Episode 54: The Top 5 UNWRITTEN Rules of the Service Department (And the Tennessee Tech Who Broke ALL of Them in One Night) – Fixed Ops Focus with Dave Rogers and Steve Shaw
Every new car dealership in America runs on two rule books. The first one is printed, posted, and signed at orientation. The second one is invisible. Nobody hands it to you. Nobody trains you on it. And the moment you break one of those unwritten rules, you find out the hard way that everyone else has known about it for years.
In Episode 54, Dave Rogers and Steve Shaw pull back the curtain on the unwritten code of the service department — the rules every veteran knows, every rookie learns the hard way, and every dealer principal assumes everyone already understands.
The episode opens with a story we couldn’t make up if we tried: a technician in Tennessee who took a customer’s Mercedes home, drove it to a date, went out drinking, and is now sitting in court — with the dealership right beside him. It’s a cautionary tale, an HR nightmare, and the perfect entry into the bigger conversation: what ARE the rules? Who teaches them? And what happens when nobody does?
In this episode, Dave and Steve break down:
- The full Tennessee Mercedes story — what happened, why it happened, and the legal liability storm now hitting the dealership
- The 5 unwritten rules every tech, advisor, porter, and manager is expected to know
- Working on your own vehicle after hours — the rules nobody clarifies
- Working on a friend’s or family member’s vehicle without an RO — career-ending or fair game?
- Parts cost and the employee discount — what’s allowed, what’s a gray area, and what crosses the line into theft
- The “tool truck” rules — who can buy what, when, and on whose dime
- Test drives, demos, and “borrowing” customer vehicles — the line every tech needs to know
- Why the unwritten rule book is the fastest way to get fired
- How dealer principals and fixed ops directors need to start putting these rules IN WRITING
If you’ve ever wondered why the senior tech glared at you when you parked in his bay, or why the parts manager raised an eyebrow when you bought an oil filter for your truck — this is the episode that finally explains it.
Subscribe, hit the bell, comment with the unwritten rule YOUR dealership won’t put on paper, and share this one with every new hire on your service team.
Train. Learn. Grow.
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