₦airaland Forum

Ogbaba123:
Hi Radautoworks,
I noticed my oil dropped by about 0.7 quart after 1200 miles. I’m suspecting a leak or oil burn although there’s no evidence of oil burn from tailpipe. No burning smell or smoke or stain. I have changed the valve seal and one other seal. How much is the estimated cost of diagnosis and repairs for this. Vehicle is 2007 Kia Rio

hello,
Without seeing the actual problem I'm not exactly sure what you want a quote for. You have already changed the usual suspects.

ebbie9ja:
Hello radautoworks,

Please what's the cost of fixing a burnt gasket for a Toyota Corolla 2011 car?

Hi,

Below is *worst case scenario*. One is if you use our parts, the other is if you provide your own parts. This also assumes the worst case if you also need a water pump and/or radiator so you can subtract as needed.

ojeysky:
Oh really? so maybe my RDX is not doing bad then

oddly, I get great mileage on my MDX

Chuwaa2:
How much is your oil change biko.
Most mechanics now too de drag for 3k.

most cars are 2,500 labor. Some are 3k

Felicity001:
Car maintenance after trip to and from to Anambra State to be 5k??!!!

The last oil change alone i did 3days back I spent about 10k

Mobile is now N5800 (palm oil own oo) that's what my partner uses.
Plus 1ltr extra cos car is V6.
Filter 1k
Workamsnhip 3k.
That's about 12k self.

you mean to tell me street mechanics are charging more workmanship for an oil change than we do and our own includes free checkup!

InfinityEstates:

I need to move it more. It's still not doing it's job

Kreamie:
Can I call the shop to place an order tomorrow?

sure. Or use the parts request form on the website.

https://www.mrtransmissionmilexnigeria.com/parts-request

Adecrown01:
Hi gurus in the house pls kindly advice me on my c180 2011model ,l changed the engine oil last year dec and do the normal car servicing, last week l noticed the oil is black and very little in the gauge, pls what can be the cause of the problem

oil wasn't changed

Kreamie:
2010

multiple brands for passenger side in stock. Only Bosch in stock for driver's side.

Kreamie:
A Lexus Rx350. I don’t think you have it in stock.

what year?

uboma:
LoL.

See me laughing out loud at my regular Bar after a stressful week.

TGIF!

this is you rn

valarinz:
All of una dey jostle for my attention nowadays? Whats going on man?

Oops, just checked your profile out and you turn out to be a nonentity who stands for nothing, crying about car dealers upandan, lol.

This is your 5mins of attention, now get lost, you'll be totally ignored further on

please. Not here.

donfortune48:
Sorry for the insults from those young young monikers bro.

One day someone will also come here and call Tojah, Mrjayde, Nitigriti newbies in the hustle.

Forgive them cos they don't know what they're saying.

come o... Where is nitigriti? He follow happy man go Switzerland?

Ogeneigbo1:
That is what am saying.
It's the Franchisee that bears the heat.
It's only the Franchisors brand name that is at stake.

Anyway, you are doing great.
I wish am auto tech inclined,I would have applied.

Cheers.

oh, I understood the reverse when you said "she has little or nothing to lose". We're on the same page then

Ogeneigbo1:
I think we are saying the same thing.
Are you gonna equip the workshop for the Franchisee, ma'am.?

no. Franchises are 100% the owner's investment. We can procure everything and help them get set up but they pay for it. It's your property.

Thought I'd drop this here because it seems pertinent.

Crocif:
Pardon me but I could not help but notice this conversation. Expansion at this time? I am not a financial guru/analyst but I know enough to get by. Was privileged to share a moment with Glen and he talked about his passion for the business and the experience he has amassed over the years. This prompted me (not my business I know) to do a little digging to see how the business has faired since you guys started. I was unable to get info on how well the business is doing in Lagos vis-a-vis the investments put in at start-up (i.e regarding the Lagos arm).

