Keeping up with the latest technology can feel like trying to hold water in your bare hands. At JMH Auto Sales and Service Inc., keeping up with the latest technology is a regular part of standard operations. Joe Hasson, owner, notes that while his garage is a one-stop shop, they also specialize in programming, electronics and diagnostics and put a significant amount of resources into staying on top of the newest innovations.
As more and more processes in a vehicle are run by computers, knowing how to fix a vehicle is no longer constrained to manipulating physical parts - it can also mean being an IT technician as well.
Joe’s team is constantly updating their knowledge, learning about new models and software. “The technology is changing, as well as the equipment required for repairs. We have a lot of electronic hardware that other facilities may not have.”
Good training is a big part of staying ahead of frequent changes. With a large meeting room attached to his shop, Joe is uniquely able to facilitate extra education for his technicians and for the other members of the Guelph Garage Owners Association. “At the dealer level, everyone is getting trained on 2019 models, where most of the available after market training focuses on older models. We book trainers who offer that 2019 training. We are able to pick topics according to our technicians’ needs.”
This translates to huge benefits for the customer and for all the technicians who attend the training. “Our knowledge allows us to handle repairs much more quickly. Without it, we could spend hours figuring something out that could be handled in half an hour with the proper resources,” Joe explains.
Having the proper resources is important to Joe and he feels strongly that the technological changes in the auto repair industry need to be embraced. “I look at it as a challenge and I like to think that we are one of the premiere shops in Guelph, so we try to stay on top of it.”
JMH Auto Sales and Service Inc. is a proud member of the Guelph Garage Owners Association. The GGOA is a network of like-minded garage owners who have a
reputation of doing the right service at the right time at a fair price. Their member list, code of ethics, and community involvement projects can be found listed on their website.
When was the last time your vehicle had a software update?
If your vehicle was made in the mid 2000’s or later, it has a computer. And just like all computers, there’s software helping to run the show – software that could
probably use an update.
Updates can have many different effects ranging from removing simple glitches, like how far your window goes down, to correcting the shudder you get anytime you hit sixty clicks, to helping your car run better overall. Sometimes a vehicle will have an obscure problem such as temperature controls being affected by whether or not cruise control is engaged. Software updates can address a myriad of issues.
Joe explains that vehicle software has versions, just like the programs on a home or work computer. “You can have an older version that can work forever and suit your needs. And sometimes an update will have very little change. But sometimes it will be a dramatic change. Sometimes we get vehicles in that have a running issue, and the solution is a software correction rather than a new part.
How will you know if you need a software update? Your mechanic will be able to tell you. You can also ask for your mechanic to check for new updates as a part of your regularly scheduled maintenance.
Book your next service with a member of the Guelph Garage Owners Association: