Repair Shop Reckoning

In this episode of Repair Shop Reckoning, Kevin breaks down the difference between knowing your numbers and actually running your business with them. Too many owners look at their P&L at the end of the month and treat it like a report card. By then, the money is already spent and the decisions have already been made. This conversation is about taking that back. Kevin walks through how to use l...

Most shop owners don’t have a pricing problem. They have a numbers problem and it’s costing them more than they realize. In this episode, Kevin breaks down what actually happens to every dollar that comes into a shop and why so many owners are busy, working nonstop, and still wondering where the money went. Because the truth is, you can be doing millions in sales and still be losing money if you d...

Everybody keeps talking about how this industry is broken. How it sucks. How you can’t make money. How technicians are leaving and shops are struggling. Here’s the truth. Yeah, there are problems. But that’s not the whole story. Because there are shops out there winning. There are technicians building real careers. There are owners creating teams, culture, and systems that actually work. And the d...

Everybody keeps talking about the technician shortage like it just showed up out of nowhere. It didn’t. We built it. For the last 30 years, we told kids not to go into the trades. We stripped hands on training out of schools. We pushed college as the only path. Then we built workplaces that burn out the very people we depend on. And now everyone’s asking where all the good techs went. Here’s what...

Most people know Kevin Brown as the guy who tells it like it is. The shop owner. The operator. The guy calling out the chaos, the excuses, and the bad decisions that quietly kill shops. But this episode is different. This is the beginning of the story. In this remastered episode of Repair Shop Reckoning, Kevin sits down with his mom and dad to talk about where it all started.  The learning struggl...

Flat rate worked in Kevin’s shop for years. But the world outside the shop has changed. Parts backorders. Fleet approval layers. Training the next generation of technicians. Jobs sitting in bays waiting on things nobody inside the shop can control. And when that happens, flat rate stops rewarding productivity and starts punishing the wrong people. In this episode of Repair Shop Reckoning, Kevin ex...

Marketing can build your shop or quietly bankrupt it. In this episode, Kevin breaks down why most marketing promises are smoke and mirrors, and what shop owners should actually measure if they want booked work, not “impressions.” What you’ll hear in this episode • Why “impressions” are the most abused metric in marketing • The tracking question every shop must ask on every customer • Why Google Bu...

If you don’t know your numbers, you don’t control your business! In this episode, Kevin sits down with Maria Montie, partner at Shindel Rock and a key resource inside the Repair Shop Reckoning network, to talk about what most shop owners avoid their backend.  Cash flow. Oversight. Internal controls. Tax structure. And the dangerous assumption that “my accountant has it handled.” We break down: Why...

Because being good at fixing cars isn’t enough anymore... This episode is for shop owners who are tired of chaos, thin margins, and feeling like they’re constantly putting out fires. Kevin breaks down what it actually takes to build a disciplined, profitable shop in an industry that’s getting tougher by the day. We’re talking real systems. Real structure. Real leadership. Inside this episode: -Why...

In this episode, Kevin breaks down his exact service advising system step by step from the first phone call to after-hours pickup. This isn’t theory. It’s a process built from getting burned, plugging holes, and tightening the operation until the front office actually controls the day. We talk about: -Why most shops lose trust on the phone in the first 10 seconds -How “free estimates” screw your t...

Featuring George Ryan, Body Shop Manager at a Mercedes-Benz dealer in upstate New York, this episode is a straight-up masterclass in why shops are sick of getting jerked around by insurance companies—and what it looks like to push back with facts, laws, and zero fear. George’s perspective hits different because he’s lived both sides of the table: he grew up in a body shop, worked as a tech, then s...

This episode of Repair Shop Reckoning didn’t end the way we planned due to technical difficulties, but the conversation was too real not to release. Jessica shares her story of starting in the trade at 16, helping build a successful mobile operation into a shop, and then watching it fall apart because of bad leadership, flat rate abuse, unpaid labor, and broken promises. From 1099 misclassificatio...

Featuring Kevin Brown, host of Repair Shop Reckoning, and Jason Tracey — this one is a full-blown reality check for shop owners who are sick of getting squeezed from every direction. Kevin doesn’t sugarcoat it: the collision world is sliding into a Race to Zero where shops keep dropping prices to “win” work… and end up financing repairs out of their own pocket. Meanwhile, insurers keep tightening...