I was, however, fortunate to see a video of the construction works that went on and I couldn't help but notice how happy you and Glen seemed. It was a beautiful thing to see and I was happy for both of you. Like I mentioned to Glen, having a business is wonderful, especially when the business was borne out of passion and becomes successful (these I did not share with him). Though a good thing to expand when the business is thriving but I was thinking (though naively considering that there is a parent company who I believe got your back) that there may be a need to step back and assess the journey so far before making the huge leap of expansion.

Unless I am mistaking, I saw that the business in Nigeria is barely 3 years old. If this is true then the rate of growth has been phenomenal. Goes to show your extraordinary sense for business. Though great but it got me a little worried (I shouldn't be because it is none of my business) and it got me thinking about how sustainable that rate of growth is. It is possible to grow a business too fast but to be sure I thought an assessment needs to be done before going ahead with.....

Sorry, I want to stop there because my conscience is beating me up. It is none of my business. I wish you well.

PS: I am yet to get word from your tech guys about the vehicle. I hope I hear from them soon. Thank you.

From what I understood Glen spoke to you and was supposed to call you today.

As far as growing too fast, believe me the expansion was greatly thought out. This is not my first company and I do have an MBA

Even before we started I informed the parent company that there would be a 2-3 year lag before we would even consider franchising a new location. I'm actually the one who has been holding the needed expansion back. The investment put into Lekki is not a small amout. I'm not going to put how much I spent here. Not the parent company, me. Franchises are paid for by the owner not the parent company as is the norm with any franchise.

There are a few things you may not be aware of.

1) We are area developers not franchisees. As such, WE are the parent company in Africa with equivalent powers to Chicago. Our warehouse will also service the Cameron locations when they open as well as the whole of West Africa. I should mention they started their project two years before we did and they are not online yet. Further expansion is in the works down the line and we will be moving to the Lekki Trade Zone when the time comes.

2) The Lekki location is the west african HQ, training center and distribution center. It is not a shop. Shops are a fraction of the size and cost and can be as small as 2 bays. I've put pictures of typical shops compared to the Lekki location below. The Lekki location is 12 bays and over 33,000 sqft. A typical shop may not even be a tenth of that.

3) The Lekki location's primary function is franchise support. Most of the people who you see there actually have been trained for just that purpose- to go help open and train/run new shops on how to run efficiently and maximize profit while maintaining the brand's quality. They are actually not doing their primary jobs yet until other locations open.

4) Despite that, we are running an HQ on the proceeds from a shop and STILL running at a profit. A typical shop in the Mr Transmission-Milex group should have 3-6 employees. We have 27. And yet the income our shop provides (which is about the same or less than other shops will make depending on location) pays for all 27

5) We are being inundated by repairs from around the country causing longer waits. When customers are paying 200k or more to third parties just to tow cars to you, there is a gaping hole in their home markets that need to be filled. These are not just online comments saying "come to xyz". These are actual vehicles coming in on a regular basis. Some have been trying to pay for Glen to go to their states for repairs for months but we are too busy at our location.

6) why don't we just open the next one ourselves you ask? One of the biggest successes of the Mr Transmission-Milex model is all locations are run by their owners. This is non-negotiable. Where you see one person owning multiple locations, husband runs one, wife, adult children and in a couple of very special cases brother/sister run the others. This is because NOONE will ever care for your customers the way you do because you are the one with the investment. There are other reasons that are covered during our 5 week owner/management training.

7)One of the biggest perks of doing repairs with us is not even online yet and that is our nationwide warranties. If you get a repair in Lekki and have a problem in Ibadan, the Ibadan location will honor your warranty at no cost to you. That is why we made sure to handle the logistics end so all stores would have the same access to parts we do as that is the greatest challenge with car repair in Nigeria. Until more locations are open, customers are missing out on that.

I can tell you that the revenue in places like Abuja, Port Harcourt and Ibadan is insane and that's just from the ones towed to shop- and we are running a low margin high volume model. So you be the judges on whether an expansion is prudent or not.

