May 6, 2024 • 19 mins
Ron sits down and talks to Ben Johnson of Repairify Inc about their procedure and process to help both mechanical and collosion shops deal with the technology found on todays vehicles. This is the stand alone interview from the May 4, 2024 show, the First half of the Second Hour.
For more information about them visit their website at https://repairify.com/
For more Information about Ron Ananian, The Car Doctor Radio Show visit them online at www.cardoctorshow.com
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
Ron An Aians.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
You can't assume or believe that you're the only guy
to ever see that problem. It's a big world out there,
and somebody else has seen it, and the value of
community is really coming full circle. And you can see
it in a lot of the organizations that are being
set up for mechanics to help mechanics.
Speaker 1 (00:37):
The Car Doctor.
Speaker 3 (00:38):
I'm not afraid to drive it from Des Moines to Omaha.
I stay off of Interstate eighty system because when the
semi passes you at seventy mile an hour and you're
doing fifty, it has a tendency to suck you off
the road.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
Well, yeah, it's got to look pretty cool that with
thirty eight Chevy on route. That's got to be pretty neat,
you know.
Speaker 1 (00:58):
Welcome to the radio home of Ron and Anya the
Car Doctor. Since nineteen ninety one. This is where car
owners the world overturned to for their definitive opinion on
automotive repair. If your mechanics giving you a busy signal,
pick up the phone and call in The.
Speaker 2 (01:14):
Garage doors are open, but I am here to take
your call. At eight five five five six oh ninety
nine hundred and now he.
Speaker 1 (01:24):
Running and welcome.
Speaker 2 (01:26):
Listeners on and in the Car Doctor at your service,
of course, and we're going to dive right into it.
We've got a big hour this hour, and we're gonna
be talking to Ben Johnson. To start. Ben is with Repairrify.
And when I heard the name, I knew Repairrify as
a company. I wasn't quite sure what they did and
who they were. Ben and I were chatting for a
while now and decided, you know, this is a great
interview because you're going to learn a lot about what's
(01:46):
going on in the auto industry. So let's get right
to it. Ben Johnson, Repairrify. Welcome to the Car Doctor,
sir hey man, thanks for having me on ron a pleasure.
Let's just dive right into it. Ben, what is Repairrify?
Because I've got to admit I've heard of them, but
you know, it's just it's like skimming the headlines. You
see so much information in this industry. What do you
(02:06):
guys runing to the table, What exactly are you doing right?
Speaker 3 (02:10):
Well?
Speaker 4 (02:10):
You know, so it's an interesting story. So you probably
haven't heard of a parify because of the it's they've
been around for about fifteen years actually, but they've been
very heavily participating in the collision space. Okay, So they
started out life with a product called an adstech ASTech
(02:30):
and this product would allow a person in a remote
location they're based in Plano, Texas, to connect through a
device at the car side with an OE scan tool
or diagnostic tool and manipulate that vehicle as if they
were at the fender. So in the collision spaces, we
(02:52):
all know they're you know, a little behind the mechanical side.
As far as doing that kind of work, the insurance
folks have been pushing them to become more apt at it.
A lot of them don't have a scan tool and
don't know how to operate it if they had one.
So this was a perfect fit to start off this, uh,
this this product line. So they do, I mean, they've
(03:14):
done literally millions of car side scans from Plano, Texas.
They generate a nice report. They do a pre scan report,
post scan report, very important the collision industry, and they
and they can use the OE tool to do it
so that they make sure that they're getting the you know,
all of the functions that the OE tool is capable of.
(03:35):
And then they they can actually reprogram the vehicle remotely
as well, like if they've got a new part in
there that needs to be programmed to the car, or
a new ECU or anything like that. So that's kind
of what what has has got them into the industry,
and they're making a lot of waves over there. I'm
actually fairly new to the company. You probably knew me
from another company for many years. But my job is
(03:58):
to actually take a lot of what they've done for
the collision industry and bringing that over into the mechanical side.
So you will be I mean, I'm counting on you
hearing a lot more about us in the in the
weeks and months and years to come.
Speaker 2 (04:10):
So Repairrify if I let's just clarify. Let's let's clarify
Repairrify if we can ben it's it's if I'm a
body shop. Reparify has has a service where I can
I can you know, buy in I'm going to have
some sort of a communication device that will plug into
the OBD two port and Missus Smith's late model Chevy
(04:34):
is in an accident. I can use Repairrify to pre
scan before I make the repair, post scan after I
make the repair, and that satisfies the insurance companies keeps
them happy and they see before and after condition of
the vehicle knowing it's fixed. Fair statement.
Speaker 4 (04:52):
Exactly if you need during that process, if you need
to do more things like maybe clear a code or
actuate something or run a tests, they can do that
remotely as well.
Speaker 2 (05:02):
All right, So, but I'm a mechanical shop. Now, I'm
going to be a little tough on you, right, I'm
gonna be the devil's advocate here. I'm a mechanical repair shop.
How does that help me? What is Repaify going to
do for me? Because I get what you're doing for
the body shops and how they're approaching it. But I
can go out and I can buy you know, I
can buy a half a dozen scan tools from you know,
(05:22):
fourteen different vendors tomorrow. So why do I want Repairify?
What's it going to do for me?
Speaker 4 (05:28):
Right? So that's a great question, and we will be
evolving some of these features over time. But this short answer,
Ron is when you think about the aftermarket mechanical especially
and one of the reasons I'm so excited about this
company and this products is that you've got a scan
tool and we don't even we can't eat. We don't
(05:50):
have to pick on a name, pick any brand of
scan tool that's in the aftermarket. And what I always
say is all of those scan tools do somewhere between
seventy and eighty percent of pretty much everything, but none
of them do one hundred percent of anything as far
as supporting a vehicle. So maybe you probably you might
not need us, you know, on a day to day basis,
(06:11):
but you might have that car in at some point
and you're saying, my gosh, this you know, brand, whatever
tool that I've got plugged in doesn't do some function
that my my Mitchell program or whoever says I need
to do to finish this diagnoma.
Speaker 2 (06:24):
And that does in all fairness, Ben, that does happen.
You plug into program power Windows and you may not
have it. You program, you plug into, you know, do
a variety of just simple coding functions, uh, you know,
and you don't have it. So repair Offy gives us
that option because it's it's automatically the OEE tool.
Speaker 4 (06:45):
Because we've got the OE tool on the other end
of the line there, and we've got a it's kind
of important to note to Ron, we've got a guy
that knows how to use it. We've got some like
if you're working on a Toyota, we will route that call,
that that message in to the Toyota tech. It knows
how to use that Toyota tool to make sure he
gets you whatever you need as efficiently as possible.
Speaker 2 (07:05):
Gotcha, gotcha. So you know you can scan for me
as a Toyota. You could scan for me as a
FOURD or a GM, et cetera. You can pro you
can program for me, you know you can. You can code,
you can do what an OE scan tool can do.
So all right, so you're you're going to do it
(07:26):
one hundred percent of the time, as you say, But
then I've got to look at, you know, what's the
convenience factor as a repair shop. I may not know.
You know, a repair shop may start eight o'clock in
the morning and it starts out with, you know, four
oil changes. Two of those oil changes or break jobs
one g Ways they had a check engine light on,
which actually happened to me this week. We had a
check engine light on in a car that the customer
(07:47):
didn't know what the light meant, and we had to
go through this whole education process of course, and then
we got into scanning and diagnostics. Is is this Yeah,
it really does. So is this problem process? You know,
fifteen minutes from now? Hey Ben, I need a scan
on this forard. You know, how does it work? How
do I hook in as a repair shop.
Speaker 4 (08:09):
Well, there's a couple of different things ron So it
depends on which tool you have. So one of the
interesting things about repair ify is they don't aim to
be in the hardware business as a competitor. Now, we
have a scan tool, we called them all in one.
But if your shop happens to have a launch tool
with the one of the more recent vcis I think
the Throttle three or better or something like that, Ye,
(08:33):
then you don't even need us as far as hardware.
You've already got your launch tool plugged in. You can
once you sign up with us, which is you know,
I think there's a one time activation fee or something.
But then you just push a button on your interface
and it literally calls sense information about the vehicle to us.
We get you connected to the right technician. Usually takes
(08:54):
somewhere between you know, thirty seconds and two minutes, and
then they're on there, they're on with you, and they're
able to process whatever you requested. You might have requested
a pre scan postscan. There's also a chat capability that
comes with it, or you can elect to have them
call you on your cell phone or your office phone,
uh to you know, dialogue with you while they're doing
(09:16):
whatever you need done.
Speaker 2 (09:17):
So there's also a tech line, yes, side of this too,
where you're going to be talking to a master Toyota Tech,
a Master Ford Tech, a master GM tech and so
forth to help you.
Speaker 4 (09:29):
A little careful there, ron. You know, we are not
yet at the point now on the collision side. Yeah,
we're pretty good on the collision side. As we get
into the mechanical side will be uh, will be getting better.
