I'm restoring a classic Triumph sports car, a 1981 TR8. Recently, I took its original, factory-molded carpet to an outfit called Motor City AutoSpa, in the Detroit suburb of Royal Oak, to see whether the shop could give it a good, professional cleaning.

I drive by the business, in an old service station, frequently. There's always a long line of cars in the lot waiting for detailing, although the business doesn't advertise. I was astonished to learn that the eight-person shop is booked three months in advance for most of the year.

"I probably lose six customers a day on the phone because they don't want to wait," says Matt Lifter, Motor City's owner. Lifter told me his customers rarely, if ever, take their cars to the dealer for detail work and cleaning, and he doesn't consider dealers to be competition.

Many of the stories in Fixed Ops Journal are, to me, like pieces of a puzzle. The service and parts professionals and companies we write about, including independents such as Motor City, are doing innovative things to boost customer retention and profits.

And as I fit the pieces together, a fuller picture of the future of service is taking shape in my mind.

New business opportunities

It looks as if we're going to live in a world where electric vehicles will require far less maintenance, fewer customer-pay dollars will be available for fixed ops and profits will be thin on the sale of new vehicles.

Doesn't sound like a recipe for prosperity, does it? But I look at these changes as an opportunity.

If I were designing the service department of the future, I would look at where customers spend money on their vehicles away from my dealership: tire services, detail shops such as Motor City, fast oil change joints. I would not give a customer an excuse to go elsewhere for anything.

Some dealerships, such as Bobby Rahal Acura in Mechanicsburg, Pa., prominently feature services more associated with the aftermarket, such as detailing. But an oil change there takes at least an hour and requires an appointment, so competing quick-lube businesses still have the advantage.

TR8's restoration led to thoughts about how service must change

Another dealership I checked with, Orange Buick-GMC in Orlando, offers detailing for $149 that is fairly thorough. But good luck finding any information about it on the store's website.

Same thing at Starling Chevrolet-Cadillac in DeLand, Fla., near the Orange dealership. Detailing is on Starling's menu of services, but not on its website with prices and the list of items that are cleaned. An oil change there takes at least an hour and requires an appointment.

The cover story of this issue of Fixed Ops Journal is about Motorcars Honda, an innovative dealership in Cleveland Heights, Ohio. It's perfecting a system that dramatically reduces the time it takes to change oil. Before your car even gets to the oil change techs, its tire treads have been read, and the alignment has been checked.

You don't need an appointment for quick service at Motorcars. Although I know appointments help fixed ops managers run their businesses more efficiently, I think they are a detriment to oil changes.

Future shop

My imaginary service department of the future looks and works like this:

I aggressively advertise and compete on price with independent garages and tire stores. Oil changes don't require an appointment, they're done in a half-hour or less, and I take any brand of car, any year.

Dealer Tire is my tire vendor. Its programs help fixed ops managers competitively sell tires in their markets, and it makes quick deliveries.

I outfit my shop with Hunter wheel alignment and tire-changing equipment. Hunter machines, designed for speed and reduced technician labor, are extremely cost-effective if used properly. I might not make much on the sale of new tires, but the alignments I sell are almost pure profit.

To attract the best service technicians and reduce turnover, I provide a full, paid-for toolbox that becomes the property of the tech after seven years of service.

My shop offers a first-rate detail business that caters to all brands of cars and trucks. A special lease turn-in detail service rectifies minor cosmetic defects, scrubs the carpets and gets the vehicle ready for its end-of-lease inspection. Since I already have most of the detail equipment and staff on hand to prepare new and used cars for sale, the investment is minimal.

For my customers' convenience, my shop would be open seven days a week, including 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sundays. I have a loaner fleet for customers whose vehicles need to stay in the shop longer than three hours or so.

Motor City AutoSpa was happy to clean the carpet in my car. It came back smelling fresh and looking new.

I never even thought of going to a new-car dealership's service department. But maybe someday, on a future restoration project, I will.