You dropped your vehicle off. You explained what it was doing. Your Service Advisor took some notes, asked a few questions, handed you some paperwork and told you they would be in touch.
And then… you wait.
Meanwhile, you may picture your Service Advisor sitting comfortably behind a computer, drinking coffee and occasionally checking to see if your vehicle is done.
We wish.
The reality is that your Service Advisor is the person in the middle of almost everything happening during your vehicle’s visit. They’re part translator, part coordinator, part investigator, part paperwork expert and occasionally part professional cat herder.
And here’s the part most customers don’t see: they’re doing all of that for 20+ customers they may check in on an average day.
So, what exactly is your Service Advisor doing while you’re waiting?
They’re talking to your technician.
Your technician may be the person physically diagnosing and repairing your vehicle, but your Service Advisor is the connection between that technician and you.
As diagnosis progresses, the technician reports findings, asks for authorization, requests additional diagnostic time or recommends repairs. Your advisor must understand that information well enough to explain it to you without making you feel like you need an automotive engineering degree to understand what failed.
Sometimes the answer is simple.
Sometimes the technician says something like, “I have a network communication concern with an intermittent module fault that I can’t duplicate consistently.”
Your advisor then gets the fun job of turning that into normal human language.
At Rich Ford, our Service Advisors work closely with our Ford-certified technicians throughout the vehicle diagnosis and repair process. That communication between the technician, advisor and customer is an important part of getting your Ford repaired correctly the first time.
They’re tracking down parts.
Finding out what parts your vehicle needs is only half the battle. We also have to figure out if we can actually get it.
Your Service Advisor works with our Parts Department to determine part availability, pricing and estimated arrival dates.
Sometimes the part is sitting on a shelf 30 feet away.
Sometimes it’s across town.
Sometimes it’s across the country.
And sometimes the computer says there are three in existence and nobody seems entirely sure where any of them actually are.
Welcome to automotive parts.
Parts availability can affect repair times at any automotive Service Department, which is why your advisor is often communicating with Parts behind the scenes before giving you an estimated completion date.
They’re working with Ford and warranty companies.
If your repair involves a Ford factory warranty, Ford Protect Extended Service Plan or a third-party extended warranty, there can be an entire process happening that you never see.
Your advisor may be gathering documentation, submitting estimates, answering questions, waiting for repair authorization, providing maintenance records or working with the technician to obtain additional information requested by the warranty company or simply waiting on hold to speak with an extended warranty representative. Our Rich Ford record of being on hold for an extended warranty is 2 hours and 32 minutes!
Unfortunately, “covered under warranty” doesn’t always mean someone gets to press a giant green APPROVED button and immediately start fixing the vehicle.
We’d really like that button.
Warranty repairs sometimes require additional documentation and authorization before work can continue. Your Service Advisor helps manage that process while keeping your vehicle moving toward the next step.
They’re getting your authorization.
Before many customer-pay repairs can move forward, we need your approval.
That means your advisor needs to receive the technician’s findings, verify parts and labor pricing, understand the repair recommendation and contact you.
If we can’t reach you, your vehicle may stop moving through the repair process until we can.
This is also why returning your Service Advisor’s call or text can make a bigger difference than you might think.
We aren’t calling because we’re lonely.
Usually, something needs your attention before we can keep going.
They’re juggling rental and transportation needs.
If your vehicle needs to stay with us, transportation can become another piece of the puzzle.
Is a rental vehicle available? Is it covered? For how many days? Does an extended warranty company need to authorize it? Is your repair eligible for alternate transportation?
Your Service Advisor may be working with our Rental Department while simultaneously trying to move your repair forward.
Because apparently coordinating vehicle repairs wasn’t enough fun by itself.
They’re doing all of this for 20+ customers.
This is probably the biggest thing customers don’t realize.
Your Service Advisor isn’t coordinating one repair.
On an average day, they may check in 20 or more customers, each with a different vehicle, concern and situation.
That’s 20+ vehicles with different technicians.
Different diagnoses.
Different parts.
Different warranties.
Different repair authorizations.
Different transportation needs.
And 20+ customers who understandably want to know:
“What’s happening with my car?”
While they’re checking the status of your Ford repair, they’re also tracking diagnosis on another vehicle, waiting for parts on another, submitting a warranty authorization on another, arranging a rental for someone else and trying to reach another customer for repair approval.
Then another vehicle pulls onto the Service Drive.
And the process starts again.
They’re answering calls. A lot of calls.
Your Service Advisor’s desk phone rings.
Their cell phone rings.
A customer walks up.
A technician needs an answer.
Parts has a question.
Rental needs something.
Someone is dropping off.
Someone else is picking up.
And somewhere in the middle of all of that, they’re trying to call you back.
Multiply everything we’ve talked about in this article by 20+, and you start to get a much better picture of what a day in the life of an automotive Service Advisor actually looks like.
Why communication during a vehicle repair matters.
At Rich Ford, we know waiting for your vehicle isn’t fun. You have places to go, people who depend on you and a life that doesn’t conveniently stop because your check engine light came on.
That’s why communication between the customer, Service Advisor, technician and Parts Department is such an important part of the repair process.
Sometimes your update is exciting: “Your vehicle is fixed and ready to go.”
Sometimes it’s less exciting: “We’re still waiting for the part.”
And sometimes the update is simply: “The technician is still diagnosing the concern.”
Not every update means something has changed, but we understand that knowing what’s happening with your vehicle matters.
Your Service Advisor is keeping the whole process moving.
A Service Advisor doesn’t personally diagnose your vehicle, install the part or perform the repair.
Their job is to coordinate all the people who do.
Technicians. Parts. Warranty. Rental. Dispatch. Customers. Insurance companies. Extended warranty companies.
They’re the connection between what’s happening in the shop and what’s happening in your world.
So when you haven’t heard from your advisor for a little while, it doesn’t necessarily mean nothing is happening.
Quite often, it means a lot is happening.
At Rich Ford, our Albuquerque Ford Service Department works to make the repair process as easy as possible, whether you’re visiting us for routine Ford maintenance, vehicle diagnosis, warranty repairs or a more complicated repair.
So, the next time you see your Service Advisor staring intensely at a computer screen, phone to one ear while waving frantically at someone in the Parts Department, you’ll know:
They’re probably working on somebody’s vehicle.
And there’s a pretty good chance it’s yours.
