For today's episode, we have Justin Dunglison from Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
Justin is currently the General Manager/Director of Aussie Automotive Group. He caters the needs of clients and working with a team that has the potential to grow. Their objective is to ensure our customers get the best out of their car repairs and we will work closely with them every step of the way, always keeping in mind both cost efficiency as well as satisfaction. Our aim is to become the number one source for all your automotive needs. We strive to provide excellent service with friendly, courteous and professional staff. The team are highly experienced, and we cover all areas
Justin talks about how he got into the industry, which was through his father's work at Zeki Motorcycles. He started as a beginner and learned to do things methodically and correctly. He initially worked at a prestige body shop doing Lexus and Jaguar when he was 14 and learned skills from the older generation. Justin's passion is cars, and he grew up with Holden, a brand that no longer exists in Australia. He also talks about the changes in the automotive industry in Australia, with more Japanese and European brands becoming popular. The episode also briefly touch on the import taxes and duties in Australia and the cost of cars.
Justin initially struggled to keep up with his peers but eventually surpassed them due to his meticulousness. He also mentions the challenges of being patient and learning skills that take a long time to acquire. The speaker describes the apprenticeship process in Australia, which involves four years of training and onsite learning rather than college education. The shift towards more onsite training is a recent trend in Australia that is gaining popularity in Europe and the United States.
If you are interested in learning more about ClarityCoat, you can visit us here-
Website: https://claritycoat.com
Facebook: https://facebook.com/claritycoatofficial
Instagram: https://instagram.com/claritycoat_official
For today's episode, we have Justin Dunglison from Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
Justin is currently the General Manager/Director of Aussie Automotive Group. He caters the needs of clients and working with a team that has the potential to grow. Their objective is to ensure our customers get the best out of their car repairs and we will work closely with them every step of the way, always keeping in mind both cost efficiency as well as satisfaction. Our aim is to become the number one source for all your automotive needs. We strive to provide excellent service with friendly, courteous and professional staff. The team are highly experienced, and we cover all areas
Justin talks about how he got into the industry, which was through his father's work at Zeki Motorcycles. He started as a beginner and learned to do things methodically and correctly. He initially worked at a prestige body shop doing Lexus and Jaguar when he was 14 and learned skills from the older generation. Justin's passion is cars, and he grew up with Holden, a brand that no longer exists in Australia. He also talks about the changes in the automotive industry in Australia, with more Japanese and European brands becoming popular. The episode also briefly touch on the import taxes and duties in Australia and the cost of cars.
Justin initially struggled to keep up with his peers but eventually surpassed them due to his meticulousness. He also mentions the challenges of being patient and learning skills that take a long time to acquire. The speaker describes the apprenticeship process in Australia, which involves four years of training and onsite learning rather than college education. The shift towards more onsite training is a recent trend in Australia that is gaining popularity in Europe and the United States.
If you are interested in learning more about ClarityCoat, you can visit us here-
Website: https://claritycoat.com
Facebook: https://facebook.com/claritycoatofficial
Instagram: https://instagram.com/claritycoat_official
This is the Autobody podcast presented by Clarity Coat. We'll get stories and talk to people from all over the industry, painters, body guys, manufacturers, and dead body in between. Let's do it. Welcome to the Autobody Podcast, auto Body Podcast, presented by Clarity Coat. Now here's your host, Adam Huber.
Hey everyone. Welcome back to the podcast. Today we have a guest from Down Under, we have Justin Glsen from Brisbane, Australia. Justin, how you doing today? I'm good, Adam, how are you going? I'm much better now that I didn't butcher your name. . Thanks for that. . Not a problem. Um, so Justin has had, um, we, we, we had a little bit of a, a talk in the, in the green room as the professionals like to say, um, before we actually started recording and.
Justin's got some pretty interesting stories of being trapped in Europe. But before we get into that, Justin, uh, can you just kind of tell me about what young Justin was like, how you got into this industry and all these kinds of things? Yeah, no worries Adam. Um, my father worked for Zeki Motorcycles. He was a state manager.
Um, so I grew up around motorbikes, um, and cars. I actually got into pre-delivery, uh, when I was 14, um, four motorbikes and, and cars, and, um, got the love of it. I was always into racing. My dad did, uh, motocross as well, so I, I grew up around cars and, um, from that early age, I, I wanted to be a part of the industry.
So I, uh, at school I started doing one day a week, uh, where you go and, and you work for someone. So my father had, um, a friend that had a prestige body shop doing Lexus and Jaguar. And, um, that, that's how I, I got into it. So I, um, I was one of only two under 50 years old. It was a old school kind of shop, third generation.
And so I learned how to lead, wipe, and file finish and, and skills like that, um, from the older generation. And I think a lot of those skills are actually lost these days. So that, that was my start in the industry and, um, that was 20 plus years ago and been in it ever since. So did you gravitate more towards motorcycles or cars?
Um, as far as like your passion? Oh, I'd say cars. Yeah, definitely cars. Yeah, for sure. Uh, did you have a favorite car from back then? I, I grew up with Holdens. It's a brand that no longer exists. It's a General Motors brand over here in Australia. Um, got closed down last year or the year before. So, um, yeah, it was a.
A very tough time for a lot of people. Um, not only as fans of the brand, but also too for the industry. We've gone from an industry where we, we, we make cars, um, to an industry now that we just import cars. So it's, it's been a, a sad time for the automotive industry as a whole over in Australia. And correct me if I'm wrong, but your guys' import taxes, duties and stuff like that are pretty ridiculous in Australia, are they not?
They are. And especially into the prestige as well. That's even Moyers. Ooh, man. So, um, give me an example of a car that, um, just as, just as a comparison, you guys are big Ford fanatics or, well, some people are big Ford fanatics over there, right. So I know from what I understand, there's like two very different camps in that
Very great over there. Yeah. Um, so if we were to, uh, pick out like a, uh, I don't, I'm trying to think of like a Ford car, a Ford focus, I guess. Um, What would be, what would be the average cost of a Ford focus over there? You know, obviously there's different trim levels, but Yeah, I'd say the high twenties. Oh, okay.
Twenties into the thirties. Yeah, probably, probably into the thirties. 30, 35, 30 6,000 Okay. Would be something similar. Yeah. Is that an Australian, um, currency? Yes, that's correct. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, why would you know u s d ? Yeah, sorry. I, so I don't know exactly what the conversion rate on that is, but, um, yeah, I mean, I would say that you could probably spend roughly about the same amount of, I would say around 30 would wouldn't surprise me on a, on a newer focus.
Um, yeah. So that doesn't seem like terrible anyways. Well, that's only replace model. So you, you go up there and you can go up probably another 15, 20 grand. Right, right, right. Um, now kind of alluding back to what I was talking about before, . Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but Australia is pretty well known for being some car fanatics over there.
Um, so can you, so obviously you're in the Holden camp, right? . I like all those. But Holden, yes. . Um, so is that, I mean, is that pretty accurate that, you know, there's like the school boys and everything like that, they basically pick Ford or Holden or what's, what's another brand over there that's really, really popular?
I think it's actually changing. I think, um, these days you've got more of the, the, the Japanese, um, influence and also two, I'd say, um, European now. So it is changing. Yeah, I think the, you know, your, your models are well, your AMGs and your, your M sports, um, and that as well, the Lexus are doing some stylish designs.
