop software, so many solutions 

We are living in the 21st century and there’s more competition than ever. There’s a computer repair store at every other corner of New Jersey. Doing things in the old ways is not going to cut it. 

You want your repair business to stand out and do well? Make friends with the best computer repair shop software in New Jersey. It will make your work so much easier by automating everything, so you can enjoy running your business and invest your time and effort in growing it.

From managing repairs, sales, and inventory to keeping your customers happy, monitoring your employees, running marketing campaigns, and checking your sales numbers, you can do it all with just a piece of software.

How to effectively use a Computer Repair Store Software in Florida

Why do people use POS software? To manage their sales and streamline workflow. There are many different kinds of software available in the market today. All of them are good in one way or another. But all of them are not for repair stores. When you are buying a computer repair store software in Florida, you need to be sure about certain things. These factors will help you determine the perfect POS solution for your computer repair store. So, without further ado, lets get right into it.

Make your Repair Store the Best in Texas with the Right POS Software

Texas is a state that is a great place for business. Not only is it easy to start up a repair store, but the cost of doing business is practically one of the lowest in the United States. This means that there will be a lot of people starting up their repair shops in Texas, and in order to stand out from the rest, you’ll need to bring something extra to the table for it. Perhaps the most important thing out of all to manage is your choice of POS software for your business. It may come as a surprise, but the POS system that you choose could determine how successful your repair store will be. Hopefully, this article can help you determine what it is that makes a good repair store software in Texas that you can leverage for your business.

What a Repair Store in Dallas Needs in its POS Software

Running a repair store in Dallas might not be the easiest thing. There’s a lot that goes into managing a successful repair business, and having the right tools in your POS software is one of the most important things. To be a successful repair business in your locality, you need to have a system that takes care of all your pain points and helps with day-to-day tasks in order to make the best out of everything. Here’s what you need to make your repair store a real success.

Why your Repair Store needs a Cloud-Based POS Software in Florida?

Whether you're new to the terminology 'cloud-based' or have been listening about it for months now, choosing the right point of sale software for repair stores in Florida is a big and daunting task. If you're also looking for a repair shop POS system in Florida, you'll be faced with deciding between a cloud-based POS or a traditional system. Switching from traditional sales technology to highly intuitive cloud-based repair shop POS software in Florida is one of the smartest moves a repair business owner can make.