But I can assure you this. The guy on the
other end knows about the vehicles, and he knows about
the tool, but he's he may or may not be
a master technician to actually help you fix the car.
(09:49):
He can get the tool where you need it to go,
and he can deliver the test results and things that
you need, but he may not be the guy that's
gonna like get you out of a hole if you're
if you're truly drowning, right.
Speaker 2 (10:00):
Not yet, right, not yet yet? Yeah, we're gonna we're
gonna walk before we run. So you know, when I'm
plugged in with my launch tool, which I happen to have,
all right, no secret there, and I'm plugged in with
my launch tool and I'm dialed into my repaify icon
which I haven't seen. Ye I'm gonna have to go
back and look for It's probably there and I haven't
seen it. You know, is the data when he when
(10:22):
he makes my tool, the Toyota tool, the Toyota Factory tool,
the Ford Factory tool, will that display on my launch
scan tool or is the information displayed on him and
he sends me a report.
Speaker 4 (10:33):
The information is displayed to him on his oe scan tool,
and he will send you a report. And it's really interesting.
Ron the the VCI is where the magic happens. When
you actually request that report, it will disconnect basically from
your tablet and connect through your either Wi Fi or
(10:55):
tethered Internet or Ethernet cable and he'll be it'll be
talking directly to Plano Texas. Your tablet then just becomes
a display device. It's just kind of again talking to
Plano Texas and saying, here's what he's doing. Here's what
he's found. Here's a chat he wants to talk to
you or what have you. It's it's really pretty interesting.
Speaker 2 (11:13):
Gotcha work, gotcha? Yeah, it sounds interesting, Ben. You know what,
it's very forward thinking. You can see where it's going.
And this is something the industry desperately needs because you know, yeah,
there is no scan tool out there other than an
oe that does one. It's typically the seventy eighty percent
tile and then it's always that last twenty or thirty
percent that boxes you in a corner. Hey, Ben, we're
(11:34):
up against the clock. Sit tight, you can stick around
a little bit longer. Yes, absolutely, okay, sit tight. I'm
running any in the Car Doctor from here with Ben
Johnson of a paraphy. We'll both be back right after this.
Speaker 5 (11:43):
Don't go away.
Speaker 4 (12:11):
He drives that way.
Speaker 1 (12:12):
But when it comes to fixing cars, Ron has Car
Advice done right eight five five five six zero nine
to nine zero zero.
Speaker 4 (12:19):
Here's Ron.
Speaker 2 (12:20):
Welcome back listeners, Ron and ending and the Car Doctor
on here as I was with Ben Johnson over parrified. Ben,
you're still there, sir. You didn't disappear on me. I
know you won't nos so real quick, I just want
to go back real fast if I can. You know,
we were talking in the first part of our conversation
that repairify is there. The insurance companies want body shops
(12:42):
to do pre collision scans to see vehicle condition. But
what happens if I'm just curious, what happens if the vehicle,
you know, that the battery got smacked and there's no
electricity in the vehicle, then what do they do?
Speaker 4 (12:54):
Yeah, that's a that's a really good point, you know,
And frankly, one of two things happen. Right, If the
car is completely dead, they're either going to total it
because it was it's a it's a loss anyway. But
if not, to your point, you can't really do a
pre scan on a car that won't that won't the
lash lights won't light up on. So they do have
to get it to a to a stack state where
(13:17):
they can get the battery to power back up or
they you know, put a jumper card on it or
something to get it powered up, and they'll have to
do whatever repairs they have to do to get to
that state before they can do the pre repair scan.
So that it's a good point, though, good question, right,
and it happens a lot.
Speaker 2 (13:33):
And that's not a reflection on repairify. That's a reflection
on the insurance industry and collision and what they're dealing with,
because that's a problem, and I think you should. I
think it's important to have a pre scan. You know,
we're at the point now where we scan oil changes.
We scan all cars at least once a year. Stick
out your tongue and say ah, and it goes in
the draw, just like a heart rate and blood pressure,
(13:53):
just like going to the doctor. No pun intended.
Speaker 4 (13:55):
Please, you know, that's a really good practice.
Speaker 2 (13:58):
It just just you know, we have data, We know
what healthy looks like, we know what it was like
six months prior, and we can But anyway, I don't
want to. I don't want to go down that road.
That's not what today is about.