Even Toyotas, you know, Toyota, the TRDs, they're coming out, um, quite spectacular now. Nice. Okay, perfect. Um, . All right. So you're, you're, you start in the industry super, super young, um, and kind of girl up into it. So your first taste into autobody is on being a part of this third generation shop where you're learning all these old school techniques and everything like that.
Um, did you stay in the industry then, un until a certain point? Or how did you progress through the industry? Yeah, it's an interesting story because it's third generation. Um, they're very particular on learning things the right way. So my first six months, all I did was wash cars. I learned how to wash cars properly.
So, uh, by the end of my first year, I could probably take a bumper bar off, and that was about it. But I learned how to do it properly. So when I went to college, so we did college, um, every year for four years, um, for, for a period of time. Um, and I was so far behind in my first year. in terms of, uh, skill level, um, compared to, to others that went to college.
Second and third were about the same. Um, but by my, the end of the third year, I was probably way ahead of them because I knew how to take things apart properly. I knew how to look for the finer detail. Um, the end of my second year, I took a motor out by myself and put it back in because I learnt how to do things, methodical, how to do it right.
Um, and then by the third year I was way ahead because of the way I did things. Uh, and the way I learned, I was able to progress quicker. So by the end of college, I was quite far ahead of my fellow peers. Then was it hard for you to kind of be the turtle, wait, I don't know if you're gonna get this reference, but the turtle versus the hair in this reference, uh, in this occasion, like was it tough to, I mean, two years is a long time to someone who's young, like two years being, um, Seeing people supposedly be ahead of you, and then, um, but then that payoff in year three where you're like, oh, okay, now I see why.
Um, I had to progress into it slowly because yes, it did take me a longer time, but I'm able to do it in a much better way than these guys are. Yeah, of course. When, when you're young. And I think that's probably the, the problem we have in our industry today is it's, um, um, you know, me first and I, I want everything now.
And, um, uh, th those type, type of skill sets take such a long time. So, yeah, I did struggle with it and I had a lot of conversations with my father, um, my boss and, and even your fellow peers and, and, um, and even concerns and money. You know, when I, when I joined there, my first year was 160, $2 50, um, and I, I had $30 left over for spending money at the end of the, you know, the end of the week.
That's all I had. So I was quite lucky. I was still living at home, but I had. people I, that I'd left high school with that were earning 400 or 600 or 800. So when, when, when you're looking at that and then you're looking at, um, how you're progressing, it, it, it was hard, you know, it was hard to get outta bed sometimes, but, um, you just gotta stick with it.
So I, I didn't have a choice. My, my father made me get outta bed, wouldn't matter if I was sick or anything anyway. I, I never had sick days, so I just grabbed you by the scruff of your neck and said, Nope, you're coming in . Exactly. That was part of his work ethic that he, uh, passed on to me. So Good. I I have that same ethic today.
So, uh, you go to, how many years do you, do you go to, uh, college, um, or technical training then? Yeah, so you, so you, you do four years of your apprenticeship and then each year you have to, to go, um, for, uh, probably a block of two, two to four weeks. Um, but I think they're actually changing that now is, um, they're, they're trying to do more, um, at work.
Skill-based training rather than going to a college because it's not really in the real world. Or sometimes you, you probably feel outta your depth or, or, um, you don't quite perform or, or something like that. So, um, in, in Australia, I know that there's more onsite training, um, in the, the apprenticeship scheme, so that, um, um, it's, it's easy to identify with or to feel comfortable and, and use your surroundings to, to learn better.
That's interesting that you guys are switching over to that because we've had a lot of guests on from Europe and um, from the US and this is something that they're actually, some of them anyways, are trying to campaign for, which is to do more apprenticeship. And personally, I think it's actually probably the better way to do a lot of service-based or trades based businesses, which is, uh, you know, so I went to, I went to technical school for diesel mechanics and.
Man, I tell you what, like I went for two years and when I got into a shop, I didn't know shit like app. I knew nothing. And it's good for learning theory on how to do supposedly do things the right way, but you end up quickly realizing that none of that stuff really matters , right? In the real world. Like sure, it, it, you're probably not supposed to use an impact wrench on head bolts, but it's a hell of a lot faster.
That's true. . Um, and, and I don't know, you know, like me, I, I'm not really academic. So there's a, there's a lot in, in the automotive trade that, you know, um, learn by using their hands a lot. You know, they, they don't, they don't learn by sitting in a classroom. And I think if we continue the. , uh, those people that to be in a, in a classroom rather than out in the real world in the workshop, I, I don't think we're gonna get the outcome or the, the skillset or, um, the, the industry won't be as attractive.
Cause I think that's our biggest problem in Australia. I dunno what it's like in, in the US and, uh, Europe at the moment. But, um, I, I, I stood up in front of someone a little while ago, a group, and I said, I don't think our trade is sexy. And, um, they all looked at me and you could, you could tell that they were mocking me with their eyes.
And, and then the penny dropped about a minute later after all this silence. And, um, then they said, yeah, you're probably right. You know, it's not sexy. How, how are we going to attract, you know, this younger generation and, and make it sexy enough that they want to come in and, and actually stay in as well?
Because when you've got it, when you can go and do stuff on YouTube and things like that and supposedly make all this money. , um, h how do you, how do you get them to, to come into a diesel mechanic where you get dirty and you're working on trucks or machinery or a panel beat or a spray painter, um, you know, any of that.
How, how can, how can you make the, the trade sexy enough to, to attract the younger generation? Yeah, actually, um, it's really interesting that we're talking about this right now because I just interviewed Dave Reese from England, um, here yesterday or two days ago. Um, I'm sure his episode will come out, um, before yours.
But this is actually what Dave is doing right now in England, is he is currently trying to figure out how do we make the industry sexy and appeal to the younger kids. And, um, he's actually been having some pretty decent success. He's, he said that the thing that he has figured out is that you just need to get, you need to get in front of the kids, first of all, and show them that.
just because you're in the auto body industry doesn't necessarily mean that you have to be a painter or you have to be a body guy like Andy. What he has found was that actually the technology and the engineering side of the business is what's really attractive to these kids. They don't even, they don't even think about the, the radar systems s and all these other kinds of things that all have to be calibrated after an accident.
And he said that's what's actually been really attracting them about that. Have you seen, um, similar things about, um, in down there? Yeah. Well we, we actually started our own business doing a a s recalibration as well. Um, so, so we're always looking at new technology and also too, especially in the, the, um, electric vehicle space, um, really trying to push into that space because I, that is the future.
So we're looking, uh, at bringing new people in to do with replacing batteries. , uh, the eight hours recalibration, uh, even the style of repair is changing now. So at the moment you can still use welders, spot welders, um, pin, we call them pin pullers, where you actually pull the metal out for the repairs, where you're gonna see a lot more glue pulling.
Um, so it's not intrusive, uh, cuz there's a lot more aluminum and also to the electrical part of it. So you're gonna see some different technology there and a different skill set, so it's not gonna be as dirty, uh, you've gotta, uh, think a little bit differently, different strategies on repair, so that might attract a new type of, um, person as well.
So, yeah. Uh, okay. So you, can you kind of walk me through like, um, how long you, so you do your trades, you do your asso, um, is it associates? Um, no, it's not associates. Um, apprenticeship, sorry, apprenticeship, apprenticeship. . Um, kind of walk me through your progress then through the industry. Where do you kind of go from there?