Below are pictures of variety of our shops. The Lekki location is last for comparison. As you can see there is even a three bay shop run out of someone's home! It can be run out of a couple of carports! What matters to our brand is quality of service.

Crocif:
Fantastic.

The Lagos Business School (LBS). Used the inverted commas so we do not mistake the acronym to mean London Business School.

oh! It's down Ajah right?

Crocif:
All the best. If all goes well, I hope you would consider a case study with 'LBS'. Your story sounds interesting. Others may learn from it.

PS: Yeah, Glen called and I am hopeful.

What's LBS...? We are currently a case study at international industry conferences I'm proud to say

There are two or three american franchises that already tried and failed in Nigeria so they use as a case study along
with them. Even Fox news got in on it.

The great thing for us is Nigeria is EXACTLY where the USA was with auto care in the 70s. Most of the same market conditions so there is a road map already there to follow and funnily enough, that's why we chose our parent company. They followed the same road map to get to where they are today so if it ain't broke..

https://www.google.com/search?q=adelu+moran&oq=adelu+moran&aqs=chrome..69i57j0i13j0i8i13i30.3916j0j4&client=ms-android-google&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8

Inception:
Knuckle na food?

knuckle sandwich

.

HeavenlyBang:
Yeah, nice.


But autos are for men.

alphaNomega:
Auto is for men.

Case closed.

okay. Come and open shop

nurey:
Yeah thread topic noni

it's from the article lol

Ogeneigbo1:
I think that is why she is going the Franchise way..
She has little or nothing to loose.

The Franchisee bears the heat for using her brand name
Though most times the Franchisee scales through if the brand name is a world class name..

Am subject to corrections though.

Cheers

Sir... That's not how franchises work...

With a franchise you are buying a name and more importantly a business model. The investment is 100% the franchisee's.

Crocif:
Pardon me but I could not help but notice this conversation. Expansion at this time? I am not a financial guru/analyst but I know enough to get by. Was privileged to share a moment with Glen and he talked about his passion for the business and the experience he has amassed over the years. This prompted me (not my business I know) to do a little digging to see how the business has faired since you guys started. I was unable to get info on how well the business is doing in Lagos vis-a-vis the investments put in at start-up (i.e regarding the Lagos arm).

I was, however, fortunate to see a video of the construction works that went on and I couldn't help but notice how happy you and Glen seemed. It was a beautiful thing to see and I was happy for both of you. Like I mentioned to Glen, having a business is wonderful, especially when the business was borne out of passion and becomes successful (these I did not share with him). Though a good thing to expand when the business is thriving but I was thinking (though naively considering that there is a parent company who I believe got your back) that there may be a need to step back and assess the journey so far before making the huge leap of expansion.

Unless I am mistaking, I saw that the business in Nigeria is barely 3 years old. If this is true then the rate of growth has been phenomenal. Goes to show your extraordinary sense for business. Though great but it got me a little worried (I shouldn't be because it is none of my business) and it got me thinking about how sustainable that rate of growth is. It is possible to grow a business too fast but to be sure I thought an assessment needs to be done before going ahead with.....

Sorry, I want to stop there because my conscience is beating me up. It is none of my business. I wish you well.

PS: I am yet to get word from your tech guys about the vehicle. I hope I hear from them soon. Thank you.

From what I understood Glen spoke to you and was supposed to call you today.

As far as growing too fast, believe me the expansion was greatly thought out. This is not my first company and I do have an MBA

Even before we started I informed the parent company that there would be a 2-3 year lag before we would even consider franchising a new location. I'm actually the one who has been holding the needed expansion back. The investment put into Lekki is not a small amout. I'm not going to put how much I spent here. Not the parent company, me. Franchises are paid for by the owner not the parent company as is the norm with any franchise.

There are a few things you may not be aware of.

1) We are area developers not franchisees. As such, WE are the parent company in Africa with equivalent powers to Chicago. Our warehouse will also service the Cameron locations when they open as well as the whole of West Africa. I should mention they started their project two years before we did and they are not online yet. Further expansion is in the works down the line and we will be moving to the Lekki Trade Zone when the time comes.

