A quiet fixed ops comeback is brewing—built on smarter hours, not more ROs

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(Data sourced via Cox Automotive / xtime)

(Data sourced via Cox Automotive’s Q2 2025 Dealer Sentiment Index)

Per Xtime/Cox Automotive, fewer cars came in for service in April, but each visit brought in more revenue.

Why? Because labor and parts costs are up. Repair complexity is up. And post-COVID behavior suggests consumers are bundling work into fewer visits.

The result: more $$$ per RO, even without more ROs in play.

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Zooming out from the bay, dealers aren’t just seeing more per ticket—they’re also feeling better about the long game.

Cox Auto’s Dealer Sentiment Index shows fixed ops optimism ticked up to 65 in Q2.

That’s up 3 pts from Q1, but it’s also the long-run average, and still well below the 2021 high of 74.

Translation: steady hands, not a surge.

Skyler Chadwick, director of product consulting with Cox, put it bluntly:

“During COVID, some dealers fell into a slump and got away from best practices, because it didn’t matter; the business was there. Now, they are having to try harder to ensure business stays robust, so dealers are identifying and fixing issues in their process, and once seeing results, they want to go further to take full advantage of their available hours and open lift time.”

In a market like this, the dealers willing to toss out the old rulebook—and light a few sacred fixed ops metrics on fire—are the ones pulling ahead.

Just ask Tully Williams.

He’s the fixed ops director at The Niello Company, and last week on Daily Dealer Live, he broke down how his whole fixed ops strategy runs on getting 70% of customers to return for service within 14 months.

To get there, his tactics are surprisingly simple (and intentionally unprofitable in the short term):

The result? Shops running at 140–145% capacity. $182/hour gross profit. And service advisors selling more cars than the sales team “by tenfold.”

And his energy is striking a chord.

Take it from Logan…

And on LinkedIn, Shaun B, a Car Dealership Guy follower, nailed the shift:

Might be worth stitching that on a hoodie. Or at least the service drive whiteboard.

Most dealers treat fixed ops like a utility. Predictable. Safe.

But hitting 70% retention takes more than just doing what’s always worked.

It takes structure. And a little risk—like running unprofitable offers, rethinking comp plans, or letting go of legacy metrics.

That’s how loyalty gets built: with consistency and intent.

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Thanks for reading everyone.

— CDG