I'm guessing you're in your young twenties at this point. Um, yeah, I'll actually started later. So, uh, in, in Australia you can leave school at at 16, or you can leave school at 18. Really? Um, yeah. So up to, we call it grade 10 is 16, then you can leave and go get a job. Um, and a lot of people in apprenticeships, they leave and go at after grade 10 and start an apprenticeship.
Uh, but my boss wouldn't let me, he made me stay in school until I was 18 and finished grade 12 a and then started the apprenticeship, which is good in some ways and bad in others because, uh, if, if you don't, uh, put yourself into the work in, in those two years, then it's kind of a waste of time, which kind of happened to me.
So I, I wish I had to gone to grade 10, uh, only, and then started the apprenticeship. So, and that, that makes it harder as well because you're not earning the same money as your, the, the, you know, your fellow students out of high school. It's another way that, um, can be a bit of a detriment. You know, I was earning 162 and you know, I had friends for $600 and living in the city and whatever, and I'm still living at home cause I can't, uh, afford to live out a home.
So, yeah, so it was early, early twenties. Um, and then I stayed with them for a couple of years and then I got itchy feet. Uh, cuz I loved to learn all the time and I actually loved traveling, so I took myself over to the other side of the world and, um, lived in England for a year and, um, had, had no job to go to or anything.
I just, um, started knocking on, on uh, auto body shots, as you say. Um, got myself a job and I ended up taking it over in profit sharing and the guy semi-retired and I ran it for him. That was my first introduction into, to management and. and, uh, ran the body shop for a, for a year for him before I came home.
And roughly what time period are we talking about? Um, early twenties, 20 23, 24. And what, what year range? Uh, that was in, uh, two early two thousands. Yeah, two thousands. Oh, interesting. So did you, at that point, were you managing a bunch of older folk than you, like guys that were older than you? No, they were, they were around the same age.
So yeah, I, I think it was a bit of a gimmick to have a, an Australian come in. So, uh, Australians used to be known as hard workers. I think that's actually changed a bit now and I'll probably get killed once . But, um, we were known around the places, um, as hard workers, so yeah, it was, yeah, I, I was op open arms, um, they loved me and yeah, I was able to progress from just being a, a panel beater.
I dunno if you know much about the old French cars, but there was an old. French Citron that my first job was to replace Shai rails underneath cuz they'd all rusted out. So, um, I think he wanted to test me and see what I was like. And I, I did probably two or three weeks of just rust repairs. And then the guy gave me a, uh, a rollover Mitsubishi Pajero Dunno if you've got them in, in, um, no, no.
It's a full drive. Full drive. And, um, well actually, hold on before I say that we don't have it, let me just go ahead and say that we do have Mitsubishi over here. It is not a well liked brand in America. No, it, they're just not great vehicles. Like Yeah. The, now if we're gonna say like the nineties, like eclipses and everything like that, yeah.
Sign us up. Be like, we'll, we'll do that all day. But like the regular, the only, I can't even think of a Mitsubishi. I can't even think of a Mitsubishi model name. Well, actually no, I take that back. because we do have the eclipse, but it's the Eclipse crossover version. Yeah. Which is just an abomination. Um, yeah.
all the way around, so I can't even, outside of the eclipse, I can't even think of a model name of a Mitsubishi. So, um, well they're, there's still a small market, but, um, they've actually got some pretty good models over here. I think they've done pretty well. I've, there's a, a, an SUV called an Outlander, um, in Australia.
I was actually gonna say Mitsubishi Outlander, but I, I was like, wait, is that a Subaru ? No, . . Yeah. It's hard. Listen guys, it's hard to think of this stuff while you're doing the podcast. Please don't make economy. Okay. . . Yeah. So look, they're, they're not a bad, um, car. They're probably one of their outstanding, um, versions they've got in Australia.
So, yeah. And, and I think if you go around the world, you, you've definitely got your preferences on Yeah. On brands and, um, maybe they don't always get it right with the, the specific brand that they put into that. That, um, country, we've had ones over here where they've only been short-lived, um, and then gone back out again.
So it wasn't, well, I would be willing to bet that there's probably some American vehicle that's been, that's tried to get sold over in Australia and it just flops tremendously. But then what's that Ford Taurus, we call it a Ford Taurus over here. I dunno what you guys Yeah, we have a to, we have as Taurus as well.
Yeah. That didn't last very long in Australia. . Yeah. So, uh, I guess I'm, I I am also kind of speaking from, you know, a South Dakotan's point of view, which is hardcore Midwest, where I think a lot of times people would look at a Mitsubishi and be like, well, why would I get that one? I can just get an F-150.
Exactly. That's it. You know, , and I'm sure that would, I would imagine that in England they would say, well, why would I get a Mitsubishi when I can just get a Range Rover? Like, let's. You know, uh, uh, uh, you're right. Like I can definitely see where it's just, I, I think it's has a lot more to do with, um, cultural differences than it does anything really much to do with the actual vehicle itself.
Yeah. And that, that's funny. There's a, there's a big shift now in, in Australia where we've gone from what we call sedans. Um, so, so Holden Ford, and, and I think that was one of the demises of Holden was it didn't look forward in the market because I'd say most of our, a good chunk of our cars are sold these days are the SUVs.
That's, that's where we're going. And I dunno if that's everywhere around the world, but I, I know in, in Australia, there's probably more SUVs being sold than sedans. So if you look at the, the, the cars being sold by certain brands, then they're top selling brands. Most of them would be what we call Utes or, or, uh, SUVs.
Yeah. And not, not sedans anymore. . It's, it's the exact same way over in America, by far, in a way. Well, I, okay. Trucks are always the best selling, um, unit in America. Just, um, I'm pretty sure that hasn't changed. Um, the F-150 being the most sole pickup in all of America. Right. But not too far behind that. It's just the crossover segment, which is what, that's what we call it.
I, yeah. Um, so much so to the fact that, I could be wrong on this, but I, I think Ford even came out and said that they're not even gonna bother making sedans anymore. Um, it's all be cross surpris. Yep. Hundred percent. So, um, and I'm sure they'll still make like specialty edition Mustangs and everything like that, but I think, um, I could be misremembering this, but I think Ford even, I think Ford said like, we're just not even gonna bother anymore.
Which is re it's just really surprising to me as. Why that is. I've, I bet I've never really, I don't know. I don't get it. I'd, I'd rather have a car that's just me. . Yeah. Look, I think it's, they're suited for different, um, landscapes as well. Like in, in, in Europe for instance, and especially in, in, uh, in England, like 1.1 leader, um, Ford is all that you need over there in, in the city.
So, um, why would you, you buy a, you know, a, you know, two liters seems to be a big motor for them over there, so don't even think about a V8 over there. So, you know, yeah. . And then we have Dodge that's like, listen, can we go more than seven liters? Because if we can't, what can we shoehorn that into? Because Exactly.
No, it's just dodge . So I, I, I don't think that, I don't think sedans and hatchbacks will go completely. I think you'll, you'll pick your markets for it, but. But, um, definitely they, they, they might only be like 10% of the market or 5% of the market in say, America or Australia. Yep. Yep. Totally agree. Uh, so going back to kind of talking about Europe, so I, I, I really kind of want to hear this story about you unfortunately getting stuck in Europe.
