In this episode, we talk about the kind of decisions that don’t feel good no matter what you choose.

From recommending expensive repairs customers don’t want to hear… to knowing that waiting could make things worse… to understanding that sometimes even doing everything right doesn’t guarantee the outcome — this is the pressure side of being a technician and business owner.

We talk about:

• Why acting can feel risky

• Why waiting can be worse

• The stress technicians carry that customers never see

• Maintenance vs reaction

• And what happens when funding, fear, and reality collide

At the end of the day, we’re not just fixing cars.
We’re helping people make decisions with incomplete information.

And sometimes, you just have to choose to eat the green vegetables.

A razor blade in a tire.
A neglected differential.
A $15,000 mistake.

In this episode of Shop Talk – Beyond the Cars, Dan and Katie break down why small maintenance issues almost always turn into big repairs.

They talk about:
• Why differential service matters• How “just one tire” can damage an AWD system• The real risk of quick lube shortcuts• When DIY makes sense and when it absolutely doesn’t• The two questions you should ask any auto repair shop

If you’ve ever said, “It’s probably fine,” this one’s for you.

We can be standing in the same space, looking at the same situation and experiencing it completely differently.

In this episode of Shop Talk - Beyond the Cars, we talk about how our backgrounds, stress, trauma, and wiring shape the way we react to money, work, customers, and each other. One of us moves toward control. The other moves toward curiosity. Neither is wrong but it can create tension.
It’s an honest look at what happens when two people are building a business, raising a family, and trying to stay on the same team while seeing the world through very different lenses.

We’re still figuring it out.

This is a behind-the-scenes look at what it really takes to run a family-owned auto shop, and a family, at the same time.

Hosted by Dan and Katie, a husband-and-wife team running an automotive repair business with their kids in the shop, Shop Talk – Beyond the Cars covers the parts of work and life most people never see: the financial pressure, the family dynamics, the learning curves, the mistakes, and the moments that make it worth it.

Yes, we talk about cars.
We also talk about business ownership, raising kids inside a business, consumer education, leadership, and the weight that comes with trying to build something that lasts.

This isn’t advice from a studio.
It’s real conversation from inside the shop.