Shop Press

Shop Press is the news and idea hub for everything related to working on cars and trucks, focusing on repair, technology, and wrenching lifestyle.

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FEATURE STORY

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Don’t Overlook the Elementary

Today’s article is one borne from experiences. Exasperating experiences, no less. All novice mechaniclets are taught engines need fuel, air, spark, and compression to run. This is true, but we often take those for granted, and diagnosing even one vehicle with a basic...

ADAS Alignment and Calibration – ASE Practice Question (VIDEO)

Description Technician A says that the thrust angle must be maintained at zero degrees when performing an alignment on many vehicles equipped with certain ADAS systems (like lane departure warning). Technician B says that the steering angle sensor must be properly...

Writers, Print Vehicle Service Histories for Every Vehicle

The fellas who taught me to write service were arguably some of the best I’ve seen do the job. They had all sorts of tricks up their sleeves, like the boomerang business cards you’ve read about before. Today, I’d like to share another tip my friend Sam gave me. It...

The JDM Class of 2001 Comes of Age

Japanese Domestic Market (JDM) cars during their heyday in the 1990s were the unattainable treasure, not for North American consumption, only accessible in video games. They were tantalizingly close but not truly attainable. Turns out all it takes is patience: 25...

Ferdinand Porsche: Engineering the Shape of Speed

Ferdinand Porsche is one of the earliest designers featured in our “Automotive Paragons” series, and few figures loom as large over the modern automotive world. His career began at the dawn of motoring itself, when horseless carriages were still experimental...

Service Writers: Don’t Leave Your Greatest Diag Tool in the Shop

Today’s piece starts with a one-question quiz that’s not a trick question: in your shop, what is your best diagnostic tool? It’s not a meter or a scan tool or a stethoscope, though those all are handy items to have nearby. It’s your technician. And as much as leaving...

Back Away from the Wrenches

Back Away from the Wrenches

Today’s article is more of a philosophical one than a pragmatic one. You see, we’re in the business of buying and reselling auto parts, servicing automobiles, and getting paid for our efforts. But as automotive professionals, we merely delay the inevitable. The...
Side Business

Side Business

If your shop is a typical one, you wouldn’t turn down easy, profitable work, right? Of course not. Maybe it’s time your foreman, techs, and service writers sat down and talked through the car that isn’t a car: side-by-side (SxS). Like other not-immediately-obvious...
Mastering the Numbers – Part 2

Mastering the Numbers – Part 2

In our earlier article, Mastering the Numbers Part 1, we discussed why shop owners should understand the financial side of their business just as much as the technical side. We introduced the Cost of Doing Business (CODB) as an important baseline financial concept....