2) The Lekki location is the west african HQ, training center and distribution center. It is not a shop. Shops are a fraction of the size and cost and can be as small as 2 bays. I've put pictures of typical shops compared to the Lekki location below. The Lekki location is 12 bays and over 33,000 sqft. A typical shop may not even be a tenth of that.

3) The Lekki location's primary function is franchise support. Most of the people who you see there actually have been trained for just that purpose- to go help open and train/run new shops on how to run efficiently and maximize profit while maintaining the brand's quality. They are actually not doing their primary jobs yet until other locations open.

4) Despite that, we are running an HQ on the proceeds from a shop and STILL running at a profit. A typical shop in the Mr Transmission-Milex group should have 3-6 employees. We have 27. And yet the income our shop provides (which is about the same or less than other shops will make depending on location) pays for all 27

5) We are being inundated by repairs from around the country causing longer waits. When customers are paying 200k or more to third parties just to tow cars to you, there is a gaping hole in their home markets that need to be filled. These are not just online comments saying "come to xyz". These are actual vehicles coming in on a regular basis. Some have been trying to pay for Glen to go to their states for repairs for months but we are too busy at our location.

6) why don't we just open the next one ourselves you ask? One of the biggest successes of the Mr Transmission-Milex model is all locations are run by their owners. This is non-negotiable. Where you see one person owning multiple locations, husband runs one, wife, adult children and in a couple of very special cases brother/sister run the others. This is because NOONE will ever care for your customers the way you do because you are the one with the investment. There are other reasons that are covered during our 5 week owner/management training.

7)One of the biggest perks of doing repairs with us is not even online yet and that is our nationwide warranties. If you get a repair in Lekki and have a problem in Ibadan, the Ibadan location will honor your warranty at no cost to you. That is why we made sure to handle the logistics end so all stores would have the same access to parts we do as that is the greatest challenge with car repair in Nigeria. Until more locations are open, customers are missing out on that.

I can tell you that the revenue in places like Abuja, Port Harcourt and Ibadan is insane and that's just from the ones towed to shop- and we are running a low margin high volume model. So you be the judges on whether an expansion is prudent or not.

Below are pictures of variety of our shops. The Lekki location is last for comparison. As you can see there is even a three bay shop run out of someone's home! It can be run out of a couple of carports! What matters to our brand is quality of service.

Inception:
I sabi book sha!

oya chop knuckle

nakoks:
I called one of the numbers on your signature,requested for ZFR5F-11 NGK plugs,the guy who picked told me system was down he can't check but would get back to me.This was about 10am yesterday,i called back but it was busy....till this moment....nothing.I know its not you but you see customer service ehn ....we were trained in it 100% and i can help you as consultant for a cheap fee.The plug dey?

it's not them. Internet company has been messing up the past week or so. System keeps going down. But you have the website to check yourself na.

Weblink.carquest.com
Username Cust498
Password Password1

nurey:
This madam you too like controversy sha

Anyway check the email you spelt it wrong

thank you! Controversy kwa?

WE WANT YOU!

We thought this article is an example of how we think at Mr. Transmission-Milex Rad Auto Works both in Nigeria an the parent company philosophy in the United States. We want franchisees and I'm all for woman power

https://franchisedictionarymagazine.com/women-know-the-importance-of-care-in-auto-care/

The Mr. Transmission/Milex brand is dismantling the stereotype that the automotive sector is a man’s world
As with many industries that have been associated with male owners and consumers, women have become top performers in this category. But what’s behind this trend? Pete Baldine, President of Mr. Transmission/Milex and Moran Family of Brands, expresses that traditionally women stated they wanted to consult their husbands on major automotive repairs, but that has changed. Due to cars becoming more complex, husbands being more and more unfamiliar with today’s repairs, and women excelling in business in executive-level positions, that dynamic has transformed.