So you go over there, you run a body shop, you come back to Australia. What are you doing in Australia from then until you get stuck back in Europe then? Yeah, so, um, I, I always loved to learn. I loved the industry. So I came back, I had my own business for a while, um, with a business partner. Um, and, and we were doing restorations, body kits.
Um, you would give me 20,000, $30,000 and I would bill you, uh, a car of your dreams. Um, I loved doing that. That was, that was really awesome. But, um, my business partner lost his business and so we had to. Closed down hours due to debt. Um, and then I just started working my way up through the industry from, uh, foreman to site manager, um, and, and worked for different companies.
Um, I went and worked for BMW and became a, I got certified in BMW as a technician in the panel industry. Uh, so I, I just wanted to learn, I learned how to spray paint as well because, um, you know, if, if you run a an auto body shop, you need to know what you're doing. You, you, you need to understand what's happening on the floor.
You need to relate to your workers, and you need to understand when they come to you with a problem, you need to, to work it out. So the more you can learn, uh, for us both trades, uh, it makes it easier to relate to your, your workers and to be also to be able to, um, come up with solutions pretty quick.
Because in a body shop two hours where a spray booth doesn't work or there's something wrong with the paint. , um, can really have an effect on, on production. So, so yeah, I just worked my way through that. And then 2014 I got into the hail re repair space. So that's a, another industry that's changed, um, in the automotive space.
Um, it used to be traditionally where there was the paintless dent repair, p d r, and, and then anything that required paint went into the, the body shops. In 2014, the insurance companies, uh, decided they wanted to change that and combine the two together. So whoever got the contract to do the repairs, um, they were required to do the paint as well.
So I, I joined a company called Aussie Hale, who had been around for about 20 years, but then got into the, the, um, painting as well and helped them build up that side of the business. So we're a one stop shop where we take the claim, look after claim from start to finish. and that means, um, doing the paintless dent repair, uh, doing the body work, doing the painting, um, and delivering it back to the customer.
So that's, that's where I got started in the hail space. Been doing that for about eight years now. And then about two years ago, um, we had a friend of ours over in Europe that was working, um, for Tesla. Uh, he invited us over because, um, there was a, as a, uh, not an issue, but they needed a solution for painting some, uh, bumpers, um, over in Europe.
Um, and so we went over there and helped them out, paint bumpers over in Holland. And, um, then I went across to, to Germany and um, the borders closed in because of Covid. So I had to spend 10 months over in Europe based outta Germany, um, and trying to survive and trying to get back to Australia cuz it was.
They just stopped all flights. And I'm sure it was the same road across, uh, into America as well where you couldn't get out or get in. Uh, I don't, man, I might be misremembering this, but I don't remember, I don't remember us being like a hundred percent locked down to where like, it closed everything. I do remember there being certain places where they were like, no, you're not going there.
No. Um, but I think that actually had more to do with the, the, the country that you would be flying to versus like us. Um, I know we were pretty restrictive on, um, who we would let in from the other side, but I don't remember it being bad as far as you wanting to go somewhere else. Um, but again, I could be misremembering.
Even that was two years ago. . Yeah. Look, unfortunately it was such a, such a big part of my life because, uh, you know, I, I didn't know when I could get home. I, I had a wife, um, at home. Um, I didn't have any children, so thank goodness for that, for, for that point. But, um, yeah, uh, being in Europe it was, it was quite tough to try and get back to Australia.
It didn't matter what country you're in. Um, when I, when I finally got home after 10 months, I think it was up to another six months before a lot of people got home. Um, and they were all different factors. Luckily I had a good friend of mine that had a business over there, car Solutions International, who's another, uh, big hail company.
Um, they got contracts with, with, um, VW and Mercedes and that, and he, he looked after me. So I was able to do projects with him around Europe, which was, which was fantastic. Um, I really took advantage of not being able to, Get home and um, you know, did some, did some stuff in rural France with bmw. We did some work with, uh, Mercedes-Benz in Breman, uh, went to Denmark.
I, I'd really want the opportunity to check out what the industry was like over in Europe. I actually think in Australia where five to 10 years behind. Um, and, and so I, I really looked at how the industry was, what tools we were using, um, customer service, customer experience, um, checking out how dealerships operated, how the OEMs operated.
Um, cuz there's a, there's quite a big disruption in the, in the industry and it's been going for a while. But I, I'd like to thank, uh, Tesla and Elon Musk for, for, um, you know, disrupting the industry that much. Um, you know, there's a lot of people that probably don't like him and. Um, they, they, they might be true, but at the same time, he's disrupted the industry where the industry can't stay the same.
It, it's gotta keep evolving. And I, and I think that, um, you know, we just let it go on for too long the way it was. And, and Holden once again, Holden's a, a good example of that. I think that, um, they just didn't look at the industry far enough forward to, to, to make the changes or to understand how, you know, trends and everything was going and, and because of that, you see the demise of, of them in Australia.
Um, so it was, it was great to really see how, how the industry's going over there, the new technology that's coming out. Um, you know, the, the big push for the electric cars over there is massive. So the, the governments as well. So you talk about the disruption again, the, the, the, the governments, um, over there as well, um, in terms of tax breaks and really pushing for, for EVs.
And I mean, that's probably opening up another. Can worms and you look at EVs and what they do for the environment, but, but how do you get the batteries and how do you get the materials? So there's always going to, to, um, you know, be some conjecture there. But, um, you know, the idea was to, to bring the, bring the, the, um, industry forward and also to the environment.
So, so yeah, it was, it was, it was great to be over there. It was 10 months. Um, and, you know, I, I spent six me, uh, weeks in total isolation, uh, in Germany. They did poor lockdown, so I didn't stop working though. I was in a basement, um, working away. Um, and then they opened it up. But it was hard for me because I, I, I didn't have the proper documentation or, or work rights as everyone else.
I was lucky that, um, that, um, I, I had some savings. before I, I went over there. I, I had a quite a good nest egg and by the time I got back it was all gone. So I even had to buy a first class ticket to get home. The only time in my life I think I'll ever do that. But, um, that, that was the only way that I could get home was buy a first class ticket.
Cause they kept on bumping our flights all the time. So. So what was the problem that the people in Holland were running into with, um, bumpers on Teslas? Yeah. So when they were getting shipped over from California, um, with the, we call them roll on, roll off, uh, ships over here. Uh, so you drive them on and you, you pack them up pretty tightly and the way that the, the, um, the trip is you, you find that there's a lot of rubbing on the bumpers or quite a lot of damage.
And, and so they decided to do something different and actually, uh, transport the vehicles over there with no bumpers on. Um, oh. So, uh, yeah, or they, if they did have them on, they'd replace them with these bumpers that they had over in Holland. So when it came in to the, to the factory over there, they just replaced them or, or, um, put these, um, painted bumpers on straight away, um, so they could get them out quicker.
Interesting. Yeah, so we ended up, um, doing some work where we, we got a team from around Europe and set up a little body shop, disused body shop. And within two weeks we did some testing on the, on the bumpers and, um, to, to see, because obviously, uh, different plastics have different reactions to paint, so we had to, to work that out.
And we ended up painting, um, 20, 25 bumpers a day with one rework per day. So that's pretty good for a little, little outfit, so, no kidding. Basically a pop-up shop. There was, yeah. And that, that's what we do. Inhale, we do pop-up shops, so, , we, we go around the country and, and do pop-up shops and do the PDR and the, and the painting with these, um, body shops as well.