What happens when you put a real Corvette guy in the room… and let him talk? In this episode, Kevin sits down with Alan Johnson from Matick Chevrolet, one of the most dialed-in Corvette minds you’ll hear anywhere. This isn’t “car talk” for clicks. It’s a deep dive into what’s actually happening inside GM right now… and why so many dealerships are falling behind. They hit everything from the 3.0 Du...

This episode is for new shop owners, mobile mechanics, and anyone thinking about going out on their own. Kevin sits down with Ben Higgins, owner of The Wrench Wagon, for a real conversation about what actually happens when you transition from technician to business owner and why so many good techs fail once they open their own shop. This is not another episode bitching about flat rate, dealerships...

WARNING: This episode is not scripted, polished, and it sure as hell is not safe for soft ears... Welcome to the Christmas Special you always dreamed of. A behind the scenes look into shop life, recorded with the full Garrett Truck and Auto crew. The team come straight from the shop, with the doors open and the truth turned all the way up. No guests. No filters. Just the people who actually do the...

In this episode of Repair Shop Reckoning: Race to Zero, Kevin and Jason go straight at the root problem most people keep dodging. Flat rate is brutal, but the real villain is wasted time caused by bad leadership, weak policies, and broken processes. When the parts department is late, when the advisor does not verify parts, when approvals drag, when meetings steal wrench time, when techs are forced...

Welcome to another episode of Repair Shop Reckoning! Buckle up, because this one is a straight punch to the throat of the collision industry. Kevin sits down with Jim Gray, partner at Motor City and a 40-year veteran of the collision world, to break down everything the insurance companies never want shop owners, techs, or customers to know. If you think you’ve heard Kevin talk shit before… this ep...

This one started with a viral TikTok clip, a little heat, and a whole lot of misunderstanding but instead of hiding behind keyboards, we did what grown men are supposed to do when Kevin picked up the phone. And then invited them onto Repair Shop Reckoning. In this episode Kevin sits down with Mr MasterTech and Chris MF Craig two guys who had every reason to throw shots at each other online and we...

This one is for the keyboard warriors and the men that are soft as tissue. The TRUTH WILL SET YOU FREE...BUT FIRST IT WILL PISS YOU OFF. Or if you are our type of people it will make you laugh your ass off. We sure had a ton of fun recording it. In this episode Kevin brings in two of his own, Phil at the front counter and Jake the Marine turned mechanic, to pull the curtain back on what really hap...

Buckle up because this one comes in hot. Kevin sits down with Check Engine Chuck for a brutally honest, no filters allowed conversation about what is really happening inside repair shops today. And it hits every nerve in the industry. This episode does not just talk about soft techs or generational gaps. It digs into the harsh truth that most techs never see and most owners are too scared to say....

Buckle up because this week Kevin and Jason crack open the ugly truth behind the collision repair industry, and it’s a full-on reckoning. Kevin goes off on how insurance companies have hijacked the business by setting prices, dictating parts, and forcing shops into losing money on every “approved” repair. From fake adjusters behind desks to clueless inspectors who’ve never turned a wrench in their...

This one’s personal. In this special episode of Repair Shop Reckoning, Kevin sits down with his wife of 29 years, Marilyn Brown.  The woman who’s been there since the beginning. From beer bottles at Frigate’s in Walled Lake to building a family, surviving broke-as-hell Christmases, and running businesses together, nothing’s off-limits in this conversation.  They dive into the real side of marriage...

What happens when a dealership tech decides he’s done turning wrenches for someone else and builds his own shop from the ground up? In this episode, Kevin Brown sits down with Donovan from Cypress Ridge Automotive, a former Ford dealership tech who walked away from the flat rate life, built a shop in his backyard, and turned it into a thriving business. The two dig into what it really takes to go...

In this hard-hitting episode of Repair Shop Reckoning, Kevin sits down with Travis Smith, his financial advisor for the past 9 years, a trusted partner in planning the future of both his companies and his team. If you’re a shop owner, blue-collar entrepreneur, or hard-working technician wondering what retirement will really look like, this conversation will hit home. Kevin and Travis break down wh...