CEO Barbara Moran-Goodrich says that the brand attributes its “family-first” culture at its support center and throughout the franchise system, as a quality that attracts and inspires women to invest in the business. Having a female CEO helps show women franchisees that they can do it too and not be afraid of the industry.

“Women today are making 65 percent to 68 percent of the repair decisions related to their cars. Today’s decision-making females also feel very comfortable communicating with a female auto shop owner,” said Moran-Goodrich.

Susan Trumble, owner of Mr. Transmission/Milex in Florence, Kentucky, and winner of 2017 Franchisee of the Year, says, “A woman offers a more compassionate side of business to her customers. She can understand that when a customer walks into her shop with a transmission problem, they may feel intimidated by the big-ticket problem they need fixed.” Susan believes she offers an empathetic, compassionate, and trustworthy experience to every customer who walks into her shop asking for help. Susan had worked in a female-dominated profession as a flight attendant for 10 years. She was told by her father, who owned a Mr. Transmission location, that an auto shop was not the place for a woman. Instead of listening to others, she bought herself a Mr. Transmission shop.

This drive to attract more female owners to the network stretches beyond the trends in the U.S. In 2016, Temi Adelu-Davis, along with husband Glen, signed an area developer agreement to open 10 locations in Lagos, Nigeria. In 2019, they had the grand opening of their first Mr. Transmission/Milex center. Adelu-Davis aims to improve the overall quality of the auto aftermarket industry. She expresses that Moran Brands had the right blueprint and “knew they’d give [her and her husband] the support [they would] need.”

So ladies, are you still unconvinced? Well, Mr. Transmission/Milex emphasizes that owners are not alone in their system and not only do women owners have support of other women franchisees in the network, but they also have personal access to speak directly with the CEO for advice – anytime.

Ownership is not about knowing how to fix a car – that is the technician’s job. Owners just need to worry about running their business and being involved in their community. Laura Rodifer, owner in Johnson City, Tennessee, says, “Be your true, authentic self. I think women do well in this business. I believe that they do really, really well in this business.”

If you’re a woman looking for an owner-operator business, have management and sales experience, and are committed to superior customer service, Mr. Transmission/Milex just may be the right fit. For more information, email emajek@radautoworks.com

Ifebazz:
Business is not easy, and perhaps, there's no small business especially when you have anything to do with Nigeria or Nigerians. The ease of doing business in Nigeria is nonexistent as the bottleneck you face at every turn you make is overwhelming, such that you'll have no choice than to push the burden to the final consumers. More often than not, because of this, honesty will have to be mortgaged in order for business to keep head above waters. Many businesses have been crushed in this tidal wave of systemic decay.
Amdman has really deviated from the Nigeria norm. He has proven over time, that indeed Nigerians are not all bad. So is a few others I have had transactions with online (even on nairaland) . We need to build trust. It goes a long way in rebuilding this country.
When I got my first car from him, I was so impressed by his honesty (as a Nigerian) and attention to details, his soft tone and unbridled patience even in the face of unwarranted criticisms and deliberate attempts to pull him down by recalcitrants. I wish I had half of that. A couple of days ago, I received another car from him. It came just as advertised, cool in and out. The guy's a cool dude, and as a matter of fact, most issues people have with his business model, are from the Nigeria end of it, not his side. As for the communication issue, well I don't know if it's just me, but I have been having good rapport with him ever since the first deal and I think those who have blip in communication with him are probably those who clog his line with inquiries (just saying). So for prospective clients, I'll advise you to only contact him when you are ready to do business, it will save you from all the 'he doesn't reply messages' tantrums. I've done more than four businesses with him, and God willing and if Nigeria continues to exist, I'll do more. That's how much I trust him.
Thanks Amdman.

well said and enjoy!

Kreamie:
A friend needs wiper blades. Was told they’re not available.

for what car? You can check yourself at weblink.carquest.com

Username Cust498
Password Password1

We just completed wiper blade audit yesterday so inventory on there is accurate.

Too far?

freshvine:
Why not consider Port Harcourt.

it's on our list but we need someone who can open a franchise.