So yeah, that was, that was a good experience and, uh, did that for a couple of months, um, finished off the contract for them and, um, yeah, they're, they're an interesting company to work with. Um, so they've got their good points and their bad points, but I, I think they're still, they're still trying to work out.
I think they're a technology company trying to be a, a car company. Like a lot of the, um, a lot of those are, but, um, I, I think we can all learn a lot from them. Do they always do it right? Maybe not. But, um, they've got the right intentions. They, they just work through that. There, there is a problem. They'll work it out and find a new solution.
And that's what I, I think so exciting about working with, with companies like that is. Nothing seems to be a problem. It's just another hurdle for them to get over. So yeah, I, I think the industry can learn a lot. Hey guys. Adam from the podcast. I hope you are enjoying today's episode. Just wanted to ask you a quick favor.
If the show has brought you value in some way, would you mind giving us a review and sharing the show? It really helps the show get out there. Also, if you are looking to expand the services that your shop offers and you want to do more than collision work, you should really check out our company Clarity Coat.
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If you are looking to expand your shop services, go to clarity Coat.com and fill out our Become an Installer form. All right, let's get back to the show. What happened when. , you tried to fly home and so you're in Germany, so are you literally going up to like the airport or whatever, and they're just like, no, like you're, you're not getting out of here.
Like, like I'm trying to, I'm trying to imagine. So here in America, right? Like we had specific states that got purdy strict, right? Yeah. But it wasn't like gustapo, like, you're not going anywhere type of thing. For the majority of America, I guess I would say, again, there was some pockets where it was pretty bad, but I'm just trying to imagine like how you couldn't rent a car, you couldn't get on a train, you couldn't get on a plane to get to another country to then fly out.
Like what did you try to do to get out of, um, Germany then? Well, basically every time you, you booked a flight, they'd, they'd, um, send you an email like the day before and say, no, we're, we're not flying now. So, um, and you'd have to pay, like, I think I was paying like a thousand dollars every time to, to like get my slot.
And, and then they'd bump you and they didn't even, you know, give you the money back either. So, uh, I did hear of in where, um, you go to the airport and um, then be told that no, you, you couldn't. The the other thing with that is too, like I, I know quite a few people in England that gave up their jobs and their, their, their flats or whatever, their accommodation thinking that they were coming home and then they were bumped and then they had no accommodation and no job and, and you know, some that, that went on for months and months.
Like, like I think it was like a good six months of me e every couple of weeks thinking I'm coming home and, and then getting bumped or told no that the, the, um, Australian government won't let let you in. So, you know that, that, that was happening a lot. Definitely. It was a lot. So, um, the, the Europeans used to li laugh at me because they couldn't understand.
How strict Australia was compared to Europe. Like Europe, after the first wave, they, they kind of didn't worry about it too much. So there was a lot of people getting sick, but it was just like the common flu, like the flu was going through, you know, in, in winter in Australia you get the flu every year and it goes through and, and affects quite a lot of people.
And, and that's the way I think the Europeans attacked it. So it probably didn't affect their economy as much as what it did in Australia, which is probably another thing to talk about a little bit later with in terms of business. But they, although you know, they were very conscious for the health of, of people over there, they knew that they couldn't stop the economy cuz if you stop the economy something, you know, as large as Europe, I, I think the effects or the timeframe in which to recover for that was going to to be such a long time.
So they, they did, um, Short shutdowns then opened up fairly quickly. Um, o over here in Australia, um, retail, um, and hospitality has suffered and still suffering, where over there they only shut for short periods of time. So your local cafes weren't affected as long, um, so that they, they really attacked Covid a different way than than Australia, so, mm-hmm.
Yeah, it, it allowed a lot more freedom to travel and to work and, uh, there's still a lot of precautions or a lot of the big, you know, corporate companies, um, made everyone work from home and whatever. Um, so they weren't as agile, as smaller business. I think smaller business was able to survive a, a mid-size business because the agility of still being able to move around and work and, and things like that.
And, um, to, to be able to keep going. Interesting. What, uh, So at that point you're married, . What are those conversations with your wife like, ? Oh, look, um, it was hard cause I've been in the, the hail industry for a while now. Like normally you're away six months, a year anyway, so, um, on and off. So it makes it a little bit harder, uh, easier.
But, um, when you don't know when your, your husband's gonna come home, that's, that's pretty hard for a, for a, for a wife to be able to, or either partner to be able to, to, um, fathom what that is. And, and also too, in Australia at that time, um, we had restrictions where you couldn't go more than five kilometers for your hou from your house.
Dang. Really? Yeah. Yep. So all you could do is go to the shops. You couldn't go to the gym. You at one stage you couldn't go to the park or anything. It was just straight to the shops or the dock or whatever. And then straight home. So, uh, and um, out both our families were out of that zone, so, She was home by herself for such a long period of time.
And, um, I think that's why there's been so many mental health issues, um, and domestic violence, um, issues due to covid because the mental anguish of not being able to socialize and see the sun walk in the park or, or, or see friends and family. So yeah, that really affected her and it affected me, but there was nothing I could do about it.
I felt really hopeless, but I couldn't do anything. The best I could do was continue the work and provide, and, you know, a lot of people went over to work as well, so defaulted on their bank loans or, you know, house loans and things like that where I was lucky enough that I was able to keep working and, and keep, um, paying all the bills, so I never missed any payment.
Yeah, actually that was gonna be my next question. So you're in Europe and you're hearing from your wife all these restrictions and everything that she's got going on. , but what were, what were the restrictions and everything like for you in Germany, especially considering that you were technically a f well, you are a foreigner and you don't even have, like you said earlier, the right paperwork or anything like that.
Like, are you able, so you're able to still do some work and um, sense of money home? Like what, what was that dynamic like? Yeah, look, um, this, this one's probably a gray area and technically if I say too much, I'm probably gonna incriminate myself. Oh, okay. Well we don't need to talk about it though, . No, look.
Um, but I was a contractor, so I was working out of Australia, but, um, the, the working, right? So I probably didn't have, but I did work in a few different, um, countries. So, um, I dunno if technically I was supposed to or not, but at the end of the day it was, um, you know, I wasn't as serious as do or die, but I, I needed to survive, so, you know, yeah.
You had to do what you had to do. I had to do what I had to do and, you know, I take res full responsibility for it. I still paid all my taxes and everything, so, . I don't think I've, you know, done something seriously wrong, but I think you'll find there'll be a lot of people on the same boat over there.
They just, um, work wherever they could find work just to put food on the table. You know, it was, it was that bad. I, I just can't believe some of the stories I've heard where they don't even, you know, so many people were couch surfing. Um, cause they, you know, they, they wanted to come home. They gave up, you know, the leases and their businesses, uh, their, their jobs, and then they were told they couldn't get home.
So, um, people did what they had to do. Um, you know, I, I'd go across borders of different countries and think, I hope that I don't, um, meet the wrong people and I end up in, in jail. Like, it was that scary sometimes, you know, man. Um, so yeah, I'd, I'd be awake early in the morning and, and thinking about, is this the day that, you know, I'm gonna get caught by, you know, someone crossing the border and, and, um, they decide technically I'm, I'm not supposed to be there or anything like that.