Speaker 4 (14:07):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (14:08):
You know, I was also thinking about, you know, I'm
a repair shop, not me, but maybe I'm a repair
shop out there somewhere and I've got three locations. Do
I have to sign up three times? Do I have
to buy? You know, because that's another thing I hear
in the industry. These guys are concerned they're buying three
of you know, snap on or three hotels or three
(14:28):
launch scan tools, and then what do they do. It's
it's the cost is just out of control.
Speaker 4 (14:33):
Right, Well, there's a couple of ways you can do
that wrong. First of all, for the service Noah, I mean,
if you're if you're Ron and Adan Automotive, then you
have to have three sites you're you're find to log
in and you know, get get help. But you know,
obviously you've got to have some kind of a hardware
interface at those shops to plug into. So you know,
if you've got to scan a launch tool at those shops,
(14:53):
that's great. You can and I don't know, it's way
less than a standards tool, but that you can buy
just the vehicle communications device from US and actually run
the software that connects it to Plano Texas from a laptop,
from the tablet, from you know whatever, and so you
(15:16):
can do that and just have a lightweight hardware interface
at your shop so that you can call in and
get these OI scans. Or of course you can buy
our all in one device, which is a it is
a full blown scan tool as well as having that
remote capability. So there's a few ways to do it.
You know, you can go all the way into the
scan tool or a basic interface device, but you don't
(15:37):
have to own like an like a GM tool and
a Toyota tool and whatever. At every location, they are
sitting up there basically virtually waiting for you to sign
in in Plano. And they're always updated. They keep them,
you know. So you know, we talked about the twenty
percent time you don't have to you know, you pull
that OI tool out twenty percent of the time you
(15:57):
plug it in and says, oh, I've got to get
a reflash. I saw for I've got to get updated
before I can even use it. So that's all ready
for you.
Speaker 2 (16:04):
I've got to tell you, Ben, one of the biggest
problems I saw and still see with OE scan tools
is you're we'll take Ford you know an IDs, Right,
you take your Ford IDs scan tool, and you know,
you use it on Monday, you don't use it, Tuesday,
you don't use it Wednesday, Thursday, you go to use it.
Now there's an update from Ford maybe you know, so
(16:24):
it and you drag it out and now it's got
to be updated. There goes forty five minutes to an hour. Easy,
all right.
Speaker 4 (16:32):
It happens all the time. Yeah, I just came from
a conference, an industry conference, and that was one of
the major things that the shops on a shop panel
I watched, we're talking about exactly that.
Speaker 2 (16:42):
And then and then that just kills productivity. Now you've
got to find something to do in the shop in
for forty five minutes and babysit this scan tool and
it just becomes a giant pain in the neck. So
but yeah, okay, I get it. So you guys have
plans for that. That's good. I like that again, forward thinking,
that's what repairs doing here. Real quick, Ben, in our
last two minutes, can you just touch on reprogramming? Does
(17:04):
this tool do reprogramming for us?
Speaker 4 (17:07):
It does? And the nice thing is is it it
does reprogramming through that vehicle communications box and driven by
the OE tool, not an aftermarket tool that's trying to
emulate the OE software like so many of them do.
So you can be assured that the OE tool is
actually performing that calibration or that part configuration or whatever
(17:29):
it is that you need to do.
Speaker 2 (17:30):
So so it'll it'll reprogram And is there maintenance on
the mechanical shop side, I mean, do we have to
update the VCI at all or is that automatically done
when we log in, is the tool basically ready to go?
Speaker 4 (17:45):
So to speak, it'll be ready to go. You know,
once in a while, the vc I might get a
firmware update, but it's not often and it's very quick, just.
Speaker 2 (17:54):
Out of curiosity, real quick in our last minute, are
they working on keys? Have they dealt with the key
issue and the locksmith issue?
Speaker 4 (18:01):
Yet we actually have glass people using our product. That's
kind of a different program wrong. But I will have
to get back with you on what we actually do remotely,
because it's not so much that we couldn't do it.
We can, But it's about the nastev requirements and making
sure that our texts are certified and we're doing it
(18:22):
all above board, right right?
Speaker 2 (18:23):
Yeah, Well, and for everybody else's benefit. What Ben's talking
about is there are security requirements by the federal government
that prevent just anybody from programming keys. Ben, we're winding
down the time together today real quick. Where can the
listeners go get more information?
Speaker 4 (18:37):
Oh, repaify dot com. It's just keep watching that pipe
because we'll be changing in here in the next few months.
Speaker 2 (18:43):
So perfect and keep your dial tuned here because We're
going to be talking about you in the future too, Ben.
I appreciate your time today. Ben Jonson, reparify and.
