Tom and Deb Ham, owners of Hams Professional Auto Service Inc. in Grand Rapids, Mich., also maintain a forum on the www.AutomotiveManagementNetwork.com Web site they operate. The following is an edited discussion about a shop owner interested in replacing old alignment equipment:
A shop owner in Sandy, Utah, writes:
”I am in the market to replace an old Hunter J111 alignment machine that works fine, but the screen has become unreadable. Plus it cannot be updated anymore. As it is no secret that hundreds of dealerships around the country are closing, how does a person find equipment from them?”
The president of a service shop in Muskegon, Mich., responds:
”I have found some used equipment coming from the dealers at online auction sites. Even though they may have the auction on site at the dealership, they usually still list the auction date and time online. You also can find some of these things on www.eBay.com (operated by eBay Inc.) or www.craigslist.org, a classified ads and forum Web site. Hope that helps; good luck in your searching.”
A shop owner in Geneva, Ohio, asks:
“What auction sites have you found other than eBay?”
Muskegon replies:
”The other ones that I found are local here in Michigan. One does quite a few business-closing auctions; their Web site is www.1800lastbid.com (which is operated by Miedema Auctioneering & Appraisals Inc.) The other site where I have found some equipment is www.craigslist.org. Hope that helps. Otherwise, I would just search online—it seems that most auction companies have Web sites these days.”
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