And, I end up in jail. So, um, it wasn't always the most pleasant I've experienced, you know, traveling and, and working, either going away from the stuff that might potentially incriminate you, . Um, you mentioned earlier that you learned a lot of things in Europe that proved to you or showed you that the year, the way that Europeans do body work or the automotive market in general is roughly five years ahead of the Australian market.
Can you point out some, like specific instances in which, um, the Europeans were doing it more advanced than Australia? Australia was? Yep. Um, I, I think we need to start off with the buying of cars. Cause it, it all ties in and I think it, it ties back from, from the factories and then works that you all the way down.
But um, for instance, when you buy a car over in, in Europe, I think you that I read a, an article that said there's five tra transactions in, in the term of, you know, um, your life where you'll go to a dealership and buy a car off them. So they're very loyal over there. So if you want to, if you want something done in your car, you want to buy your car, you go to your local dealership.
And I dunno if that's the same over in America, but, um, um, you know, whether it's rust repairs or whether it's a cracked windscreen, whether it's new tires, whether it's, um, a dent on your car, whether it's a service, you take it back to the local dealer. Um, over in Australia here, it's quite different. So I think on average it's about one transaction for that dealership.
So I, I think there's a lot of work that we could do over there, over here. Um, and, and normally what happens is there's, um, a little hub around that dealership of different services. So you'll. , you'll have like a windscreen company there. You'll have uh, um, interior trimmer. Um, so you'll have your different services and whatever the dealership can't do, they have those relationships and, um, with those, the local companies around them, so when someone drops a car off at, at the dealership, when they get it back, they might have had three or four services done on the car, but might not have all been done by the dealership.
But because it was all done by the dealership, they've got this great relationship with that customer. And normally it's a whole family as well. It's not, not just one person, it's the whole family and the extended family. So they might have a customer base of 5, 10, 15, um, uh, people in that family group that come to that one dealership and they look after all the cars together.
So that, that's, that's one part where I think that, um, I, I think Australia still lacks. Is that the, is that the same over in America? As you were talking about it, I was trying to think. And I would say in general, no, I think dealerships, for the most part over here you can divide people pretty pr pretty strongly on whether or not people would do a lease versus um, just buying a car outright.
Right? Uh, I'm not even sure what the ST statistics are of leasing versus owning, but I would say that there's probably more people that own a car than lease a car. But I don't have the statistics on that, so I'm not gonna put my stake in the ground on that. But I would say that for people who lease, then obviously they go back to the dealership and it's a continual relationship, right?
They don't even think to themselves, well I'll go somewhere else to get my tires fitted, or you know, whatever. Because why would you? Whereas with people who buy cars, I would say that there's a lot less loyalty to dealerships, especially when it comes to servicing, because typically a dealership is way more expensive to get work done at than it is to go somewhere else.
So I'll take myself as an example. Uh, recently I, so I currently have a 2018 S five as of this recording right now, Audi S five, and I'm actually trading it in to get a, um, Audi A eight L and my local dealership. I dislike them greatly because the service department is terrible to work with, the bobby shop was actually amazing.
I had a small little fender bender in a parking lot. They, they were great to work with, loved them for that. But the, I, the first thing that I did when I decided that I wanted to trade my car in was I started shopping around to see who would gimme the best deal for trade-in. Well, my local dealership was only gonna give me like 28 and they were like, we can't go any higher than that.
That's ridiculous to pay more money than 28 for your car. I was like, I'm seeing, I'm seeing similar cars of mine sold for 39 all over the place. So I don't think it's that ridiculous to ask for more. So anyways, all this to say that I ended up, um, actually finding an, uh, an A eight L in Chicago, which is eight and a half hours away, that was gonna give me 32 5 for my car.
And you know, I went back to the local dealership and said, Hey, this is what this guy's got, uh, this is what he is willing to give me for trade-in. What are you willing to do? And they just scoffed at and said, yeah, that's, he's an idiot. And it's like, okay, . I I, but like when it comes to tires and everything like that, I've got a tire place that I go to.
They treat me great. Um, windshields, if I needed a windshield replacement, I've got a guy for that or got a business for that. So I would say we're much more, I would say your average person is much more like, uh, if there is a place that does, if there's a business that does that thing really well, they're pretty br they're pretty loyal to that place.
But as far as like actual dealerships, I I, I don't know if I would say that there's a whole lot of dealership loyalty unless you're leasing then, then I think there's a lot of loyalty there. So you just talked about an experience and, and that's the thing, like, um, I, I don't believe in customer service anymore.
I believe in customer experie, uh, service. I believe in customer experience. And you just told me that you had a bad experience with that dealership. So your experience with the brand is, is still there, but your, your experience with the dealership is wasn't good. Right? Um, so. But tell me this, if your dealership gave you a great experience and could do all those things and do it all at once together, would, would you consider going to that dealership and just using them and getting everything done on that, your car?
So you'd give them the keys and then two days later, one day later, you'd pick it up? Oh, yeah, a hundred percent. I, I am, if I can simplify things in my life, I'm all about that. Right? If there's one , but, you know, on the same side of things, like, um, trying to think of a good example. I, I would not think a dealership would not be the first place in my mind to go for, for tires.
I don't know why I, I'm not gonna sit here and say that they are more expensive or less expensive. It's just not something that goes into my, um, cranium when I'm thinking about it. But to your point, if they treated me amazing and, um, gave me a great experience. I would probably be more willing to give them that, that first shot at being able to get my business, if that makes sense.
That's right. And, and so, you know, there's two parts of it. So one, the dealerships, if they, um, gave a great experience, then they'd have an, an opportunity, but also two, they need to then go out and, and tell everyone, you know, what, what their, their services are. And, and more to that. Then I think that their prices might come down as well because if they've got more opportunity for, for upselling or whatever you want to call it, then they're offering more services.
They could probably, um, uh, sell, sell those hours, sell those parts at a, a cheaper, um, level because they're going to get more work. So that, that, that's why I see Europe's quite different. And that's the concept that, um, I've, um, want to do here in Australia. And so I'm working, um, with some dealership groups now and, and even ourselves, we went.
from having one business to seven businesses. And basically, um, it's all about offering the extra services. So we now offer tires. We do wheel repairs. Uh, we do co what we call not fender banner, we call it cosmetic repairs. So we do cosmetic repairs. Um, we do eight a recalibration. We've got our own trucks now for transport.
So we're, we want to be the one stop shop. And that's the, I like that, that's why I'd like to try and be to dealerships. We're talking to quite a few dealership groups now where what we've just talked about. I'm trying to, to, um, show them that this is what it's like in, in Europe and I think it's going to come to Australia, where if you can get onto this now and, and, um, instead of being a, a one transaction, um, business to, to five or to, to even, you know, now we've got price cut servicing over here in Australia as well.
So, um, so there's, there's more limitations on how to make money. Um, Also too, we've got the agency model that's over here in the own Australia. Uh, Honda's brought it over. Um, and, and so they, the dealerships don't even own the cars. Honda owns them and they get a fee for selling them. So they don't even have that opportunity to put their own, um, pricing matrix on it.
So, wow. So, so, um, the, the dealerships need to find new ways of, um, getting revenue. And I think by looking after the, the customer better and having more transactions and being that one stop shop, that's how dealerships are gonna survive and actually thrive. That's really interesting. Um, and since you're kind of asking about it, I, I, I will actually pinpoint to the moment where I basically wrote them off, and this, this is gonna sound so egotistical, but I think it's just, it just proves the point of it really is just like a small interaction that makes all the difference.