Speaker 4 (18:51):
You'd be well.
Speaker 2 (18:51):
I'm on an end and the car Doctor. We'll be
back right after this. Don't go on
Speaker 5 (19:01):
As the family than the name
Ron An Aians.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
You can't assume or believe that you're the only guy
to ever see that problem. It's a big world out there,
and somebody else has seen it, and the value of
community is really coming full circle. And you can see
it in a lot of the organizations that are being
set up for mechanics to help mechanics.
Speaker 1 (00:37):
The Car Doctor.
Speaker 3 (00:38):
I'm not afraid to drive it from Des Moines to Omaha.
I stay off of Interstate eighty system because when the
semi passes you at seventy mile an hour and you're
doing fifty, it has a tendency to suck you off
the road.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
Well, yeah, it's got to look pretty cool that with
thirty eight Chevy on route. That's got to be pretty neat,
you know.
Speaker 1 (00:58):
Welcome to the radio home of Ron and Anya the
Car Doctor. Since nineteen ninety one. This is where car
owners the world overturned to for their definitive opinion on
automotive repair. If your mechanics giving you a busy signal,
pick up the phone and call in The.
Speaker 2 (01:14):
Garage doors are open, but I am here to take
your call. At eight five five five six oh ninety
nine hundred and now he.
Speaker 1 (01:24):
Running and welcome.
Speaker 2 (01:26):
Listeners on and in the Car Doctor at your service,
of course, and we're going to dive right into it.
We've got a big hour this hour, and we're gonna
be talking to Ben Johnson. To start. Ben is with Repairrify.
And when I heard the name, I knew Repairrify as
a company. I wasn't quite sure what they did and
who they were. Ben and I were chatting for a
while now and decided, you know, this is a great
interview because you're going to learn a lot about what's
(01:46):
going on in the auto industry. So let's get right
to it. Ben Johnson, Repairrify. Welcome to the Car Doctor,
sir hey man, thanks for having me on ron a pleasure.
Let's just dive right into it. Ben, what is Repairrify?
Because I've got to admit I've heard of them, but
you know, it's just it's like skimming the headlines. You
see so much information in this industry. What do you
(02:06):
guys runing to the table, What exactly are you doing right?
Speaker 3 (02:10):
Well?
Speaker 4 (02:10):
You know, so it's an interesting story. So you probably
haven't heard of a parify because of the it's they've
been around for about fifteen years actually, but they've been
very heavily participating in the collision space. Okay, So they
started out life with a product called an adstech ASTech
(02:30):
and this product would allow a person in a remote
location they're based in Plano, Texas, to connect through a
device at the car side with an OE scan tool
or diagnostic tool and manipulate that vehicle as if they
were at the fender. So in the collision spaces, we
(02:52):
all know they're you know, a little behind the mechanical side.
As far as doing that kind of work, the insurance
folks have been pushing them to become more apt at it.
A lot of them don't have a scan tool and
don't know how to operate it if they had one.
So this was a perfect fit to start off this, uh,
this this product line. So they do, I mean, they've
(03:14):
done literally millions of car side scans from Plano, Texas.
They generate a nice report. They do a pre scan report,
post scan report, very important the collision industry, and they
and they can use the OE tool to do it
so that they make sure that they're getting the you know,
all of the functions that the OE tool is capable of.
(03:35):
And then they they can actually reprogram the vehicle remotely
as well, like if they've got a new part in
there that needs to be programmed to the car, or
a new ECU or anything like that. So that's kind
of what what has has got them into the industry,
and they're making a lot of waves over there. I'm
actually fairly new to the company. You probably knew me
from another company for many years. But my job is
(03:58):
to actually take a lot of what they've done for
the collision industry and bringing that over into the mechanical side.
So you will be I mean, I'm counting on you
hearing a lot more about us in the in the
weeks and months and years to come.
Speaker 2 (04:10):
So Repairrify if I let's just clarify. Let's let's clarify
Repairrify if we can ben it's it's if I'm a
body shop. Reparify has has a service where I can
I can you know, buy in I'm going to have
some sort of a communication device that will plug into
the OBD two port and Missus Smith's late model Chevy
(04:34):
is in an accident. I can use Repairrify to pre
scan before I make the repair, post scan after I
make the repair, and that satisfies the insurance companies keeps
them happy and they see before and after condition of
the vehicle knowing it's fixed. Fair statement.
Speaker 4 (04:52):
Exactly if you need during that process, if you need
to do more things like maybe clear a code or
actuate something or run a tests, they can do that
remotely as well.
