July/August 2021

www.aftermarketonline.net JULY/AUGUST 2021 AFTERMARKET 3 CONTENTS BUSINESS 8 Big issue: False economy 12 Rebecca Pullan: Blankety-Blank 14 Momentum: Seismic change 16 SCS: Aircon during pandemic 18 D2C e-commerce growth 20 IAAF: All change? TOP TECHNICIAN/TOP GARAGE 22 LKQ ECP: What makes a Top Garage? TECHNICAL 26 Snap-on: Volvo CAN Bus failure 30 Gareth Banks: Simply irresistible 32 Frank Massey: Crest of a waveform IN FOCUS 36 Cooling 40 Garage equipment 42 Oils and lubricants 46 MOT 50 Brakes PLUS... 54 General products/Competition 55 TPS: Genuine Parts 56 Coronavirus round-up 58 Garage visit: MOT City 60 EVs and hybrids 62 Training update 64 Recruitment 66 Teabreak MINE’S A DOUBLE Editor | Alex Wells alex@aftermarket.co.uk | +44 (0) 1732 370 345 Contributors Gareth Banks | Damien Coleman | Carl Davis | Priya Deshmukh | Frank Massey | Anthony McAteer Tom Verner Sales Manager | Daniella Gavin Daniella@aftermarket.co.uk | +44 (0) 1732 370 349 Managing Director | Ryan Fuller ryan.fuller@dfamedia.co.uk | +44 (0) 1732 370 340 Operations Manager | Ewa Hodden ewa.hodden@dfamedia.co.uk | +44 (0) 1732 370 340 Project Liaison Manager | Emma Floyd emma.floyd@dfamedia.co.uk | +44 (0) 1732 370 340 Finance Manager | Caren Brown caren.brown@dfamedia.co.uk | +44 (0) 1732 370 340 Chief Executive | Ian Atkinson ian.atkinson@dfamedia.co.uk | +44 (0) 1732 370 340 Published by | DFA Media Ltd 192 High Street, Tonbridge, Kent, TN9 1BE Alex Wells, Editor Average net circulation July 2019 to June 2020 23,616 aftermarketmagazine @aftermarket01 ISSN 2516-9149 Aftermarket is published 10 times a year and is sent free of charge to applicants meeting the publisher’s criteria. All others may subscribe at £60 per anum, £120 Europe and £150 rest of the world. While every care is taken to provide accurate information, the publisher cannot accept responsibility for any errors or ommisions, no matter how caused. All rights reserved. No part of the publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without prior consent of the publisher. The views of contributors do not necessarily represent the views of the publisher. Copyright: DFA MEDIA LTD 2021. Y es, Aftermarket’s publishing year is now well past the yard-arm believe it or not, so we are with the July/August double issue – cheers! Seriously though, where did all the time go over the last seven months? Actually, make that 18 months. It has all felt like we are in a holding pattern, waiting for normal life to restart. However, with all those customers coming through the doors all year, deep down you know we have moved on into a new business landscape in many ways. With everything that has been going on, including vastly changed MOT patterns through the year, garages need to work really efficiently to keep everything ticking over as efficiently as possible. There is plenty of help out there to make that happen fortunately. With this in mind, we have a special feature from LKQ Euro Car Parts, looking at what you need to succeed in Top Garage. You can find that on pages 22-23. With all the uncertainty in the world right now, it would be understandable if some motorists want to reduce costs where possible. I think that will be the same for many people. There are some areas you really should spend to the maximum though, and tyres should be very high on that list. On that basis, the continued existence of part worn tyres seems to be a contradiction. We examine this in Big Issue on pages 8-11. Staying with the punters for a second, they might be the life-blood of the business, but that does not mean they can’t sometimes still be annoying. That doesn’t mean you can be rude to them though. With this in mind, our Garage Inspector Graduate for the issue is Rebecca Pullan, who discusses why you should never, ever use bad language at work. You can find that on page 12. Moving away from customer relations, we speak to Mark Field, the newly installed Chief Executive of the IAAF on pages 20-21, and hear from his predecessor Wendy Williamson too. On the technical front, Damien Coleman from Snap-on is having an in-depth look at a Volvo, whose owner had reported multiple electrical failures. It’s a CAN Bus thing. Turn to pages 26-28 to find out more. Next up is Frank Massey, who is looking at a VW T5 with a fuel pressure deviation DTC. The solution? Waveforms and plenty of them. Turn to pages 32-35 to partake of his wisdom. If that’s not enough for you, we also have features on cooling, garage equipment, oils and lubricants, the MOT and braking. We also have the regulars like the EV and hybrid update, the Coronavirus round-up, as well as training and recruitment. We also managed to get out to see 2019 Top Garage finalists (and current Top Garage competitors) MOT City. Turn to pages 58-59 to find out more about them. Lastly, we wanted to remind everyone that this is the July/August double issue, so you won’t be seeing a hard-copy of the mag hit your doormat again until September, which at this point is clearly still ages away. However, we will be soldiering through the hot months with you, and our output will be available online as always, at www.aftermarketonline.net as well as on Facebook and Twitter. As I said, we will be back in print in September. A few weeks after that you will also be able to attend the Top Technician and Top Garage Awards Evening on Saturday 9 October. Something to look forward to then!