Uh, so when I purchased the car, I purchased, I don't know if you guys have this over there, but with Audi, um, when you have a C P O or certified pre-owned, you can do Audi Care. You can pre-purchase all the maintenance ahead of time, right? Yeah. Well they threw that in for free when I purchased the car. So I got all the free servicing and everything like that.
Um, now I did not read the fine print on these services when I got into this fender bender, it was already at their shop. It was coming kind of close to due on the next service. So I said, Hey, while the car's over there, would you mind just having them do the service so then I don't have to come back in like two weeks time just to have it done?
Yep, yep. No problem. Go to pick up the car. And I get handed a bill for $85 for the oil change and inspection and everything like that. And I was like, well, I don't have to pay this. I have outta care. And he goes, oh yeah. You know, it must be a mistake. Well, I'll talk to the service department, blah, blah, blah.
The. When I went to go pick up the car, the service department guy happened to be standing there and we still hadn't resolved this bill. And I was like, Hey man, like, can you help me out with this bill? Like, I don't understand. Like, I'm not supposed to pay this. I have Audi Care. And he goes, he, he, he laughs at me, like actually laughs at me and goes, he, what do you mean you don't owe it?
Like of course you owe it. And I was like, well, okay, what, why doesn't Audi Care cover this? Because I was un, un, I was under the assumption that it covers all maintenance costs. He goes, no, no, no. They only cover the oil change every 10,000 miles. That was, you had an oil change. Um, this is your 5,000 mile oil change.
I go, okay. I was like, so what's the manufacturer recommended? He goes, every 10,000. I was like, so why did you tell me that I needed it at 5,000 and I'm a mechanic. Right. I get the whole idea of like doing it earlier. Yep. We're not debating that. Hmm. So then, He's going through his little speech and I said, just outta curiosity, do you have my information?
He goes, yeah, of course. And I was like, so why the fuck didn't you call me? Did you like, you just assumed that this was gonna be okay and that I should, I, I'm just okay to pay it And like, you couldn't call me and make sure that this was gonna be okay. It's like, don't you think that's a little ridiculous?
He goes, and then he launches his whole speech and I'm like, Hey man, I'm just telling you that's a really shitty user experience. I, I was under the assumption that this was just all maintenance cover was covered. I should have done more looking into it. That's my bad. But a quick phone call, especially after the body guy already called you two weeks ago and said, Hey, like he doesn't want to, not that I didn't want to pay the bill, but he doesn't think he has to pay it.
You still couldn't reach out and talk to me about it. And then his just general attitude was like, oh, you're such like, of course you have to pay it. After that moment, I was just like, okay, well I'll just come here every 10,000 miles then, and I still got the oil changed every 5,000. Guess what? I went somewhere else to go get it changed.
Yeah. Being simply because I just wanted to give the middle finger and say, I'm not, I'm not gonna give you my money. Like that's, I don't know. What's your thoughts on that ? Uh, totally agree with you. Uh, I think that's really bad customer experience and that's where, um, not only does it affect the dealership, but I think it can affect the brand.
I mean, you could take that experience and even change brands, um, because of it. So, um, look, we're all time poor. Um, I, I, I'd be the same. I'd actually probably, I've even thought about selling cars and going to a different brand. I think, uh, um, like I'm extremely loyal as well, and I'll actually pay more to know that I'm being looked after and I'm getting what I want or need.
Um, where if they had a say, if that guy had a well, how about we split the difference? You've had a small win. Yep. And it hasn't actually probably, you know, hurt the, hurt the brand or hurt the dealership, and you might have paid the $85 at 5,000 there, but now Yeah. He's taken away that opportunity. Yeah.
And here, like, it's really interesting that you're asking about this because now I'm trying, like, I'm go, I'm trying to think about my thought process.
I, this is th this, uh, this, um, this belief of mine, of that dealership is so deep that I would rather drive two and a half hours to Audi, Omaha to buy a car from there than to buy one from the local dealership. That's 10 minutes away. Like I'm just sitting here thinking. But again, that's my own personal personality.
Like I, I, I'm literally sitting here thinking to myself, well, they're not gonna take care of me, so why would I give them my business? Like, they're literally just in it for, they just look at me as a dollar figure and that's it. Um, , that's right. Remember, it's not transaction. So that, that, and it's not just cars, it's, it's even as much as coffee.
I've even had a bad coffee experience where the coffee was awesome, but, uh, the, you know, they just didn't, they didn't treat me the way I just wanted to be treated. I didn't want to be treated different than anyone else, but it was just a bad experience, right? And so I, I go down the road and get a terrible coffee because it was outta principle that I wouldn't go back there.
And, and I'm sure it's like you're not the only one. I'm, I'm sure there's so many stories by people buying cars that, um, your Audi's lucky that, that you like the brand that much, that you, you stick with the brand. But I'm, I'm telling you now, there's probably a lot that would change change brands just because of that one experience.
And that's oh hundred percent. . That's something that I think the, you know, the Audi needs to work on more with its dealerships or Ford or whoever. Uh, that's where the disruption comes in. I mean, you, going back to Tesla, um, you know, they probably don't have the, the best customer experience all the time.
Um, because it's a, it's a different model. It's a, it's a different expectation of what a, a customer is after. So people that buy Teslas, they're, they're, they're a different bunch than probably people that buy Fords. Um, so there's different expectations. So, um, those are, buy Teslas will, will put up with a different experience in Ford.
Going back to Tesla in, in, in Holland over there, um, when they delivered it, they put them out on the docks and, um, you actually had to go find your car, um, and, and, and grab the car and take it. And, um, then they, they gave you a follow up phone call to, to, to, to help you, um, get to know your car better. So,
Um, if you, if you were a Ford person, would, would you accept that as an acceptable way of, um, picking up your car, your brand new car? No, it's probably not. It's interesting that you're saying this because, uh, where were we at? Um, I took a trip here with my business partner, Justin. I think this was in Florida.
I'm pretty sure this was in Florida. And just to give you an idea of how, just different, just in the United States, an experience can be with, uh, with a brand. Okay. We rented a model three in Florida and had to use it for about a week. And this was actually the first time I'd ever long, long term driven an electric car.
And the first time that we had to go charge it, we went to a supercharging station and then plugged it in. And I was like, I'm just at a gas station, like what the fuck am I gonna do for an hour? Right? And you asking this question makes me think if you took a die hard F-150 dude, south Dakotan and threw him into a Tesla and he had to do the exact same thing, you would probably get the Tesla back either burnt from fire, it would just, he would just light it on fire or he would just shoot it.
Like, he'd be like, this thing's fucking stupid. Like now it doesn't end up being that big of a deal. Right? Because, um, how often are you renting an electric car to where you can't go back home and top it up or recharging every single night? That's the whole point and idea behind having an electric car is that you can just go home and just top it off overnight.
Right. But here's where like, the really big difference kind of for me was so in Florida we could return it back with like 10 or 15% charge and they wouldn't charge us anything. And they wouldn't charge us anything. Right. If it was below 10%, then they'd charge us. When we rented the model three from la, they said if it came back with less than 80% charge, they were gonna charge us a ridiculous amount of money Per wat.