Speaker 2 (05:02):
All right, So, but I'm a mechanical shop. Now, I'm
going to be a little tough on you, right, I'm
gonna be the devil's advocate here. I'm a mechanical repair shop.
How does that help me? What is Repaify going to
do for me? Because I get what you're doing for
the body shops and how they're approaching it. But I
can go out and I can buy you know, I
can buy a half a dozen scan tools from you know,
(05:22):
fourteen different vendors tomorrow. So why do I want Repairify?
What's it going to do for me?
Speaker 4 (05:28):
Right? So that's a great question, and we will be
evolving some of these features over time. But this short answer,
Ron is when you think about the aftermarket mechanical especially
and one of the reasons I'm so excited about this
company and this products is that you've got a scan
tool and we don't even we can't eat. We don't
(05:50):
have to pick on a name, pick any brand of
scan tool that's in the aftermarket. And what I always
say is all of those scan tools do somewhere between
seventy and eighty percent of pretty much everything, but none
of them do one hundred percent of anything as far
as supporting a vehicle. So maybe you probably you might
not need us, you know, on a day to day basis,
(06:11):
but you might have that car in at some point
and you're saying, my gosh, this you know, brand, whatever
tool that I've got plugged in doesn't do some function
that my my Mitchell program or whoever says I need
to do to finish this diagnoma.
Speaker 2 (06:24):
And that does in all fairness, Ben, that does happen.
You plug into program power Windows and you may not
have it. You program, you plug into, you know, do
a variety of just simple coding functions, uh, you know,
and you don't have it. So repair Offy gives us
that option because it's it's automatically the OEE tool.
Speaker 4 (06:45):
Because we've got the OE tool on the other end
of the line there, and we've got a it's kind
of important to note to Ron, we've got a guy
that knows how to use it. We've got some like
if you're working on a Toyota, we will route that call,
that that message in to the Toyota tech. It knows
how to use that Toyota tool to make sure he
gets you whatever you need as efficiently as possible.
Speaker 2 (07:05):
Gotcha, gotcha. So you know you can scan for me
as a Toyota. You could scan for me as a
FOURD or a GM, et cetera. You can pro you
can program for me, you know you can. You can code,
you can do what an OE scan tool can do.
So all right, so you're you're going to do it
(07:26):
one hundred percent of the time, as you say, But
then I've got to look at, you know, what's the
convenience factor as a repair shop. I may not know.
You know, a repair shop may start eight o'clock in
the morning and it starts out with, you know, four
oil changes. Two of those oil changes or break jobs
one g Ways they had a check engine light on,
which actually happened to me this week. We had a
check engine light on in a car that the customer
(07:47):
didn't know what the light meant, and we had to
go through this whole education process of course, and then
we got into scanning and diagnostics. Is is this Yeah,
it really does. So is this problem process? You know,
fifteen minutes from now? Hey Ben, I need a scan
on this forard. You know, how does it work? How
do I hook in as a repair shop.
Speaker 4 (08:09):
Well, there's a couple of different things ron So it
depends on which tool you have. So one of the
interesting things about repair ify is they don't aim to
be in the hardware business as a competitor. Now, we
have a scan tool, we called them all in one.
But if your shop happens to have a launch tool
with the one of the more recent vcis I think
the Throttle three or better or something like that, Ye,
(08:33):
then you don't even need us as far as hardware.
You've already got your launch tool plugged in. You can
once you sign up with us, which is you know,
I think there's a one time activation fee or something.
But then you just push a button on your interface
and it literally calls sense information about the vehicle to us.
We get you connected to the right technician. Usually takes
(08:54):
somewhere between you know, thirty seconds and two minutes, and
then they're on there, they're on with you, and they're
able to process whatever you requested. You might have requested
a pre scan postscan. There's also a chat capability that
comes with it, or you can elect to have them
call you on your cell phone or your office phone,
uh to you know, dialogue with you while they're doing
(09:16):
whatever you need done.
Speaker 2 (09:17):
So there's also a tech line, yes, side of this too,
where you're going to be talking to a master Toyota Tech,
a Master Ford Tech, a master GM tech and so
forth to help you.
Speaker 4 (09:29):
A little careful there, ron. You know, we are not
yet at the point now on the collision side. Yeah,
we're pretty good on the collision side. As we get
into the mechanical side will be uh, will be getting better.
But I can assure you this. The guy on the
other end knows about the vehicles, and he knows about
the tool, but he's he may or may not be
a master technician to actually help you fix the car.
