Avoiding the Wallet Flush By Gary Goms Contributing Editor

Many shops are recovering revenues lost to a shrinking repair market by "upselling" fluid maintenance services or, as they're commonly called in the aftermarket, "fluid flushes." In other words, adding a fluid flush to a money-losing routine oil change can boost a shop's average repair order amount into the range needed for true profitability.

Automotive equipment manufacturers have been quick to respond by manufacturing a variety of fluid-flushing machines designed to remove dirty, oxidized fluids from engines, cooling systems, automatic transmissions, power steering pumps, braking systems and drive axle assemblies. In most cases, these machines will shorten fluid replacement times by automatically installing an equivalent volume of factory-fresh fluid. In all cases, fluid flushing is a relatively low-skilled, but highly profitable service for any undercar shop operation.

OVERSELLING: "WALLET FLUSHING"
While fluid flushing sounds like an excellent method for boosting shop income, and better-maintaining your customers' vehicles, many quick-lube and maintenance-based shops have been accused of overselling fluid maintenance services. Overselling fluid maintenance has become known in the industry as "wallet flushing," and has created a great deal of controversy over how often these services should be performed. At even the most ethical level, the controve...