Yeah. To recharge it. And I was just like, man, that is so interesting how, just how different that whole experience could be. Also, on that note, um, renting a Tesla is a pretty terrible user experience because the whole point of owning something like that is that you have it connected to your phone and as you're walking, this is a very simple example, as you're walking up to the car, the car unlocks, right?
Because you have the proximity. You can't do that on a rental car. All you have is the ele uh, is the card with you and every single time you want to lock or unlock the car, you have to put the card up against the pillar to do it. And I was thinking to myself like, I know this is not the way this car is supposed to be used, but it really makes me hate Tesla because like this is super fucking annoying that I can't just hit a button and it's locked or unlocked.
Cuz that's what I'm used to. Yeah. And that, that's a great experience. Um, so we're, we're in the EV space now. Um, we actually do some fleet management and I'm glad you brought that up because there's actually an app now that you can, that you can do where you can give it to the, the one that's renting it and um, so you can use it the same way.
Uhhuh. . Yeah. So that gets away cuz um, I, I drove a Tesla for the first time my ever, my first ever trip. I drove, um, 2000 kilometers in it. And, um, it was such an experience. I wouldn't say it was the best, but it, it was just my expectation. Um, yeah, I call it charging anxiety. It's probably a good way of, um, putting it.
So I drove from Brisbane to Sydney and normally I drive in one hit all the way through, um, takes about nine and a half hours. It took me, took me 13 hours to drive from Brisbane to Sydney. And a lot of that was because. I have to wait for a charging station or, um, even the supercharger wasn't always available.
Um, and, and, but in saying that, though, I needed to be there in a hurry, so I wanted to drive right through. But if my expectation was that I just needed to be in Sydney the next few days, then I would leisurely go and do four or five hours, um, do one charge up. Um, and you don't have to charge it all the way.
You could charge it up 20% or whatever just to get you to the next. And so the experience would've been different. Now, I would probably wouldn't have thought that Tesla is, you know, why get an EV or why get a Tesla? So it's just a perspective or the, the way you look at how, how you use the vehicles. I, I EVs are definitely the way of the future.
Um, but it's just how you use it. So around town i'd, I'd use it every day. If I was doing long trips, I needed to be somewhere in a. , I'd use a, you know, um, a, an ice, a petrol, petrol diesel car. But if I wanted to do it over a period of a couple of TA days, then I'd, I'd still use, um, an electric car. One thing that I think in Australia that probably is not as far advance is America is charging stations we still don't know have enough infrastructure yet.
So the quicker we, we do infrastructure, um, the more that the perspective or the attitude towards EV cars will change because it'll be easier to, to charge up. So, and also to new technology. With the batteries, you'll be able to charge quicker and, and greater bursts of, you know, charging to, to, you know, instead of 40 minutes, it might be like 12 minutes.
Yeah. I would say that it would probably surprise you that statement that you made about, um, America being more progressive or pro progressed towards infrastructure. I think it would actually surprise you. How the answer on that is, it depends because, uh, in general, in America, new technologies for the automotive world anyways, basically start on the coast, east coast, west coast, and then they slowly work theirs their way in.
Right? Yeah. And me being in the Midwest, I get asked this question actually a fair amount. Um, and I, uh, already talked about this two episodes ago, but a lot of people ask me like, would you have an EV in Sioux Falls? And I, I, my answer is almost a exactly like yours. If you're just running around town, yeah, it's great.
Like, go for it. If that's what you want, then don't hesitate. However, um, the battery technology is not there yet for Midwestern winters. It's just, it's just not now. The infrastructure isn't there yet for Midwestern winters. It's just. That's not making a stance any one way or another. It just isn't. As an example, to drive all the way across the state of South Dakota, it's roughly about six and a half hours, something like that.
There's only two charging stations between, between where I live and that and that point. So in the wintertime, your battery life immediately gets cut by, what would you say is a fair amount? 25, 40%? Like you don't think so? So just to give you an idea, it's not all that uncommon to get down to negative 40 Celsius here in um, South Dakota.
So battery life is already gonna take a hit. Well, it's cold , so you need to run the heater, which is electric. So now you're gonna take an even more of a hit on your battery life. And I think I did this one time. If you took a brand new model three, that wasn't the long range version, you would have to, you would have to be so exact on your acceleration and your miles per hour and everything like that just to hit the next charging station.
And you would have to fully top up, which means you're gonna sit there for, what would you say is fair? An hour, hour and a half, um, top, fully up. And then again, you have to have a perfect run all the way to the the next stop. And the thing about it is, though, is that in South Dakota anyways, again, this is just purely South Dakota.
That's not reality because reality for us is it is a almost guarantee that we're gonna have 15 to 30 mile an hour winds any day of the week. . That's just the way it is. So now you have wind resistance as well as cold, and you have to run the heater. All these things add up to, I you're playing a big game of risk by wanting to go across the state in the wintertime in an electric vehicle.
Um, so yeah, charging, it's just not here yet. Charging anxiety, I think is not even that extreme. Like, um, there was a glitch in the, so with Tesla you can actually, um, it'll tell you, you put in your route and then it tells you where your charging stations are. Yep. And then, um, you know which ones to go to.
And, um, there was a glitch in the system, I think, cuz the, the internet was playing up. And I'd actually gone past that, that point that I was supposed to go to. And by the time it, it worked, it out was like 20 minutes past. And I thought, well, no, I'll just keep going to the next one. It, and it said I was gonna make it, and then it decided I wasn't gonna make it because obviously there was hills and whatever.
So I had to do a, a two hour detour and my, my levels of anxiety went through the roof, you know, so, Um, yeah, I, I, I, I can definitely agree is isn't there something with Tesla's where you actually can't go below, like something like 10% or something like that? Like the, the car won't let you go below 10%, or am I not correct in that?
Uh, look, I, I'm not too sure on that. I, I, yeah, I, I couldn't tell you, but, um, they, they ain't liken to go down anywhere near, like, if you get the 20%, they'd definitely want you to charge up, so. Got it. Okay. Yeah. Well, Justin, uh, we have amazingly reached the end of the hour, actually went a little bit over, but That's fine.
We were having a great conversation. Um, scratch the surface, mate. I know it, I, there's so much we could have talked about. Maybe we'll have to just do another episode. . Sounds good to me. Pick a topic and let's go. . Awesome. Um, where could people find out more about you if, uh, um, if they wanted to get in contact with you and talk about, I don't know, getting stuck in Europe or Tesla's or, um, this new idea that you have for, uh, the Australian automotive market?
I think Link LinkedIn's probably the perfect place. Uh, you know, I've, I've got so many different contacts all over the world. Um, LinkedIn's probably the best place to start the chat and, um, go from there. So, um, Justin Dunson just looked me up on, on LinkedIn and, um, yeah, the more connections I think we have and, and, um, around the world, I think it's better for the automotive industry.
So I, I welcome everyone really look forward to connect. Awesome. Everybody go and check him out on LinkedIn. And uh, again, thanks so much for coming on today. Really do appreciate it. Thanks, Adam. I've had a great time. You've been listening to the Autobody podcast presented by Clarity Coat. Our passion is to talk to and about anyone in the industry, from painters, body guys, manufacturers, and anyone in between.
We hope you've enjoyed the show. Make sure to like rate and review and we'll be back soon. But in the meantime, visit us@claritycoat.com and find us on Facebook and YouTube at Clarity Coat. See you next time on the Auto Autobody Podcast.