(09:49):
He can get the tool where you need it to go,
and he can deliver the test results and things that
you need, but he may not be the guy that's
gonna like get you out of a hole if you're
if you're truly drowning, right.
Speaker 2 (10:00):
Not yet, right, not yet yet? Yeah, we're gonna we're
gonna walk before we run. So you know, when I'm
plugged in with my launch tool, which I happen to have,
all right, no secret there, and I'm plugged in with
my launch tool and I'm dialed into my repaify icon
which I haven't seen. Ye I'm gonna have to go
back and look for It's probably there and I haven't
seen it. You know, is the data when he when
(10:22):
he makes my tool, the Toyota tool, the Toyota Factory tool,
the Ford Factory tool, will that display on my launch
scan tool or is the information displayed on him and
he sends me a report.
Speaker 4 (10:33):
The information is displayed to him on his oe scan tool,
and he will send you a report. And it's really interesting.
Ron the the VCI is where the magic happens. When
you actually request that report, it will disconnect basically from
your tablet and connect through your either Wi Fi or
(10:55):
tethered Internet or Ethernet cable and he'll be it'll be
talking directly to Plano Texas. Your tablet then just becomes
a display device. It's just kind of again talking to
Plano Texas and saying, here's what he's doing. Here's what
he's found. Here's a chat he wants to talk to
you or what have you. It's it's really pretty interesting.
Speaker 2 (11:13):
Gotcha work, gotcha? Yeah, it sounds interesting, Ben. You know what,
it's very forward thinking. You can see where it's going.
And this is something the industry desperately needs because you know, yeah,
there is no scan tool out there other than an
oe that does one. It's typically the seventy eighty percent
tile and then it's always that last twenty or thirty
percent that boxes you in a corner. Hey, Ben, we're
(11:34):
up against the clock. Sit tight, you can stick around
a little bit longer. Yes, absolutely, okay, sit tight. I'm
running any in the Car Doctor from here with Ben
Johnson of a paraphy. We'll both be back right after this.
Speaker 5 (11:43):
Don't go away.
Speaker 4 (12:11):
He drives that way.
Speaker 1 (12:12):
But when it comes to fixing cars, Ron has Car
Advice done right eight five five five six zero nine
to nine zero zero.
Speaker 4 (12:19):
Here's Ron.
Speaker 2 (12:20):
Welcome back listeners, Ron and ending and the Car Doctor
on here as I was with Ben Johnson over parrified. Ben,
you're still there, sir. You didn't disappear on me. I
know you won't nos so real quick, I just want
to go back real fast if I can. You know,
we were talking in the first part of our conversation
that repairify is there. The insurance companies want body shops
(12:42):
to do pre collision scans to see vehicle condition. But
what happens if I'm just curious, what happens if the vehicle,
you know, that the battery got smacked and there's no
electricity in the vehicle, then what do they do?
Speaker 4 (12:54):
Yeah, that's a that's a really good point, you know,
And frankly, one of two things happen. Right, If the
car is completely dead, they're either going to total it
because it was it's a it's a loss anyway. But
if not, to your point, you can't really do a
pre scan on a car that won't that won't the
lash lights won't light up on. So they do have
to get it to a to a stack state where
(13:17):
they can get the battery to power back up or
they you know, put a jumper card on it or
something to get it powered up, and they'll have to
do whatever repairs they have to do to get to
that state before they can do the pre repair scan.
So that it's a good point, though, good question, right,
and it happens a lot.
Speaker 2 (13:33):
And that's not a reflection on repairify. That's a reflection
on the insurance industry and collision and what they're dealing with,
because that's a problem, and I think you should. I
think it's important to have a pre scan. You know,
we're at the point now where we scan oil changes.
We scan all cars at least once a year. Stick
out your tongue and say ah, and it goes in
the draw, just like a heart rate and blood pressure,
(13:53):
just like going to the doctor. No pun intended.
Speaker 4 (13:55):
Please, you know, that's a really good practice.
Speaker 2 (13:58):
It just just you know, we have data, We know
what healthy looks like, we know what it was like
six months prior, and we can But anyway, I don't
want to. I don't want to go down that road.
That's not what today is about.
Speaker 4 (14:07):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (14:08):
You know, I was also thinking about, you know, I'm
a repair shop, not me, but maybe I'm a repair
shop out there somewhere and I've got three locations. Do
I have to sign up three times? Do I have
to buy? You know, because that's another thing I hear
in the industry. These guys are concerned they're buying three
of you know, snap on or three hotels or three
(14:28):
launch scan tools, and then what do they do. It's
it's the cost is just out of control.
Speaker 4 (14:33):
Right, Well, there's a couple of ways you can do
that wrong. First of all, for the service Noah, I mean,
if you're if you're Ron and Adan Automotive, then you
have to have three sites you're you're find to log
in and you know, get get help. But you know,
obviously you've got to have some kind of a hardware
interface at those shops to plug into. So you know,
if you've got to scan a launch tool at those shops,
(14:53):
that's great. You can and I don't know, it's way
less than a standards tool, but that you can buy
just the vehicle communications device from US and actually run
the software that connects it to Plano Texas from a laptop,
from the tablet, from you know whatever, and so you
(15:16):
can do that and just have a lightweight hardware interface
at your shop so that you can call in and
get these OI scans. Or of course you can buy
our all in one device, which is a it is
a full blown scan tool as well as having that
remote capability. So there's a few ways to do it.
You know, you can go all the way into the
scan tool or a basic interface device, but you don't
(15:37):
have to own like an like a GM tool and
a Toyota tool and whatever. At every location, they are
sitting up there basically virtually waiting for you to sign
in in Plano. And they're always updated. They keep them,
you know. So you know, we talked about the twenty
percent time you don't have to you know, you pull
that OI tool out twenty percent of the time you
(15:57):
plug it in and says, oh, I've got to get
a reflash. I saw for I've got to get updated
before I can even use it. So that's all ready
for you.
Speaker 2 (16:04):
I've got to tell you, Ben, one of the biggest
problems I saw and still see with OE scan tools
is you're we'll take Ford you know an IDs, Right,
you take your Ford IDs scan tool, and you know,
you use it on Monday, you don't use it, Tuesday,
you don't use it Wednesday, Thursday, you go to use it.
Now there's an update from Ford maybe you know, so
(16:24):
it and you drag it out and now it's got
to be updated. There goes forty five minutes to an hour. Easy,
all right.
Speaker 4 (16:32):
It happens all the time. Yeah, I just came from
a conference, an industry conference, and that was one of
the major things that the shops on a shop panel
I watched, we're talking about exactly that.
Speaker 2 (16:42):
And then and then that just kills productivity. Now you've
got to find something to do in the shop in
for forty five minutes and babysit this scan tool and
it just becomes a giant pain in the neck. So
but yeah, okay, I get it. So you guys have
plans for that. That's good. I like that again, forward thinking,
that's what repairs doing here. Real quick, Ben, in our
last two minutes, can you just touch on reprogramming? Does
(17:04):
this tool do reprogramming for us?
Speaker 4 (17:07):
It does? And the nice thing is is it it
does reprogramming through that vehicle communications box and driven by
the OE tool, not an aftermarket tool that's trying to
emulate the OE software like so many of them do.
So you can be assured that the OE tool is
actually performing that calibration or that part configuration or whatever
(17:29):
it is that you need to do.
Speaker 2 (17:30):
So so it'll it'll reprogram And is there maintenance on
the mechanical shop side, I mean, do we have to
update the VCI at all or is that automatically done
when we log in, is the tool basically ready to go?
Speaker 4 (17:45):
So to speak, it'll be ready to go. You know,
once in a while, the vc I might get a
firmware update, but it's not often and it's very quick, just.
Speaker 2 (17:54):
Out of curiosity, real quick in our last minute, are
they working on keys? Have they dealt with the key
issue and the locksmith issue?
Speaker 4 (18:01):
Yet we actually have glass people using our product. That's
kind of a different program wrong. But I will have
to get back with you on what we actually do remotely,
because it's not so much that we couldn't do it.
We can, But it's about the nastev requirements and making
sure that our texts are certified and we're doing it
(18:22):
all above board, right right?
Speaker 2 (18:23):
Yeah, Well, and for everybody else's benefit. What Ben's talking
about is there are security requirements by the federal government
that prevent just anybody from programming keys. Ben, we're winding
down the time together today real quick. Where can the
listeners go get more information?
Speaker 4 (18:37):
Oh, repaify dot com. It's just keep watching that pipe
because we'll be changing in here in the next few months.
Speaker 2 (18:43):
So perfect and keep your dial tuned here because We're
going to be talking about you in the future too, Ben.
I appreciate your time today. Ben Jonson, reparify and.
Speaker 4 (18:51):
You'd be well.
Speaker 2 (18:51):
I'm on an end and the car Doctor. We'll be
back right after this. Don't go on
Speaker 5 (19:01):
As the family than the name
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